blog GAMIL: an insider look at design » signage

Street-Signs into Spring Flowers

britt — Mon, 11 May 2009 14:14:58 +0000

This morning I was running through the blogs I read on a regular bases, and came across this public art piece done by Mark Jenkins on Three Potato Four’s Blog. The “Signs of Spring” public art was done in both Washington, DC and Malmö, Sweden back in March/April of 2008. I wish our street signage was as pretty as Sweden’s!

In case you are new to our blog, we have written several posts on Public-Art installations both around our community as well as in other parts of the world. AND we have posted about Mark Jenkin’s work Here.

photos from Mark Jenkin’s website.

That Special McDonalds Feelin’

beth — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 23:03:45 +0000

This signage for the brand new McDonalds, on the corner of Boylan and Peace Street in Raleigh, pretty much sums up my own mental turmoil upon going there. MMMM…fries…no, it’s bad for me….mmmmmm…no I should support local businesses…french fries mmmmm…no!…mmmmm.

That’s Stupid. Or are WE in Raleigh that stupid?

beth — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 16:51:29 +0000

So, there is a plethora of planters down Raleigh’s nouveau main street, Fayetteville Street. The planters themselves caused kind of a design ruckus back when they were unveiled, but we’ve all gotten used to them for the most part. They do have a sense of attractiveness about them…

But the above pic doesn’t tell the full story. Every single planter actually looks like this:

I don’t know if you can tell, but those planters aren’t very big. And they’re on pedestals, so you gotta work to get up into them (not that I know that personally). But the sign itself made me stand there (beside, not in, the planter) and contemplate the following:

How would you get into the planter without hurting yourself or getting really dirty?
Is the dirt in the planter flat enough to provide a comfortable standing or sitting surface?
If you sat in the planter and rocked, would the planter fall?
How would you sit in the planters that have the big 4ft pine sprig sticking outta the center of it??
What would happen to you if you did sit in the planter? Are there planter police?
How many people have already done this to warrant the centerpiece of each arrangement being this sign?

I wish they would have signed it, “The Management.” That would have completed the stupidness…but maybe they were trying to be more subtle than that.

Hong Kong Halloween Signage

beth — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 15:22:05 +0000

Even without knowing what this sign says, it says it all! We’ve got some costumes going on at Gamil today, including a couple who are “here for the Frankenstein wedding,” Little Red Riding Hood, and Galaxy Girl. We’ve also got a coupla painters who are very authentic, as they are actually painting the gallery wall for a big product launch party we’re having Friday night. More on that soon…
Anyway, Happy Halloween!!

Zonkeys and other design inspirations from the NC State Fair

beth — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 22:03:26 +0000

Ahhh, the NC State Fair…a source of artistic wonder and inspiration. I go every year, more than once if I can help it, although this year, I was only able to go once. It’s comfortingly the same, but at the same time, always new. I look at the Fair every year and wonder why a lukewarm hotdog tastes great for $4, when anywhere else I would have paid $2 and sent it back if it wasn’t steaming. I wonder why I absolutely have to try (or at least see someone else try) the latest deep-fried concoction (this year it was deep fried oreos). I wonder why it’s so exciting to pay a dollar for the chance to win a 3foot wide stuffed basketball or giant Spongebob when (a) I know I won’t actually win it, (b) it’s not actually worth a dollar, and (c) I don’t really want it.

To me, the Fair is marketing and advertising at its best. Sure, the claims are ridiculous. Sure, there may be some bait and switch tactics going on, but it’s fun AND everyone knows it’s a rip-off before they pay to play. We’re NOT being taken advantage of because we KNOW we’re being taken advantage of. We’re in on the joke. We know deep down that the giant horse probably isn’t actually the biggest horse in the world…that the giant rat is probably not actually a rat…and that the piglet races are really funny AND free to see.

From a design perspective, the Fair is an overwhelming display of unpretention that has the amazing ability to speak to any age group, either gender, and many income brackets. It’s a carnival that feels like today and “yesteryear” all at the same time. The games, with the combination of signage, the wall of prizes, and the talented crier have that “C’mon, everybody’s doing it,” allure that makes you have to jump in for your chance. There are handpainted funhouse facades and handwritten signs, complete with misspellings. There are all sorts of different cakes on display by local cakes designers , and NC-citizen-designed quilts and cross stitching right beside them. There’s a 1,178lb pumpkin. AND one of the biggest memories for me this year…I saw a pig that paints “as seen on Oprah.” Yes.

Pardon the quality of this image, but if it wasn’t this bad, would you believe it?

The land of neon

beth — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 18:39:25 +0000

It’s amazing how much graphic design and signage in the form of neon is seen in Hong Kong. Makes some of the more…subtle…signage get overlooked. Here’s an homage to a few of those special signs.

No Spitting

beth — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 18:29:39 +0000

yes, spitting is apparently an issue in Hong Kong. This sign is located at the entrance to the Zoological Gardens.

Designing a day of meandering

beth — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 05:35:21 +0000

We were tired today, and tired of all of the smells and noise of Tsim Sha Tsui, so we decided to spend the day leisurely walking around in the Central district of Hong Kong. We went to a buncha art galleries, which I will write more about later, after I can backtrack and figure out what was where and the names of the galleries. Wyndham Steet, which eventually turns into Hollywood Road, is a great little area of galleries, upscale shops and shishi little eating and drinking spots. My favorite trendy stop in the area is a beautifully designed space called Dragon-I, apparently a pretty happenin night club (way too happenin for the tourist geek-wear complete with over-sized camera and desert-sized water bottle I was sportin at the time), but also a good spot to stop in the afternoon for tea and dimsum (or, if it’s particularly hot, I recommend the Pina Colada). There was hardly anyone there in the afternoon when we arrived, so I managed to get a few pix in b4 they told me not to take pictures. They have outdoor and indoor lounge seating, another loungey bar area, and even the bathrooms are so swanky you could spend a while in there, just enjoying the ambience. There are bird cages everywhere outside, and there’s even a big 10ish foot birdcage, which I will not show you pix of so you can enjoy it fully when you go.

After we had our fill of the 2-for-1 Happy Hour specials (a delightfully consistent daily celebration in Hong Kong), we trekked up to the Zoological and Botanical Gardens. In the congestion of the city, Hong Kong has some fairly nice and relaxing green areas. And people really take advantage of it…families, folks reading on benches and one or two people around every turn doing tai-chi. Also, it seems to be fairly common that they have semi-exotic animals in cages in the parks. In this one, there were lots of different birds and monkeys, and there was one really fat jaguar sleeping in a cage way too small for an animal built to run.

One of the weird things we saw was their approach to erosion control…just cement over everything…

We saw the sun go down from the top vista of the park. From that direction, the I.M. Pei Bank of China building steals the show.

We then trekked back down to Wyndham Street for another cocktail. A truly great spot to go for a drink and be in the thick of it while being outside of it at the same time is the rooftop terrace at The Fringe Club. It is only 3 floors up, so the skyscrapers surround you and make you feel like you are actually in a room with walls. It is also, different from the other bars of the area, which is to say it is completely unpretentious, complete with astro-turf and plastic chairs.

We ended the night in the Lan Kwai Fok district, which is an expat frat boy haven/heaven. 3 full streets where cars basically dont drive, and it’s all lined with bars open to the streets. We people-watched for a while, periodically commenting on how all those girls could possibly walk down the steep hill with 4-inch heels on. It was funny, because it seemed like the largest singles bar in the world…we saw the same people over and over again, as they just did laps around the streets. I think this sign says it all about the area. Hopefully you can read the subtext…I wont right it here cause who knows what kind of ads we’d end up with…