Today I went to a conference in Sacramento. Just outside the city limits, a freeway sign read,
"Placerville 44
Reno 126
Ocean City, MD 3,074"
Unless, for some as yet unknown reason, a sizable contingent of Sacramentians travels regularly to Ocean City, I think this sign offers some insight into Californian governmental dysfunction. What hope have we of achieving legislative cooperation when even the traffic signs are sarcastic?
Showing posts with label Signs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Signs. Show all posts
Thursday, September 20, 2012
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Ominous Signs
"THIS DOOR IS BROKEN."
I've spent several minutes pondering this hand-printed sign, taped to one of the library's doors. When I saw it, I felt disoriented, like I had stepped into a Magritte painting. The sign was obviously providing information, but to what purpose? Simple notification? Complaint? Braggadocio, perhaps?
I imagine someone on the library staff asked someone else on the library staff to put a sign on the door letting people know that the door was broken. But, really, that's not exactly the important point, is it? If you want people to, say, use another door, then perhaps a sign reading "PLEASE USE OTHER DOOR" is in order. Just telling people that one particular door is broken may not be the most effective strategy; indeed, some may see it as a dare.
Burying the lede in journalism is bad enough; in signage, it's inexcusable.
I've spent several minutes pondering this hand-printed sign, taped to one of the library's doors. When I saw it, I felt disoriented, like I had stepped into a Magritte painting. The sign was obviously providing information, but to what purpose? Simple notification? Complaint? Braggadocio, perhaps?
I imagine someone on the library staff asked someone else on the library staff to put a sign on the door letting people know that the door was broken. But, really, that's not exactly the important point, is it? If you want people to, say, use another door, then perhaps a sign reading "PLEASE USE OTHER DOOR" is in order. Just telling people that one particular door is broken may not be the most effective strategy; indeed, some may see it as a dare.
Burying the lede in journalism is bad enough; in signage, it's inexcusable.
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Today Community College Bathrooms, Tomorrow the World!
The sign stood at the entrance to a men's room at our place of employment (not this specific sign, but one with the exact same message). Now, we're all for wet-floor safety. And we appreciate the multi-lingual approach. As our place of employment is a community college in the San Francisco Bay Area, we serve a cosmopolitan melange of bathroom users. And students. These students, though, while they hail from various international locales, are not what you might call German. Neither are the faculty. In fact, the closest the college came to having a German on campus was when Arnold Schwarzenegger passed by on a campaign swing.
Maybe that's why we have those signs. Maybe the college is trying to attract German exchange students!
"Look, Rolf! Zey vant us to kom study here! Zey vant to make sure zat ve do not fall ven making der poo-poos! Forget Heidelberg! Let us to go to zis college instead!"
Today
(Image from Webshots)
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