disco!

*Cue the spinning disco ball and flashing lights*

It’s funny the things I remember about pictures I have taken. I was looking through my pictures and came across this one taken in Pittsburgh. When I took it, I had just come across a killer ghost sign and was still in ghost sign shock so I wasn’t thinking clearly. I saw this sign and thought, hmmm, cell phone disco…a place to dance with cell phones. Yeah, like I said, I wasn’t thinking clearly. I try not to think after seeing awesome ghost signs. Turns out cell phone disco was an art installation:

Cell Phone Disco is a surface that visualizes the electromagnetic field of an active mobile phone. Several thousand lights illuminate when you make or receive a phone call in the vicinity of the installation.

If you think disco sux and slayer rules, then this ‘art installation’ taken in Richmond is for you.

bike racks

How awesome are these bike racks? I took the picture in downtown Cleveland and thought the giant metal letters was such a clever solution (of course I did)…who doesn’t love giant letters that serve a purpose?! While in Syracuse, I thought of Cleveland’s clever bike rack when I stumbled upon the cool bike above and this right behind it:

It’s little details like this that give the city such a fun vibe.

manhole monday: sanitary

It’s Monday! Manhole Monday!

Nothing sanitary about these guys but they look sa-weeeeet! I love the geometric pattern on the cover from Akron and how the design breaks to make room for the letters. The cover from San Antonio just feels like it belongs there. Such a neat design…speaking of neat designs…my friends at Us & Them shared a link with me last week (thanks guys!) from It’s Nice That. Do yourself a favor and click —> THIS <— “holy hell” is about all I could muster.

train track typography

Have you ever noticed how beautiful the typography is near train tracks? I found this in downtown Greer, South Carolina.I thought that was pretty awesome and then I saw this right below it:

The General Railway Signal logo is BADASS.

keys & soda

This is one of those pairings that makes me truly happy to my core. Is that weird? Sure. Is that something that I normally tell people? No. Consider yourself lucky to be *in the know*.

I remember walking down the street in Richmond and spotting KEYS and thinking it’s so neat how the weather has transformed these letters. One of my favorite pictures from Nashville is this SODA ghost sign. It’s obvious that there was 3D letters nailed here that have since been taken down. This scar on the wood is what’s left behind. I love the funky arrow and awesome colors. The piece of concrete to the left of SODA looks like a continuation of the picture from Richmond. Match made in heaven!

xing

My friend Mårten Thavenius sent me this picture that he took in Hong Kong. It’s one of those pictures that made me realize how I take these street signs for granted. I feel like I pass these ALL THE TIME and I’m guilty of just not seeing them anymore. Mårten’s picture left such an impression on me that it has stayed in the back of my mind. While I was in Orlando earlier this year, I snapped this picture for the sole purpose of comparing it with Mårten’s picture.

On another note, why is the kerning so damn awful with these types of signs? ONL<megaspace>Y

manhole monday: {O}M’F'G

This past fall, I spent a good portion of a day off of work to walk around Lake View Cemetery in Cleveland, Ohio. I was so blown away by the size of the cemetery and how old the graves are but this is one of my favorite pictures from that day. It’s one of my favorite manhole pictures I have taken.
I love how, like a lot of the manholes in Cleveland say Cleveland, O. That crazy design in the middle and the wear and tear on this cover makes for a killer design. But this…THIS:
All I can say is {O}M’F'G.

trespassing for letters

So here’s a fun story. While I was in Sioux Falls for my speaking engagement a few weeks ago, I had the privilege of being shown around by AIGA South Dakota board member Marisa TenBrink. Whenever someone offers to show me around, I have to warn them how I get when I’m letterhunting. If we’re in a car, I have no shame in reaching across the driver’s lap to take pictures–it can get REALLY awkward REALLY fast. I get super excited when I see signs and have a tendency to shout out which could cause slamming of the brakes or illegal u-turns. It’s awesome. Anyway…while in South Dakota, Marisa was driving me into town via the highway and we passed this:
I said ‘holy shit’ so Marisa took that as a cue that she needed to exit and let me take pics (thanks Marisa!). So she pulled into the parking lot and I got out to snap a few pictures of the signs:

Marisa thought it’d be a good idea to go inside the office to ask permission to take pictures of the letters on the side of the building. The office was locked so I went into the (open) fenced in area and thought nothing of the DO NOT ENTER HARD HAT ONLY sign. Marisa stayed by her car. I stood in awe looking at these beautiful letters, snapped a few pictures and got a few comments from the construction workers.

As I was walking back to the car, an SUV was driving right towards me. The woman rolled down her window and asked for my name and who I was with. I told her that I’m in town for a typography talk and I’m just taking pictures of the pretty letters. She looked at me like I was high. Literally. She said I was trespassing and blah blah blah and you could get arrested. That’s all she had to say to get me back into the car and off the site in less than 20 seconds. I’d like to apologize to Marisa for almost getting us arrested for taking pictures…but man, so worth it:

welcome

I have mentioned before how much respect I have for hand lettering…ESPECIALLY when it’s on chalkboard or glass. I feel much more welcomed when signs are rendered by hand instead of a bought sign hanging in the window. I love the entrance to this store in Nashville. The hand painted Welcome and the Hatch Show prints in the window are a designer’s dream pairing. Here’s a close up of the door:Here’s a close up of the address that’s above the door:
The picture taken in San Antonio is the window of a restaurant. Here’s a close up of a welcome sign taken in Greer, SC:

When I see this, I can’t help but hear a zing! in my head.

#’s

Today’s post is a fun use of numbers that I have come across. Here’s a close up of some clever handiwork in Richmond: If your 3 goes missing, what would YOU do?! Random 3 to the rescue!
I have seen the 1/2 address a few times before. Here’s one from New Orleans and my story then remains the same now. I have yet to see a 3/4 or 8/16. That’d be awesome.