Thursday, January 24, 2013
Dimensional Signs as Art
Sign Builder Illustrated January 2013: When it comes to envisioning new possibilities in the shape of signage, Austin, Texas based Blue Genie Art is at the forefront.
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2 comments:
This is interesting, but it doesn't really seem like a new idea to me. & I guess Im a little confused as to how these are sings. I was under the impression that signs were something that one could read. I do like when signs have 3D aspects to them, such as most of the Chick-fil-a road signs that all have 3D cows doing something entertaining or even looking as if they are making the sign itself. While i think this is a cool idea and could possibly improve business, I also think there is a point where something like this could simply become obnoxious and cause patrons to roll their eyes. I dont know if they have these in PA or not but in Texas they have these fitness places that you can see from the highway and they have about 20ft tall giant hot pink muscle men in booty shorts on the roofs and that inspires me to not ever go to that place.
As April comments, no this is not a new idea, but it is something of a dying art, I think. As in her example of the "20 foot tall giant hot pink muscle men in booty shorts," very little in advertinsing, dimensional or not, seems to fall into the category of "art" these days. The question of what makes art is contentious at best, but even if we define art as an object "not totally offensive to look at," in my opinion the vast majority of advertising does not qualify. There is little reason why this should be, and historically advertising has been a haven for otherwise starving artists. Many historic towns in the south are now frantically attempting to salvage and preserve what is left of their once great hand-painted sign heritage. In my own hometown of San Francisco, some contemporary artists have tried to make new art out of old sculptural advertising from the city's past: http://lostsf.wordpress.com/2010/10/31/doggie-diner/
My first apartment in SF was right down the street from the original Doggie Diner, and while I might not classify the chef-hatted Dachsund as art, it does harken for me to an era when advertising tried to appeal to something other than our basest desires and applied the whimsy and imagination of something close to what I would call art.
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