by Art Chantry ( art@artchantry.com)
granted, these aren’t ‘grocery stores’. but, the difference between these corporate park sign systems and the ‘costco’ or ‘kmart’ signage we all have come to accept is nil. basically, this is what happens when marketing designers and graphic designers (lackeys) and powerful corporate beehives begin to re-structure our culture to fit their profit needs, rather than our societal needs. this changeover really took on momentum int he 1980′s reagan years. that’s about when we finally stopped being american ‘citizens’ in this country and became american ‘consumers’. we’re basically an extension of the corporate structure now. bought and sold and mined like a natural resource. toast….
AC:i certainly WOULDN'T have 'done' any of these solutions. i mean to say, these all look like annual report covers from the late 70's - that peak of generic corporate decor. these all look like they were designed on a flat printed page about the size of a sheets of vellum. stick the logo in the corner and call 'er "dun". man, these really suck - starting with the cement block box structure. does any body ever bother to look at the actual sights any more?
…i think it’s particularly funny to examine all of the camera angles in this layout. the ONBLY way to make them look exciting is with ‘trick photography’. and yet, it STILL doesn’t do the job!! signage has become a label, like on a garment. or a caption on a bad cartoon.like this is what happens when aimless form follows a lack of function….the function is so farsightedly HUGE in range that it becomes blind to the small details it can’t see – like the community that uses it (them pesky natural resources known as ‘consumers.’ ) so, it’s a case of “ill function’ causing more damage than it rewards in profit. like the best of capitalism – it self-destructs. cannibalism.
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