2818.Well, it's either this interpretation …
… or it's a Bocce ball recycling station. What english on that ball!
… or it's a Bocce ball recycling station. What english on that ball!
By Samuel John Klein of Portland, Oregon - Graphic Designer without Portfolio, aspiring artist who dawdled too long.
Showing posts with label semiotics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label semiotics. Show all posts
09 February 2009
The New Pepsi Logo: It Was Probably the HFCS*
1942.Lawrence Yang:
Being a "drawer", Lawrence couldn't help but interpret it his own way (clicky to go to Lawrence Yang's blog entry, that you may see this embiggenly):
"You'll never look at the Pepsi Logo the same way again", says Lawrence.
"You'll never unsee what you have seen", says me.
* High Fructose Corn Syrup
(h/t to Larry Fire, of course)
Technorati Tags: new pepsi logo, pepsi logo
So they recently plastered the Powell BART station in San Francisco with Pepsi ads. Just big posters that say "POP", "HOPE", "SODA", "JOY", etc. All flaunting Pepsi's new lopsided logo.
Being a "drawer", Lawrence couldn't help but interpret it his own way (clicky to go to Lawrence Yang's blog entry, that you may see this embiggenly):
"You'll never look at the Pepsi Logo the same way again", says Lawrence.
"You'll never unsee what you have seen", says me.
* High Fructose Corn Syrup
(h/t to Larry Fire, of course)
Technorati Tags: new pepsi logo, pepsi logo
29 January 2009
The Treachery Of Images, 2009 PDX Version
1933.The world famous Magritte painting, The Treachery of Images, painted by the Surrealist master in 1929, made a statement about mapping meanings to objects. It, in case you haven't seen it (you actually have, if you don't think you have, you're just about to realize it), it depicts an unremarkable pipe (the kind you smoke tobacco in) with the legend in cursive beneath "Cece n'est pas une pipe" – this is not a pipe.
It teaches a lesson on meaning. As Magritte himself is said to have said:
Given the disucssion above, you can see this works no matter what POV you have. If you think Sam should resign, then the image explains itself. If you enjoy the play of semiotics, then you know that this is not a Mayor ... it's just an image of one, it can't vote or attend City Council meetings or fib about dating an 18-year-old when he should have known better, and it can never redeem itself or earn forgiveness, and you can make that observation whether or not you care about whether or not he resigns or continues.
And if you really like meta, the message can be that the news coverage about the situation may not be the true story of the situation at all (I wonder if we'll ever know).
So, as the master might have said about this, "The famous Mayor ... how people have reproached me for it! But can you elect it to office? No, it is just a representation, is it not? If I had written on my picture 'This is a mayor,' I'd have been lying!"
Technorati Tags: Mayor Sam Adams, Portland Mayor Sam Adams
It teaches a lesson on meaning. As Magritte himself is said to have said:
The famous pipe. How people reproached me for it! And yet, could you stuff my pipe? No, it’s just a representation, is it not? So if I had written on my picture ‘This is a pipe,’ I’d have been lying!In the spirit I interpret coming from the great Surrealist (who also happens to be my favorite 20th Century artist) I provide what to me is a sign of the times:
Given the disucssion above, you can see this works no matter what POV you have. If you think Sam should resign, then the image explains itself. If you enjoy the play of semiotics, then you know that this is not a Mayor ... it's just an image of one, it can't vote or attend City Council meetings or fib about dating an 18-year-old when he should have known better, and it can never redeem itself or earn forgiveness, and you can make that observation whether or not you care about whether or not he resigns or continues.
And if you really like meta, the message can be that the news coverage about the situation may not be the true story of the situation at all (I wonder if we'll ever know).
So, as the master might have said about this, "The famous Mayor ... how people have reproached me for it! But can you elect it to office? No, it is just a representation, is it not? If I had written on my picture 'This is a mayor,' I'd have been lying!"
Technorati Tags: Mayor Sam Adams, Portland Mayor Sam Adams
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28 January 2009
The Signs Tell Us This Is Parking
1931. At the end of this posting about the new style of Portland street blade, Paul Vandeventer, of Los Angeles CA, left me the following feedback:
Hey, Paul, thanks for asking. It's actually quite flattering. But here's what I think you were looking for. Let's go to the corner of NW 10th Avenue and Flanders Street in our legendary Pearl district:
(click here to embiggen this and to go to the Photobucket album where large versions of all these illustrations are located) At first I was afraid that I wouldn't know what to look for but when I went down to that corner, I knew what Paul was talking about immediately, which I think sort of proves his point. Moreover, if you look down about midblock, you'll see a sign that locates the parking ticket dispenser for you.
Let's get another look. These signs are crucial, because unlike a city where parking meters are located at every parking space, you need these signs to be in your face as you drive by. They need to be noticable at eye level and they also need to be simple enough to be read quickly while still containing enough information to deliver the proper message.
This is an ever better view of one. There are letterforms just below the symbols to small to see, but you know at once that you'll be paying to park here. That's just the beauty of hierarchy. And it's at a height that's impossible to miss as you're driving past. We saw many of them as we were driving through. They're almost impossible to miss.
Let's move in real close, and see just what sort of information each sign delivers:
Can it get clearer than that? The questions of what, when, and where is amply answered by the sign, and every intersection has them mounted on every corner showing in the direction every car is likely to be coming in. The symbology even shows you what the shape of the machine it is you have to be looking for.
Here is what that machine looks like, from the street side (you fellow Portlanders already know this):
It's a system that is clear and unambiguous. It pretty much documents itself. Each different parking limit has a distinctive color and very clear signage designed to be seen by a person with normal vision from up to a half block away (as we saw in the first one)
It's so clear that one thinks that even someone from the City of Pasadena could use it. Your mileage, of course, may vary.
Technorati Tags: Portland Street Signs, semiotics, parking signs, Parking in Portland
I need a picture of a sign I saw near Flanders and 10th Ave NW in Portland. It depicts a hand dropping a coin, as if into a parking meter, and is meant to remind people parking their cars at the curb to pay for the time they'll be there at a nearby parking kiosk. I need it to prove to the City of Pasadena, where my wife was shopping when she was ticketed, that a clearer, more direct means of communication exists by which a city can easily convey by signage their expectation that folks will pay. Pasadena has misleading verbal signs that fool people into believing that one hour of parking is free...and then there parking patrol officers tag cars with expensive tickets. Hope you've got one of them in your archive somewhere. Thanks.
Hey, Paul, thanks for asking. It's actually quite flattering. But here's what I think you were looking for. Let's go to the corner of NW 10th Avenue and Flanders Street in our legendary Pearl district:
(click here to embiggen this and to go to the Photobucket album where large versions of all these illustrations are located) At first I was afraid that I wouldn't know what to look for but when I went down to that corner, I knew what Paul was talking about immediately, which I think sort of proves his point. Moreover, if you look down about midblock, you'll see a sign that locates the parking ticket dispenser for you.
Let's get another look. These signs are crucial, because unlike a city where parking meters are located at every parking space, you need these signs to be in your face as you drive by. They need to be noticable at eye level and they also need to be simple enough to be read quickly while still containing enough information to deliver the proper message.
This is an ever better view of one. There are letterforms just below the symbols to small to see, but you know at once that you'll be paying to park here. That's just the beauty of hierarchy. And it's at a height that's impossible to miss as you're driving past. We saw many of them as we were driving through. They're almost impossible to miss.
Let's move in real close, and see just what sort of information each sign delivers:
Can it get clearer than that? The questions of what, when, and where is amply answered by the sign, and every intersection has them mounted on every corner showing in the direction every car is likely to be coming in. The symbology even shows you what the shape of the machine it is you have to be looking for.
Here is what that machine looks like, from the street side (you fellow Portlanders already know this):
It's a system that is clear and unambiguous. It pretty much documents itself. Each different parking limit has a distinctive color and very clear signage designed to be seen by a person with normal vision from up to a half block away (as we saw in the first one)
It's so clear that one thinks that even someone from the City of Pasadena could use it. Your mileage, of course, may vary.
Technorati Tags: Portland Street Signs, semiotics, parking signs, Parking in Portland
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