LOOK INSIDE: A Sign is...

A SIGN IS ...

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Copyright © 2025 Jeffrey Ludlow and ORO Editions

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Authors: Jeffrey Ludlow

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Contributors

Ana Suárez-Anta

Alexandre Demaret

Brice Rodriguez

Lara Guivarch

Raquel Fajardo

Marie Bauer

Copyediting

Jaclyn Lewin

Production

Erica Vieira

POR Studio also like to extend our thanks to longtime collaborators and clients whose commissions have supported us through the years, as well as to the many talented designers whose work continues to shape our vision.

Acknowledgements

Many thanks to my wife Erica and son Flynn who endured my absence on weekends while I was writing — as well as far too many conversations on signage. Without their patience and motivation, this book would not have been possible. Thank you also to my parents, who have inspired me to follow in their footsteps of research and writing.

Like many in the field of signage and wayfinding, I consider myself to be an autodidact. Beyond my architectural education, most of my learning has occurred from project to project and from researching, reading, and doing. As part of my efforts over the last 20 years to study and survey signs within a greater context, I have gradually built a personal library of visual references.

Like a DJ with a compulsion for records, I have amassed over 1,000 images — some classic, some new, and some obscure. Professionally, they serve as inspiration and as a catalyst for design conversations with clients. Eventually, I began to share them through the Instagram account @por_research: “A collection of what, who, and where in signage.”

Initially, the Instagram feed was strictly an image resource. I would post three visually related images from different projects that were connected by shape, color, materiality, or theme (cataloged with the year, country, studio, and project name). However, every investigation into an image would push me further down a rabbit hole of new studios, new projects, and new inspirations, filling me with deeper questions regarding signage. Was there an invisible thread connecting these eclectic images from across the globe? What explained the similarities and differences, in international conventions?

The further I dug online the less of substance I found. The internet can be great at showcasing new trends but not so much at carefully archiving design history. I turned to books on signage and wayfinding to find out more about what was behind these signs, and I noticed that they fell into two general categories:

One is the how-to guide on signage — a necessity, given that there is currently no formal education process in the field.A These manuals prepare you for the process of running a wayfinding project, from understanding project phasing to standards for creating successful wayfinding systems.

The other type of book is the round-up of studios working in the discipline, showing all the latest signage design projects and usually divided into categories like urban, cultural, recreation, education, healthcare, etc. These books are also necessary to champion and promote the field of signage and wayfinding, but they do little to explain signage beyond what I had been doing on my Instagram feed.

I especially struggled to find any books dedicated to the sign itself as an object: its roots, its connection to culture, and its visual code. Most of the literary space has been dedicated to wayfinding — odd considering that the term only came into being in 1960, whereas signage has existed since the dawn of organized cities. B

A Most signage and wayfinding professionals stumble into the field from having studied architecture, graphic design, industrial design, or similar.

B The term was coined by American urban theorist Kevin Lynch in the book The Image of the City (1960).

This book is my attempt to uncover the origins and cultural relevance of specific sign types, as well as a meditation on what signs are and what they mean to us today. It is organized into 11 essays, some more historical, others more reflective, and others purely visual. I hope that it may serve as a companion to industry insiders who have interests and questions similar to my own. But it is also meant for the average reader who is curious enough to wonder why things look the way they do in our built environment, how these visual codes and formats originated, and where they might be heading.

In putting together this book, I have found that signage is far from a neutral carrier of messages with no higher purpose than to annotate or orientate us to our correct destination. Reading between the lines of sign messages and designs reveals that there is much more to the simple sign. A sign is the accumulated visual language of navigation and defines how we move through our world, reflecting our histories, motivations, and fears as a society.

A Sign is Orientation

Photos by Ana Suárez-Anta

A Sign is Forbidden

A Sign is Fire Diagrams by Raquel Fajardo

A Sign is Waste Layout by Lara Guivarch

A Sign is Hacked Illustrations by Raquel Fajardo

A Sign is Oversized Modeling by Ana Suárez-Anta

A Sign is That Way Drawings by Raquel Fajardo

A Sign is Affluence Research by Raquel Fajardo

A Sign is Protest Photos by Ana Suárez-Anta

A Sign is Pharmacy Illustrations by Raquel Fajardo

A Sign is Fingerpost Illustrations by Raquel Fajardo

A Sign is Airports Illustrations by Brice Rodriguez & Alexandre Demaret

The

A SIGN IS FORBIDDEN

How regulatory signage reflects cultural norms.

If someone has gone through the trouble of making a sign that says “Don’t defecate in the pool,” you can know for sure that the pool has been compromised at some point. Regulatory signs are the small or large captions on public spaces that inform you of the Dos and Don’ts. Whether or not they are backed by a legal framework, at the very least they point to the invisible norms of societal etiquette. Usually worded in direct language and printed in all caps, they do little to deter or influence behavior. More often, these signs disclose our cultural attitudes toward the use of public space: who can use it, how, and when.

Below is an incomplete list of regulatory and preventive signs from around the world. Some flag minor annoyances and others highlight major issues or divisions that fragment our society. Some are legally enforced with penalties and others are mere suggestions whose only castigation is a judging glance.

OH,NO OH,NO

OH,NO,NO,NO,NO,NO

"Remember (Walkin’ in the Sand)" by The Shangri-Las.

NO PLAY IN PUBLIC SPACES

Usually found in alleyways, driveways, or near public housing, these posted signs derive from the Victorian mindset that children should be seen and not heard. Forbidding ball games and skating --or both-- was once thought to be a good rule for maintaining public spaces and child safety. These signs are slowly falling out of favor as play comes to be seen as a fundamental practice for encouraging children’s mental development, fighting obesity, and reducing screen time.

Enforced:

Period:

Location: No / Suggestive 1970s - 2010

Back alleys and public housing in the U.K.,Canada,and the U.S.

NO GUM CHEWING

During the 1980s in Singapore, chewing gum often got stuck in mailboxes, keyholes, elevator buttons, and the doors of public housing apartments and trains, becoming an expensive and persistent maintenance problem. Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, who aimed to make the country a “first-world oasis in a third-world region”, passed a ban on all chewing gum in 1992. As of 2004, the prohibition has been partially lifted to exclude therapeutic and medicinal products like anti-nicotine gum. The ban remains one of the most well-known aspects of Singaporean life, along with prohibitions on littering, jaywalking, spitting, and public urination.

Enforced: Period:

Location:

Fines of 350-750 USD on the first offense and up to 1,500 USD 1992 - Onward Singapore and the U.S.

POST NO BILLS

Flyposting, or the haphazard plastering of walls with advertisements, became a public visual nuisance starting in the Victorian age. When it was made illegal in many European cities in 1880, walls once covered in advertisements were cleaned and stamped with a “Post No Bills” notice. Laws limiting public advertisement still exist in most modern cities today and this sign continues to do the work of keeping their walls clean.

Enforced:

Location: Yes, often with a fine 1880 - Onward Urban environments on several continents

Period:

Disease transmission via food preparation has been a cause of regional outbreaks throughout history. The quintessential example is Mary Mallon, commonly known as Typhoid Mary, an Irish-born American cook who was patient zero for two typhoid outbreaks in New York City in the early 1900s. Starting in 1992, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Food Code has stated that operators must post a sign near each hand-washing sink to remind employees of hand hygiene. More recently, with the growing influx of Spanish-speaking immigrants working in food service, this sign is now printed bilingually or just in Spanish. For average Americans, it strengthens public trust in restaurants, but for Spanish speakers, who often see it as the only bilingual sign in their workplace, it reinforces invisible class lines, xenophobia, and the harmful stereotypes of unclean immigrants.

Enforced: Period: Location: Yes, can result in immediate termination by the employer 1990s - Onward U.S. restaurants

SMOKING ETIQUETTE

In Japan, smoking is a very common and accepted social behavior, especially given the availability of large amounts of inexpensive tobacco. Japan has adopted sensible yet effective smoking rules to avoid street litter and conflicts with non-smokers. Smoking while walking on the street is frowned upon. Smoking is only allowed in designated smoking areas, even in open-air settings. The proper disposal of ash and cigarette butts is required. These societal norms are reinforced with a series of green and white signs showing the dangers of walking while carrying a hot ash stick in the company of children. Written in short, positive haiku statements, these signs and posters gently advocating for sensible cigarette etiquette are sponsored by Japan Tobacco, the country’s largest tobacco company.

Enforced:

Location: No / Suggestive 2000s - Onward Japan

Period:

NO DRONE ZONE

Before drones were invented, who controlled the air above our heads was of little or no consequence to the common citizen. Few could easily encroach on this space, so it remained relatively free from regulations and divisions. With the popularization of cheap commercial drones used by innocent hobbyists — not to mention those used for more nefarious purposes —new ground signs have popped up to visibly delineate the airspace above. Typically found in controlled areas, they limit the launching and landing of drones within certain premises. Drones can normally fly below 120 meters, but not within the bounds of these signs. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration defines a “No Drone Zone” as an area with temporary flight restrictions. Examples include major sporting events, presidential itineraries, and security-sensitive areas designated by federal agencies.

Enforced: Period: Location: Yes, fines and fees vary per location and event The 2022 Super Bowl carried civil penalties of over 30,000 USD and possible criminal prosecution 2010 - Onward (Since the invention of the DIY drone)

Each U.S. state has its own specific gun laws regulating how and where people can and can’t carry firearms in public spaces. In some more permissive states that allow for nearly unrestricted carrying of concealed weapons, this sign is posted at entrances to designate areas where weapons are prohibited, such as public buildings like courthouses and post offices.

Enforced: Period: Location: Yes, often a misdemeanor punishable with a fine and possible imprisonment, depending on state laws

27 of the 50 U.S. states allow concealed weapons without a permit

NO LOITERING

Loitering — the crime of lingering, hanging out, or sauntering within a public space — is a uniquely American offense. Whereas in Europe it is not frowned upon to spend time in communal spaces, anti-loitering laws in the U.S. date back to the Jim Crow era of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. They were specifically designed to make it possible to legally remove people of color, prostitutes, vagrants, and anyone else deemed unfit from public spaces. Although these laws didn’t explicitly mention race or skin color, in practice they gave police broad license to harass and persecute Black Americans and others for the crime of simply existing in public.

Enforced: Period: Location: Yes, often an excuse for the removal and arrest of socially unwanted characters or activities

Late 19th century - Onward U.S.

JIM CROW SIGNAGE

Following the Civil War, the American South institutionalized and weaponized segregation with a series of local and state laws limiting the movement and opportunities of Black Americans. These laws were codified and made visible through a series of signs indicating which theater entrances, drinking fountains, and bus sections were for whom. For a white Southerner of the time, these signs represented the rules that buttressed and defined genteel society. But for many Black Americans, the signs meant that their very existence was punishable by authorities. Four generations of Southern Black men, women, and children endured the repression and division enforced by these signs until they were finally taken down with the desegregation of the American South during the Civil Rights Movement of the late 1960s. Nowadays, the visual remnants of a segregated South have been whitewashed over, and the role of design in enforcing social regulations — and its potential for oppression — is rarely discussed.

Enforced:

Period:

Location: Yes, often as an excuse for arbitrary arrest

Late 19th century - Late 1960s

U.S. States with Jim Crow laws

The side of the Crescent Theatre in Belzoni, Mississippi in 1939.

A SIGN IS FIRE

The four catastrophes that influenced fire safety signs.

Stroll the corridors of any building and you’re certain to see a sign with a red or green arrow accompanied by a pictogram and the word EXIT. Designed to light up in the dark, these signals point to the nearest escape with the directness and neutrality that we have come to expect from statutory signage. But behind each one lies a morbidly grim history of fire catastrophes and their close relationship to the development of building codes.A Fire is one of architecture’s biggest, and oldest, adversaries. Just a few tiny embers have the potential to ignite blazes that can swallow up whole buildings if left uncontrolled. Yet, despite this constant societal threat, organized modern firefighting as a paid profession didn’t come into existence until the 19th century.B

As buildings expanded in complexity and size during the Industrial Age, fire departments also started becoming more professional. New formats like the skyscraper not only grew in height but in flammable surface area that was well out of reach from the ground. Gone were the days of straw-hatch roof fires on twostory homes easily put out with a water bucket. Fire departments met these new challenges with technological adaptations: taller ladders, longer hoses, chemical extinguishers, etc. But it wasn’t until after the

A Building codes are laws that set minimum requirements regulating how building systems such as structure, plumbing, heating, and ventilation must be designed and constructed.

B Firefighting first started in the 18th century with volunteer corps who were notorious for arriving late and lacking the equipment needed to extinguish a blaze. Because they demanded payment for their services, many citizens avoided calling them altogether.

Great Chicago Fire of 1871, which reduced a third of the city to cinders, that building codes emerged as the key tool in fire safety. As fire departments improved their equipment and methods, building codes were beefed up to prevent and reduce the loss of life and property. Initially, fire codes were limited to regulating the spacing between buildings. Over time, they would evolve to reflect our accumulated understanding of flammability within certain building typologies and how to escape under duress. With each major fire disaster, building codes were revisited, rewritten, and improved upon. Even with the significant volume of codes we have today, these standards are still continually evolving and learning, one tragedy at a time.

Below are the four fires that had the greatest impact on fire and building codes.C Some of these changes are imperceptible but others have forever altered the look and feel of our buildings’ corridors, stairs, and doorways.

C Although these fires occurred in the U.S., they led to the creation of local and national building code standards that went on to be adopted internationally through the International Code Council and National Fire Protection Association.

TIMELINE

1672 The first fire hose was developed by Dutch artist Jan Van der Heyden.

1678 The first fire engine company was founded in Boston, followed by one in London in 1690.

1723 The first fire extinguisher on record was patented in England by Ambrose Godf rey.

1725 The first horse-drawn fire truck appeared.

1733 The French Government made firefighting a free service, rather than a paid one.

1799 A ladder was added to a fire truck, allowing firefighters to reach the second and third stories of buildings.

1818 The modern fire extinguisher was invented by British Captain George William Manby.

1853 The first professional fire department with 100% paid employees was founded in Cincinnati, Ohio.

1857 The first patent for a fire alarm was approved.

1865 Government-run fire departments were established in the U.S. following the end of the Civil War.

1863 The first self-contained breathing apparatus was invented by Scottish firefighter James Braidwood by joining two rubber-lined canvas bags.

1868 The American firefighter Daniel D. Hayes invented the extension ladder mounted to the top of a ladder truck, capable of reaching greater heights.

1870 The American Philip Pratt invented the first automatic sprinkler system.

1871 The Great Chicago Fire resulted in the creation of fire and building codes.

1887 The American Anna Connelly patented the first exterior fire escape to save lives in multi-story buildings.

1903 Iroquois Theater fire / Chicago (↗ p.48 – 53)

1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire / New York (↗ p.54 – 59)

1942 Cocoanut Grove fire / Boston (↗ p.60 – 65)

1958 Our Lady of the Angels School fire / Chicago (↗ p.66 – 71)

1980 MGM Grand fire / Las Vegas (↗ p.72 – 77)

1980 Nearly 97% of all North American cities had 911 service available.

1980 Firefighter uniforms were lined with fire-resistant materials such as Kevlar and Nomex.

1987 Yukio Ota’s design for the Running Man exit sign was adopted by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).

Chicago in ruins after the Great Fire of 1871.

American firefighter rushing into conflict.

Smoke helmets, based on the principle of a deep-sea diver's breathing system ca. 1930.

Fire engine from around 1920.

Clerkenwell fire station crew wearing the proto-breathing apparatus in 1908.

Firefighting water pump ca. 1850.

1943 Patent for a fire hose.

1921 Patent for a sprinkler.

1921 Patent for fireman's helmet.

1982 Patent for an exit light.

IROQUOIS THEATER

December 30, 1903

During a musical matinee with a packed house, a lighting element ignited a stage curtain and started a fire that lasted just 20 minutes. However, since 27 of the 30 entrance/exit doors were locked during the show, 602 people died from stampeding and smoke inhalation inside. The fire would inform some of the most trusted and referenced fire codes for theaters and other public occupancy buildings and is still considered one of the deadliest building fires on record.

Front page of the Chicago Tribune, December 31, 1903.

Building Type: Theater / Body Count: 602

Closed and incomplete ventilator, prohibited any escape of smoke. Exit doors to the foyer and other exits had Bascule locks, making them difficult to open.

Fire sequence diagram.

Exterior of the Iroquois Theatre, Chicago, Illinois, 1903.

IROQUOIS THEATER

Cutaway drawing of the Iroquois Theatre in Chicago with the panicked audience trying to flee the onset of the Iroquois Theatre fire.

Investigation after the fire, viewing ruins, Chicago, Illinois, ca. January 1904.

View towards the stage from the upper balconies.

Building Type: Theater / Body Count: 602

Changes due to the fire:

[A] Limits on maximum seating capacity

[B] Improved paths of egress

[C] Exit markings along egress paths

[D] Continuously lit exit signs

[E] Emergency power for emergency lights and exit signs

[F] Improvements to exit doors including the invention of panic bars

Illuminated exit sign patent.

Door exit push bar patent.

Building Type: Theater / Body Count: 602

DO NOT BLOCK FIRE EXITS

TRIANGLE SHIRTWAIST FACTORY

March 25, 1911

A scrap bin in a 10-story factory ignited a fire that migrated to the floors above. Because there was no alarm system, many employees were unaware of the blaze and became trapped on the roof and on a flimsy fire escape that eventually collapsed. 146 people died from asphyxiation, burns, and blunt force trauma while trying to get out. It was also pivotal to the adoption of designated escape routes within building codes. The fire was also a catalyst for labor unions to start lobbying for safer working conditions in factories and industrial buildings.

Front page of the New York Times, March 26, 1911.

Building Type: Factory / Body Count: 146

Fire sequence illustration from the Boston Morning Journal, March 27, 1911.

Fire trucks focusing on 8th, 9th and 10th floors of the 10-story Asch Building.

TRIANGLE SHIRTWAIST FACTORY

Some of the Asch Building's collapsed fire escape ladders and balconies blocked by window shutters.

People who jumped or fell from windows above.

Close-up view of the broken fire escape where many fell to their death.

Building Type: Factory / Body Count: 146

Changes due to the fire:

[A] Stricter construction standards and more restrictions on fire escapes

[B] Mandatory fire-drill training

[C] Improved egress from highrise buildings

[D] Sprinkler systems

[E] Fire alarms become standard use

Fire hose cabinet patent.

Fire alarm patent.

IN CASE OF FIRE EXITS

Building Type: Factory / Body Count: 146

AVISADOR SONORO

November 28, 1942

The newly remodeled and popular Boston nightclub had been inspected by the Fire Department just eight days prior when a fire caught in the basement. The blaze burned quickly through the flammable finishes and decorations that had been installed as part of the recent renovation. That evening, 292 of the 1,000 attendees died from the flames and another 200 were trampled to death attempting to escape from the single entrance/exit, a jammed revolving door. The fire would lead to scientific improvements in our understanding of the flammability of building finishes and highlighted the importance of outswing doors.

Front page of the Boston Daily Globe, November 30, 1942.

Building Type: Nightclub / Body Count: 492

Entrance and marquee after the fire.

Fire sequence illustration from the Boston Morning Journal, March 27, 1911.

COCOANUT GROVE

First responders.

Post-fire view of the Caricature Bar.

Pile of chairs and tables.

Building Type: Nightclub / Body Count: 492

Changes due to the fire:

[A] Outswing doors

[B] Fire suppression systems

[C] Collapsible revolving doors

[D] Number of exit doors

[E] Battery-operated emergency lighting

[F] Exit access width

[G] Construction materials

[H] Limitations on interior furnishings

[I] Improvement to the NFPA Life Safety Code

Smoke detection patent.

Sprinkler patent.

Building Type: Nightclub / Body Count: 492

FIRE HYDRANT

OUR LADY OF THE ANGELS SCHOOL

A fire started in the basement of this school and quickly overtook the building, due to a lack of alarms and improperly installed equipment. The blaze spread through the main corridor, making escape impossible and ultimately resulting in 95 casualties, 92 of which were students. This led to the overhauling and mandating of school fire safety regulations throughout the country and the reinspection of over 1,000 schools to ensure compliance.

Front page of the Chicago Daily Tribune, December 2, 1958.

Building Type: Elementary School / Body Count: 95

gases, heat, and smoke from the fire rise, expanding across the second floor hallway.

Fire originates at the foot of the basement stairwell.

Fire sequence diagram.

Smoke from the hallway seeps into the classrooms as the accumulated heat reaches downward, flames enter the classrooms as the fire intensifies.

Dense smoke rolls from Our Lady of the Angels grade school at 909 N. Avers Ave.

OUR LADY OF THE ANGELS SCHOOL

View of the school entrance during the fire.

A clock found in the debris is stopped around the time the Chicago Fire Department got the alarm for the fire.

A Sacred Heart of Jesus statue rests in the debris of the west hallway on the second floor.

Building Type: Elementary School / Body Count: 95

Changes due to the fire:

[A] Requirement for fire alarms in all schools

[B] Automatic sprinkler systems

[C] Self-closing outswing exit doors

[D] Fire-rated doors at exit stairwells

[E] Maximum heights for egress windows

[F] Fire separations and fire-resistance rating

[G] Dedicated emergency lighting

Pull station fire alarm patent.

Sprinkler patent.

OUR LADY OF THE ANGELS SCHOOL

Building Type: Elementary School / Body Count: 95

MGM GRAND FIRE

November 21,

Standing tall on the Las Vegas strip, the MGM Grand was an un-sprinklered 26-story hotel with over 2,000 rooms. A fire began in the early morning in one of the lobby restaurants and spread rapidly due to the lack of fire separations and a ventilation system that fed the smoke and fire throughout the hotel floors. Of the 85 people who died, only one was reported to have suffered from burns alone — nearly all the casualties succumbed to smoke inhalation and carbon monoxide poisoning. This proved that the smoke from a fire could be as deadly as the fire itself. Today it is considered the third deadliest hotel fire in U.S. history.

Front page of the Los Angeles Times, November 21, 1980.

Building Type: Hotel / Body Count: 85

Fire sequence diagram.

Smoke travels up stairs and elevators

Fire originates at The Deli diner Casino roof

The massive fireball blows through the glass doors of the main entrance. The covered main entrance is engulfed in flames. Direction

Smoke rising from the MGM Grand.

MGM GRAND FIRE

Smoke plumes.

A survivor airlifted out by helicopter.

Two people looking out of broken windows during the MGM Grand fire.

Building Type: Hotel / Body Count: 85

Changes due to the fire:

[A] Mandatory sprinkler systems in buildings of a size or number of stories

[B] Smoke detectors in rooms and elevators

[C] Exit maps posted in all hotel rooms

[D] Provisions to limit the movement and spread of smoke

Exit sign patent.

Smoke detector patent - 1989.

Building Type: Hotel / Body Count: 85

In case of fire break glass

Cities have always been at the intersection of capitalism and density.

The marketplaces and bazaars in the ancient cities of Mesopotamia are evidence of this.

What lets you know you’re in the heart of a bustling city today?

Is it the sensory overload of

sights, sounds, and smells?

Or is it the visual presence of tempting advertisements with the latest in consumer desire?

Over here is the bus stop burger ad where the font and cheese melt into one.

A

stroll through the urban environment is not unlike turning off the ad blockers on your web browser and...

... swimming upstream into the full force of capitalist messaging in slow motion.

Ask anyone to describe the urban context

buildings, noise,

and they will speak of and advertising signs

Is a city even a city without OOH advertising?

It’s estimated that the average person encounters around 400-1,000 advertisements each day.

These include banner ads, audio spots, TV commercials, and targeted publicity on social media.

Of all the ads bombarding us, the ones we see are the most impactful.

out in the world

the more likely they are to identify with

The more a consumer sees a brand and recall the brand when making purchasing decisions.

It’s no wonder start-ups have often been known to buy billboards close to venture capital firms.

TRANSPORTATION

Brands are advised to allocate 5% to 13% of their ad spending to OOH.

BILLBOARDS BUILDINGS

STREET FURNITURE

STREET FURNITURE

TRANSPORTATION

(Successful brands allocate 13% of media budgets to OOH)

90%

of U.S. residents aged 16 and older report remembering at least one OOH ad in the past month.

(Williams Nielsen: "Out-of-Home Advertising Study")

OOH is so successful that it already occupies our future.

In sci-fi narratives, OOH signals to audiences that capitalism is here to stay.

JC Decaux is the industry leader in OOH with around 145,000 billboards globally, making it one of the world’s biggest landlords in two dimensions.

In Europe, there are between 2 and 8 million billboards at any time, and that figure is growing.

* (Breva-Franch et al. "Sustainable Outdoor Advertising: A professional point of view from Spain")

A billboard’s shelf life is typically between

two weeks two months. &

Before it is disposed of…

More than 6 million square meters of billboard paper goes to waste every two weeks.

* (Breva-Franch et al. "Sustainable Outdoor Advertising: A professional point of view from Spain")

The paper is not recycled, the ink is not environmentally friendly, and the glue is toxic.

Ambitious sustainability

solutions do exist, but rarely do people connect

with advertising

environmentalism and signage.

How could something just a few millimeters thick be so harmful to our planet?

There is not enough upcycling to offset the amount of discarded print accruing in landfills.

It’s time for consumers, designers, and marketers to become more conscious of the impact of this type of advertising.

And it's nearly impossible to recycle due to the toxic laminates and inks within.

It’s time to hold the OOH empires responsible for their wasteful advertising.

and JC Decaux

Clear Channel

are the two largest OOH global companies.

Koolhaas, R. "Junk space." London: MIT press.

A SIGN IS HACKED

The sliding scale of sign interference.

In the spring of 2007, drivers in Cambridge, Massachusetts saw some surprising messages on a construction sign at the intersection of Vassar and Main Streets. Students from the nearby M.I.T. campus — known for its long history of pranks and practical jokes — had hacked into the system that controls the messages scrolling across the sign’s LED panel. This benign caper would inspire hackers and pranksters far and wide to exploit this type of device, known as Variable Message Signs (VMS), Dynamic Message Signs (DMS), or Changeable Message Signs (CMS).

Even if you don’t know the technical names for them, you’ve certainly driven past countless VMS announcing road closings and construction areas. Usually consisting of an LED panel connected to a wheeled base, they inform drivers of real-time road conditions while enhancing safety and travel in designated work zones. Their popularity is easy to understand, construction companies prefer them over paying a person to stand with a static message board. Newer mobile VMS models are networked and often display real-time data on driver speed, congestion, and weather conditions.

The M.I.T. students’ 2007 VMS prank was relatively unique compared to other milestones in the brief history of modern hacking. A similar tactic is a broadcast signal intrusion, in which an official television or radio signal is temporarily commandeered. This most famously occurred in 1987 when regularly scheduled programming was interrupted by a creepy image of the Max Headroom character spouting nonsense and spanking a French maid. It may have been odd, immature, and unnerving, but it was no amateur hack; it took someone with expertise in broadcast transmissions to pull it off. That’s no surprise — since its earliest days, hacking has always combined a juvenile prankster mindset with a high level of technological fluency.

M.I.T. has a pranking tradition dating back to 1930.

On the evening of November 22, 1987, viewers of WGN TV - Chicago would have seen the first broadcast signal interference at 9:14 p.m., lasting 25 seconds. In an elaborate prank that became a legendary moment, a creepy Max Headroom mask appeared spouting nonsense and spanking a French maid.

Articles chronicling the rise and humor of VMS hacks from 2007-2016.

MAKEZINE 2009

JALOPNIK 2009

By comparison, the M.I.T. VMS hack was a walk in the park. An aspiring hacker just had to force open the device’s back panel with a screwdriver, where they would find a small keyboard. The factory-default password of “DOTS” usually remained unchanged, giving the intruder access to the message scrolling on the LED board above. Because it was so simple and apparently harmless, the tactic quickly spread among bloggers, Redditors, and YouTubers. Hacked VMS devices suddenly started popping up all across North America.

Factory-default password to many VMS models.

2007

ICS-CERT alerts of Daktronics DMS vulnerability U.S. presidential election triggers upturn in hacks VOTE DONALD TRUMP BERNIE FOR PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP IS A... SHAPE SHIFTING LIZARD HILLARY FOR PRISION NO LATINOS NO TACOS TRAYVON A N% ” @*% F%$ ” RIGHT IN THE P@ ≠ %$ READ A F*@$&% BOOK LICK MY P$@%$ HEY NICE D ≠ %$ NO TEARS FOR DEAD COPS OU STILL SUCKS FREE H ≠ $ ≠ % THIS SIGN HAS BEEN HACKED TRAPPED IN SIGN FACTORY RAPTORS AHEAD CAUTION DAILY LANE CLOSURES DUE TO ZOMBIES CAUTION! ZOMBIES! AHEAD!!! JALOPNIK RULES ZOMBIE ATTACK!! EVACUATE BEWARE! ZOMBIES AHEAD ENTERING BAT COUNTRY EAT MY SHORTS AWWW YEAHHH! ME GUSTA POOP ZOMBIES! AHEAD VAMPIRES PLEASE BEWARE OMG THE BRITISH ARE COMING ROGUE PANDA ON RAMPAGE WARNING ZOMBIES AHEAD SMOKE WEED ERRYDAY CAUTION LOOSE GORILLA! WARNING DALEKS AHEAD MAGIC IS REAL GET NAKED! SMOKE WEED ERVYDAY HACK BY SUN HACKER ASSVILLE NEXT LEFT 2861 KILLERS WARNING! DINOSAUR ON LOOSE SMOKE WEED EVERYDAY WORK IS CANCELLED GO BACK HOME

2014 2016 2009

First hack recorded Jalopnik releases DMS hacking instructions

of VMS Hacks.

2011

PRANK FOUL LANGUAGE POLITICAL / RACIST

Timeline

Initially, the pranksters amused themselves with messages warning of imminent zombie attacks or rogue pandas, the sought-after result being no more than an innocuous double-take. But the jokes slowly devolved into more polarized, political, and offensive messages, especially following the acrimonious 2016 election season in the U.S. and the rise of hate crimes and xenophobia.

BERNIE FOR PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP IS A... SHAPE SHIFTING

TRUMP HAS HERPES %@$ ≠ FOR VOTING THAT %@$ ≠ HILLARY FOR PRISION IF YOU DON ’ T VOTE FOR TRUMP F@$ ≠ Y(&% F@$ ≠ TRUMP ABOLISH ICE LETS GO BRANDON IMPEACH THE BASTARD TRUMP 2020 B ≠ %$ GORILLA DESERVED IT HAVE A S ≠ %$ MORNING SLOW THE F@$ ≠ DOWN CAUTION ASIAN DRIVERS H ≠ $ ≠ % F@$ ≠ THEM ALL HAIL HITLER DELCO F

%$ JS S ≠ %$ DC A%@$ ≠ @$ ON BIKES HONK IF YOU HATE N%% ¢ #@ ÷ ALL COPS HAVE SMALL PEEPEES WORK IS CANCELLED GO BACK HOME SEND NUDES PLZ SEND NUDES ZOMBIES AHEAD!! RUN!!!! THANKS A LOT STACY NOW I HAVE HERPES DO YOU WANT TO SPEAK TO A MANAGER KAREN? COVID WAS A HOAX SEND NUDES

2019

2022 2017

ADDCO* vice president describes DMS hacks as “fairly common” presidential triggers hacks

DMS in N.Y.C. are repeatedly hacked despite all protective measures

17-year-old hacker charged with aggravated breach of peace for racial slur BAN CAR STOP DRIVING UBER ABUSES LABOR CARS ARE DEATH MACHINES CARS KILL

Caution! Zombies! Ahead !!

Location: Austin, Texas

Date: January 26, 2009

Godzilla Attack! - Turn Back

Location: San Francisco, California

Date: May 15, 2014

Work is Canceled - Go Back Home

Location: Dallas, Texas

Date: May 31, 2016

Panda on Rampage

Location: Tucson, Arizona

Date: August 23, 2011

Rogue

Omg The British r coming

Location: Austin, Texas

Date: Feb 7, 2009

Donald Trump is a …Shape-shifting lizard!!

Location: Dallas, Texas

Date: May 31, 2016

Expect Harsh Farts

Location: Durham, North Carolina

Date: June 30, 2016

Bernie for President

Location: Dallas, Texas

Date: May 31, 2016

Eat my Shorts

Location: N/A

Date: N/A

Location: Portland, Oregon

Date: July 18, 2018

Abolish ICE

2011 2009 First hack recorded Jalopnik releases DMS hacking instructions Reddit releases DMS hacking instructions NO LATINOS NO TACOS TRAYVON A N% ” @*% THIS SIGN HAS BEEN HACKED TRAPPED IN SIGN FACTORY RAPTORS AHEAD CAUTION DAILY LANE CLOSURES DUE TO ZOMBIES CAUTION! ZOMBIES! AHEAD!!! JALOPNIK RULES ZOMBIE ATTACK!! EVACUATE BEWARE! ZOMBIES AHEAD ENTERING BAT COUNTRY EAT MY SHORTS AWWW YEAHHH! ME GUSTA POOP ZOMBIES! AHEAD VAMPIRES PLEASE BEWARE OMG THE BRITISH ARE COMING ROGUE PANDA ON RAMPAGE WARNING ZOMBIES AHEAD SMOKE WEED ERRYDAY CAUTION LOOSE GORILLA! WARNING DALEKS AHEAD MAGIC IS REAL GET NAKED! SMOKE WEED ERVYDAY

Cars kill kids, cars melt glaciers, cars ruin cities, stop driving! Get rid of your car, honking won’t help, cars are death machines, use bus, subway, or bike!

Location: Brooklyn, New York

Date: October 7, 2019

2011 2009 First hack recorded Jalopnik releases DMS hacking instructions Reddit releases DMS hacking instructions NO LATINOS NO TACOS TRAYVON A N% ” @*% THIS SIGN HAS BEEN HACKED TRAPPED IN SIGN FACTORY RAPTORS AHEAD CAUTION DAILY LANE CLOSURES DUE TO ZOMBIES CAUTION! ZOMBIES! AHEAD!!! JALOPNIK RULES ZOMBIE ATTACK!! EVACUATE BEWARE! ZOMBIES AHEAD ENTERING BAT COUNTRY EAT MY SHORTS AWWW YEAHHH! ME GUSTA POOP ZOMBIES! AHEAD VAMPIRES PLEASE BEWARE OMG THE BRITISH ARE COMING ROGUE PANDA ON RAMPAGE WARNING ZOMBIES AHEAD SMOKE WEED ERRYDAY CAUTION LOOSE GORILLA! WARNING DALEKS AHEAD MAGIC IS REAL GET NAKED! SMOKE WEED ERVYDAY

Send Nudes

Location: Louisville, Kentucky

Date: January 9, 2020

Thanks a lot Stacy - Now I have Herpes

Location: Corpus Christi, Texas

Date: January 10, 2021

Although no reported accidents have been officially attributed to VMS intrusions, they do contribute to the modern phenomena of distracted driving in designated work zones. The U.S. saw a 24.5% increase in highway worker fatalities between 2010-2017 and accidents in designated work zones accounted for 859 deaths in 2020, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (FHWA Work Zone Facts and Statistics). A subsequent study released in 2021 in the International Journal of Transportation Science and Technology made no direct corollary between compromised VMS and accidents, but it did conclude that the devices have a favorable effect on road safety when used in the right conditions with appropriate messages (Ermagun et al. “Speed Up to Hit the Worker”: Impact Of Hacked Road Signs On Work Zone Safety). VMS significantly reduces driving speeds in construction zones, which is a strong indicator of low crash frequency and reduced severity of traffic accidents.

As the number of these hacks has grown, the perpetrators’ ambitions have expanded in pace. In 2014, a prankster by the name of Sun Hacker commandeered five overhead LED interstate signs, a step up from the usual mobile VMS devices. Sun Hacker detailed his method on Twitter: “Change the lan of VPN to INTERNET protocol. Scan all the range of the IP on port 23. Bruteforce the password. Add your message.”

May 30th, 2014, North Carolina Highway.

Joker quote from the 2008 film "The Dark Knight."

Although this hack was considerably more sophisticated than the M.I.T. students’ screwdriver caper, Sun Hacker exploited the same weak point as the earlier pranks: using an unchanged factory-default password to gain entrance. But this time it happened remotely. Federal agencies finally began to take concern. Unlike messages on isolated construction signage, this intrusion penetrated a network of digital signs spanning thousands of miles of federal interstate highway, exposing an unseen vulnerability. It also laid bare how thin the line is between a local prank and state sabotage. Following the Sun Hacker incident, the Department of Homeland Security quickly raised any intrusion into highway LED signs to a felony-level infraction. Meddling with construction work-zone LED signs, however, is still considered to be a local act of vandalism rather than hacking with a capital "H".

The defacement of signage is anything but new. Ever since the first road signs began to appear, a mischievous spirit of vandalism has followed on their heels.

This cat-and-mouse game between those who set and impose societal rules and those who thumb their nose at them will continue regardless of whether the signs are digital or static.

Images from a YouTube video: Hacking the highway traffic signs.@ Bas Welling YouTube.

However, highways are the logistical arteries of a country, moving and connecting resources and people, so interfering with roadside messages can be considered a targeted form of sabotage. In fact, signage has long been used to dissuade and confuse invading forces in military conflicts.

A vandalized static sign gets its message across by highlighting the contrast between an imperfect tag or damage and the factorybuilt design. But when a digital device is intruded upon, the tone and absurdity — rather than the visual cues of the medium — are what clue us in. For example…

ROGUE PANDA ON RAMPAGE

Even if the local zoo had serious containment issues, the Transportation Department would never use the word “rampage” to describe it.

It may seem like needless panic to equate local vandalism to sabotage, but with natural disasters like fires, floods, and storms becoming ever more common, it’s never been more critical for emergency evacuations to be carried out with clarity and order. Likewise, the potential for large-scale military conflicts grows more likely as global superpowers continue to wage covert hacking operations against each other, often targeting national infrastructure. Transportation signage is a minuscule but functional part of that infrastructure and should be considered a vulnerability, especially when it is networked to the internet. Signage is an odd field where direct messaging and precise wayfinding are expected and trusted, but not applauded. When failures do occur, they do not go unnoticed. Under the duress of an emergency, incorrect wayfinding and messaging could have catastrophic potential.

Classic static road sign vandalism.

Ukrainians removed or changed road signs to sabotage and confuse invading Russian forces who had limited mobile phone coverage. Here the Hauge is written three times.

In uncertain times, we can hardly afford lax security on networked road signs. For now, we can hope that the password security of digital signage will be improved via two-factor authentication. Government agencies have advised — though not mandated — that manufacturers of electronic highway devices take defensive measures to tighten security. Perhaps a more viable solution would be limiting the use of digital signage to construction purposes and continuing to rely on static signs for other road conditions. At least then we could more easily read and appreciate the humor, bravery, and artistry of our local vandals.

Burnt cars along a roadside outside Paradise, California, overrun by flames as fleeing residents jammed the route to safety in 2018.

A SIGN IS OVERSIZED

The cultural evolution of large-format eye-catchers.

Look over here!

From a distance, architecture serves as the best beacon to let people know there’s something worth looking at.

Whether it’s an entire structure built specifically to draw attention to itself, like the Eiffel Tower, or a sky sign mounted to the roof of a building, architecture and large-format signage have always been co-dependent.

Between 1925 and 1934, the Eiffel Tower featured illuminated advertisements for Citroën on three of its sides.

As buildings stretched into skyscrapers and cars got faster in the early 20th century, advertising to potential customers from a distance and at high speeds became a commercial necessity.

Look at this!

The tops of tall buildings were vast swaths of valuable unused space, perfect for displaying big, bold messages. Signs constructed from letterforms welded to scaffolding structures became iconic elements of mid-century cityscapes.

Rosslyn Hotel in downtown Los Angeles.

Is the building the sign? Or does the building need a sign?

Although

it was not the first sky sign to appear on top of a building, the heart-shaped sign installed on the roof of the Rosslyn Hotel in downtown Los Angeles is by far the most famous and still exists today. Picture taken in 1942.

Rear View Of "The Leaders of the World" Collosal Electric Display.Picture taken New York ca. 1910.

As buildings shot upward, it became difficult to read sky signs from the ground below without awkwardly craning the neck. So large-format signs came back down to earth, morphing into self-contained structures along roadsides and highways. These freestanding signs sometimes matched the design style of their accompanying buildings, but other times they featured their own optimistic and streamlined architectural language, echoing the quirky vision of a space-age future.

Eventually, these attention-seeking, individualistic signs marking a singular destination would devolve into their current version: a mundane list of businesses in front of mixed-use locations and strip malls. Formerly expressive

Popularized in Southern California between 1945 and 1970, futuristic signs influenced by the space-age advertised motels, coffee houses, gas stations, drive-in theaters, and the like.

sculptures became nothing more than a functional stack of names, decorated — not unlike a gravestone — with the occasional curved top or pediment.

The 1980s and the decades that followed saw the invasion of big-box retail, eclipsing the mom-and-pop stores of Main Street, U.S.A. With wide selections of merchandise, low prices, and vast supply networks, chains like Walmart, Home Depot, Best Buy, and BJ’s drove hordes of small local retailers out of business. The outward appearance of these

behemoths — resembling a giant box — is what gave them their name.

Occupying north of 4,650 square meters, their non-descript structures were built for universal efficiency at inexpensive locations on the outskirts

Standing taller than most other roadside signs, pylons are a testament to the diversity of stores found within a single parking lot.

of towns. What would harken shoppers from their beloved downtown streets to these new peripheral retail experiences? The answer came in a triangular sign known as a three-sided unipole.

A unipole, or monopole, is a huge advertisement mounted to a single steel pole or column, usually installed in front of a megastore. The sign’s effectiveness is enhanced by a doublesided billboard bearing the business name and logo. A three-sided unipole ups the ante with a triangular display visible from afar in 360 degrees. A typical three-sided unipole is taller than the average store, often three or four stories high, making it an engineering feat unto itself. It is supported on a concrete foundation

A typical unipole ranges from 91.4-183 cm in diameter and up to 30.5 m tall.

dimensioned to guarantee stability in high winds. A cylindrical mast one to two meters in diameter made from steel tube segments rises from the sturdy base. A metal web structure spans out from the mast top to create the triangular crown.

The most recognizable example is the IKEA sign, but the unipole construction method is common to nearly all large highway billboards thanks to its simplicity and affordability. Despite the ubiquity of these signs, they are subject to little cultural commentary — in stark contrast to the attention lavished on the large-format signs of the 1960s and 1970s as a metaphor for postmodernism in art and architecture.

In 1968, the American author and

A typical three-sided unipole.

journalist Tom Wolfe published an article in New York magazine about the "Electro-graphic Architecture of Roadside Signs in California," championing the extravagance of neon signs as the new vernacular of transportation. Not long afterward, Venturi, Scott Brown, and Izenour

published their seminal book on the architecture of the Las Vegas Strip, exploring the new terrain of commerce and the relationship between signs and buildings. Through its analysis of signs, the book was credited with fostering the development of the postmodern vocabulary and aesthetics. However, it turned out to be a brief and short-lived pinnacle for the greater cultural interest in oversized signage. Decades after the publication of Learning from Las Vegas, the large-format sign is now nothing more than the physical subtext of retail within the panorama of a highway landscape. Whereas roadside signs were once

Learning from Las Vegas, by Robert Venturi, Denise Scott Brown, and Steven Izenour, was published in 1972 and has subsequently been translated into 18 languages.

the leading feature in the hyperarchitecture of desire — and a symbol of 1960s-1970s postmodernism — today they have become a mere cog within our algorithm-driven massattention economic machine, dedicated to the banal purpose of holding up a corporate logo against the unremarkable horizon.

Diagram updates to Learning from Las Vegas

Three-sided Monopole.

Three-sided Monopole x3.

Three-sided Monopole x3.

Three-sided Monopole - Stacked.

Three-sided Monopole - Stacked.

Four-sided Monopole - Stacked.

A SIGN IS THAT WAY

A brief visual history of the modern arrow.

→ A right angle with two equal arms, rotated 45 degrees, and met at its vertex with a longer tail.

The modern arrow is a simple and elegant visual solution to indicating direction by orientation. Look just about anywhere and you’re likely to find one. From managing traffic on highways to guiding our eyes on screens to pointing “this way up” on packages, the arrow is the most ubiquitous and under-considered symbol in our contemporary visual vocabulary.

A world without the modern arrow would be overstuffed with descriptive writing. Imagine the amount of additional text that would clutter up common elements like:

⟳ Child-proof caps on medicines:

“Turn clockwise to open”

↓ Websites: “Keep scrolling down”

↱ Road signs: “Turn left in 20 meters”

⥃ Airport multi-directional signs: “Gates ahead, bathrooms to the right”

However prevalent the modern → is now, i

However prevalent the modern → is now, it didn't come into existence until the mid-to-late 19th century. Prior to its adoption as a means of indicating orientation, the symbol denoted the physical bow-and-arrow weapon. Later, scientists and mathematicians turned to the arrow as a way to represent vectors and movement in a concise and standardized way. It wasn’t until the 20th century, with the arrival of the car and highway travel, that the global culture as a whole began to unanimously drift toward the → we know today.

Looking back through the history of this simple figure, we can watch as the hardworking arrow sheds its earlier flourishes and evolves into what it now seemed predestined to be.

2. PHEON: Heraldic broad arrow with plain barbs 14th century

(02) Pheon – 14th century

A stylized representation of a metal arrowhead, also known as the British broad arrow, was originally used in English heraldry before becoming the British Government and military’s default symbol for marking government property.

(01) Ephesus foot – 1st century C.E.

The Ephesus Foot was carved into the Roman Marble Road in the ancient town of Ephesus, Turkey. Pointing to a hidden brothel, it is considered to be the first advertisement and the first arrow.

(03) Manicule – 1530

Initially found in handwritten margin notes in Bibles, manicules were first designed within a typographic system by French typographer Claude Garamond. Numerous modifications and reinterpretations have followed.

(04) Joseph Izod fingerpost – 1669

Used to direct carriage traffic, this road sign has cartoonish fingers that point to the nearest towns. The oldest surviving fingerpost is located in Chipping Campden, U.K.

(05) Chevrony – 1637

Before becoming a direction indicator, chevrons were first used as heraldry symbols by the Grysperre family representing the municipality of Avry, Switzerland.

(06) Bélidor’s arrow – 1773

One of the first vector representations appeared in the French engineer Bernard Forest de Bélidor’s treatise "Hydraulic Architecture," in which an arrow indicates the flow of water and the direction of a waterwheel’s rotation.

Nizioleto: Venice Yellow Sign with Arrow. Circa 1810

7. Nizioleto: Venice Yellow Sign with 8. Emile Reich Maps 1903 07 08 09

Emile Reich Maps 1903

with Arrow. Circa 1810

(07) Nizioleti arrow – 1797

During the Austrian Republic’s control of Venice, official street names and directional signage with arrows were mandated throughout the city’s watery labyrinth.

(08) Emil Reich map – 1903

Hungarian essayist Emil Reich used arrows to represent military movements in A New Student’s Atlas of English History.

(09) London Underground – 1916

Edward Johnston created this directional arrow as part of his typeface design for the London Underground.

(10) Hilbert arrow – 1922

German David Hilbert introduced the arrow symbol into mathematics to represent logical implications.

(11) Klee arrow – 1922

In German artist Paul Klee’s Pedagogical Sketchbook, the arrow is prevalent in diagrams and painted works, eventually becoming a visual influence on other Bauhaus students like Herbert Bayer.

(12) Dow arrow – 1929

George Dow’s use of an arrow and dots on the London North Eastern Railway Map set the standard for transit maps going forward.

11. Paul Klee

xz pq

10. In 1922, German mathematician David Hilbert introduces arrow symbol

11. Paul Klee

(14) “This way up” arrow – 1947

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) released its first standards manual complete with arrows for designating orientation on packaging.

(13) FHWA arrow – 1935

First published in a manual by the newly formed U.S. Federal Highway Administration, this arrow was adopted as the standard for highway signage.

(15) Northland arrow – 1950

The parking lot of the Northland Shopping Center — considered the first mall in North America — had parking signage designed by Alvin Lustig.

(16) Griffith Park Railroad arrow – 1957

A Griffith Park destination in Los Angeles, this miniature railroad playground for children had a signage system designed by the Eames Office featuring a heavy wedge-tail arrow.

(17) Calvert highway arrow – 1962

Highway road signage designed by Jock Kinneir and Margaret Calvert merged directional and street arrows into a single symbol. The design’s spartan and essential approach has remained in use for over 50 years in the U.K.

(18) Schiphol arrow – 1967

The Schiphol airport signage system designed by Indonesian designer Kho Liang Ie features a clearly demarcated arrow within a circle. Pioneering at its time, it would go on to become the standard for airport signage.

Gri th Park Railroad Signage 1957 Eames

(19) Montreal Expo arrow – 1967

The Standard Signage Manual designed by Canadian Paul Arthur allowed for rapid implementation across the vast Expo site.

(20) Mexico Olympics arrow – 1968

Designed by American Lance Wyman, the pictogram and signage system used curved edges and reflected the rich cultural heritage of Mexico.

(21) Cursor – 1968

American engineer Douglas Engelbart created the modernday computer mouse and its complementary on-screen cursor. This tiny, tilted black arrow continues to guide us through the digital realm.

(22)

Monty Python manicule – 1969

Broadcast on the BBC from 1969-1974, the comedic show’s opening credits featured a large manicule that became an iconic symbol in hippie publications and magazines. It was the counterculture arrow, the anti-standardization arrow.

(23) Federal Highway Administration R6 Chevron – 1971

Primarily used for indicating directions on roundabouts, this sign with repeated chevron arrows was first introduced in the 1971 edition of the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD).

22. Monty 23. MUTCD R6 Chevrounds) 1971

(24) MTA arrow – 1972

Designed by Vignelli Associates, the signage system for the New York City Subway featured a bold and thick proportioned arrow.

23

Monty Python Manicule 1969

R6 Series: Chevron Roundabout Directional *2/3/4 1971

23. MUTCD R6 Series: Chevron Roundabout Directional *2/3/4 Chevrounds) 1971

(25) DOT arrow – 1975

A committee of graphic designers under the direction of the American Institute of Graphic Arts developed an extensive system of pictograms for the U.S. Department of Transportation, making the rounded arrow or crow-foot arrow the new standard for default pictograms.

(26) Dingbat arrows – 1977

The typeface designed by German Hermann Zapf featured 360 symbols and ornaments with no characters, including a variety of arrows.

(27) Turn and through-lane arrows – 1978

Elongated roadway arrows were first introduced in the 1978 edition of the MUTCD, facilitating the legibility of upcoming turns from a moving vehicle.

(28) Mac OS 8.5 Cursor – 1987

First introduced by Apple in 1987, it used the finger as an intuitive symbol to denote any clickable entity.

A SIGN IS AFFLUENCE

The price and volatility of donor signage on buildings.

The halls, doorways, and walls of nearly every American cultural institution are lined with what are essentially tags. These are not the colorful spray-painted graffiti tags that pepper the urban landscape, but names of wealthy families memorialized in stone. A visual survey of museums, campuses, and medical facilities will reveal that many key architectural elements — whether it be a wing, a fountain, a plaza, or an entrance hall — have been allocated to the highest bidder and elegantly captioned by what is called donor signage. Names on the wall are so common in the cultural sphere that likening them to graffiti is hardly a stretch.

1/2 INCH 5-10 INCHES

BUILDING

ROOM

WALL

BENCH

FLOOR

One reason behind this is that since the turn of the millennium, the rich have gotten richer faster than at any other time in history, and charitable donations have grown in pace. When the investment luminary Warren Buffett pledged $36 million to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in 2006, it became the largest donation on record, eclipsing the combined giving of John D. Rockefeller and Andrew Carnegie — even when adjusted for inflation (McGoey, 2016). In this golden age of philanthropy, it has been estimated that the majority of all donations come from individuals (Giving USA, 2021).

Contributions by Source 2022

Total Giving: 499.3 USD

Despite the current unprecedented heights of institutional giving, the concept is not new. The patronage template was established by the Gilded Age industrial magnates of the late 19th century, led by the Morgan, Carnegie, Rockefeller, and Ford families who amassed their fortunes in steel, oil, railroads, telegraphs, and automobiles. This so-called “robberbaron” generation was famed for its cutthroat business practices as well as for its massive generosity to hospitals, universities, and cultural institutions. Public donations not only elevated the families’ social status within the oldmoney hierarchy but — more insidiously — diverted attention from any misconduct perpetrated while acquiring such massive fortunes. The philanthropy of the Gilded Age was impactful in size, limited in scope, and nearly silent from a donor signage perspective.

Carnegie, Morgan, Rockefeller, Ford

Carnegie Morgan Rockefeller Ford.

Today’s philanthropic landscape is marginally less white and male than the Gilded Age, but it is still wracked by the same tensions between old and new money. Freshly minted technology and pharmaceutical fortunes continue to jockey for altruistic status with traditional blueblooded lineages. What is vastly different now is the magnitude and depth of the new “philanthrocapitalist” class. The number of billionaires has ballooned to over 2,500 from just a dozen or so in the Gilded Age, and charitable donations have expanded in turn. Private giving from individuals, foundations, and businesses reaches nearly half a trillion dollars a year, primarily destined for cultural institutions, universities, and hospitals. While that may seem like an unequivocal win-win, the downside is that less than 5% of the bonanza goes to charities addressing more divisive social issues like poverty, inequality, and homelessness.

Carnegie Morgan Rockefeller Ford.

A 2006 comparison of Warren Buffett’s 36 billion USD donation compared to earlier philanthropy. As of 2023, Buffett’s fortune is valued at over 50 billion USD.

Some of the biggest philantropists of the Gilded Age. 1870-1900

Sackler

Kraft

Ballmer

Kaiser

Page

Buffett

Thiel

Gates

Bloomberg

Knight

Dell

Antonio

Schmidt

Omidyar

Blavatnik

Marcus

Soros

Scott

Dorsey

Geffen

Turner

Schusterman

Walton

Winfrey

Dalio

Broad

Arnold

Hostetter Jr.

Koch

Robertson

French-Gates

Skoll

Feeney

Moore

Simons

Zuckerberg

Sanford

Ballmer

Lauder

Bren

Robertson Jr.

Rubenstein

Brin

Duffield

Anschutz

Cohen

Schmidt

Moskovit

Griffin

Musk

Langone

Kaplan

Reese - Jones

Bezos

Some of surnames that consistently top the Forbes list of Most Philanthropic Billionaires and The Chronicle of Philanthropy's Annual Philanthropy 50 list

The institutions on the receiving end of this philanthropy have sophisticated development departments that cater to existing patrons and scout potential new leads. They also create the tiers of recognition that separate the whales ($$$$) from the minnows ($), divisions that are primarily expressed through donor signage. This somewhat dark art consists of balancing wealthy patrons’ egos through the typography, grandiosity, and location of their names on buildings. The disparity between naming a wing and an individual brick paver is a clear physical representation of the heft of the gift, but the same is true on a much more meticulous scale — a centimeter difference in font size could indicate a differential of millions or billions of dollars. This philanthropic graffiti is more than a simple status symbol for a donor; it becomes a means of societal rebranding. As was true in the Gilded Age, a few pet causes and board seats can transform a donor’s reputation from a ruthless entrepreneur to a noble altruist and societal savior. A

Sackler

Geffen

Rubenstein

Koch

Blavatnik

Griffin

A Large donations often come with a seat on an institution’s board of directors.

However, like its cousin graffiti, donor signage is also susceptible to being removed or buffed out.B What makes these public symbols so recognizable and visible is also what makes them a target and focal point for protest. Starting in 2015, institutions have been responding to public pressure by removing the names of donors whose charitable dollars were dubiously sourced. The most noteworthy example of this is the “de-Sacklering” of museums like the Louvre, the Serpentine Galleries, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.C After protestors used increasingly public acts of outcry to bring attention to the Sackler family’s primary role in creating and perpetuating the opioid crisis, institutions quietly removed any traces of their names from their buildings.

B Buffing is the removal of graffiti using chemicals and other instruments, or by painting over it with a flat color.

C "S" from the Serpentine Gallery.

Tufts University employee removes Sackler family name at the Tufts University School of Medicine building in Boston on Dec. 5, 2019.

Media coverage of toxic philanthropy starting in 2016.

In 2016, David Koch stepped down from the board of the American Museum of Natural History following protests against his multi-million-dollar funding of groups engaged in denying the reality of climate change.(Alan Yuhas "Davis Koch Steps Down from the Board of The New York Science Museum," The Guardian (italicized), January 21, 2016, https://www. theguardian.com/ us-news/2016/jan/21/ david-koch-american-museum-of-natural-history-climate-change-fossilfuel-money.)

In 2017, photographer and activist Nan Goldin formed the group P.A.I.N. (Prescription Addiction Intervention Now) to raise awareness around connections between the Sackler family and their company Purdue Pharmaceuticals and several major art institutions. (Sean O'Hagan, "Artist Nan Goldin on Addiction and Taking on the Sackler Dynasty: 'I Wanted to Tell My Truth,'" The Guardian (italicized), December 4, 2022, https://www. theguardian.com/ artanddesign/2022/dec/04/ artist-nan-goldin-addiction-all-beauty-andbloodshed-sackler-opioid.)

In July 2019, Warren Kanders resigned from his position as Vice Chairman of the Whitney Museum of American Art after months of protest over his ownership of Safariland, a company that manufactures tear-gas canisters. (Frieze News Desk," Whitney Museum Vice Chairman Warren Kanders Resigns Over Tear Gas Links, Frieze (italicized), July 25, 2019, https://www.frieze. com/article/ whitney-museum-vicechairman-warren-kandersresigns-over-tear-gaslinks.)

The ever-changing Gardner Street Elementary School Auditorium sign in Hollywood shows Michael

evolving social status from beloved entertainer to child predator.

The Gardner Street Elementary School in Hollywood,California names it auditorium after Michael Jackson.

Jackson’s

Gardner Street Elementary parents asked school officials to remove Jackson’s name from the building because of the allegations of child molestation against him.

Parents and Staff of the school voted to keep the name on the building, despite multiple allegations of sexual misconduct.

As a result of these protests, recipient institutions fearing increased levels of public scrutiny and “cancellation” have chosen instead to quietly distance themselves from toxic patronage. The ghosting of a donor sign and cutting ties remains their best method for gaining institutional distance from tainted benefactors.

Given the enormity of philanthropy and the growing practice of singling out problematic donors, institutions will need to be more cautious. As they ramp up their screening processes, they may also even start accepting silent gifts without the requisite donor signage. This potential lack of transparency is concerning; erasure should not be the only tool available for addressing these thorny situations.

C "S" from the Serpentine Galleires.

SERPENTINE SACKLER GALLERY

The Sacklers are the owners of Purdue Pharma, a pharmaceutical company whose main drug is Oxycontin, an Opioid that has caused the death of over 450,000 people.

Buffed. 2. Tarnished. 3. Gradual disappearance.

Annotating. 5. Distortion.

Background Manipulation.

Creative approaches to donor signage could allow for deeper meaning and become an instrument of visible accountability beyond simple removal. One example would be a gradually disappearing or fading donor sign that acknowledges an institution’s progress toward doing better. The impact of donor signs extends well beyond their presence and their absence: a mix of the two has the potential to send an even more nuanced and powerful message.

A SIGN IS PROTEST

Reclaiming the power of living billboards.

The second decade of the 21st century has seen an explosion in protest movements around the world. In these turbulent times, there has been a lot to organize around and get loud about. Whether it be for racial justice, women’s rights, or police reform, protesting live and in person — as opposed to online — is still the strongest outlet for public outrage. Unlike the Flower Power movement of the 1970s, today’s protests are able to leverage the digital power of apps like Facebook, Discord, and WhatsApp to mobilize and coordinate. In comparison, the historic March on Washington in 1963 , where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. famously delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech, took more than 10 years to go from idea to reality. It’s no accident that the rise of social media has coincided with a tripling of the number of global protest movements between 2006 and 2020.

Bobbing along in the angry sea of placards and banners was one guy who used his handheld cardboard protest sign as a canvas for humor and social critique. In the fall of 2018, the @DudeWithSign Instagram account became an overnight sensation and a viral meme. A quintessential combination of the right timing, the right medium, and the right sentiment, @DudeWithSign continues to post variations on his cardboard quips and has built a following of over 8 million fans.

Beyond being a great comedic prop, human signs remain one of the most effective communication formats. Easy to make and hard to ignore, they are powerful enough to steer opinion, draw attention, or even peddle some

Panhandling with a sign. "Asking for Food".

Two images with the same message but opposite motives.

goods. However, despite their great potential to impact social movements, their disposability also makes them hard to catalog and difficult to contextualize within the canon of protest aesthetics. Behind this humble human sign format lies a rich and under-chronicled history dating back to the world of Victorian advertising.

Watercolor by John Orlando Parry, "A London Street Scene," 1835.

An illustration of a flyposter in action.

In early 19th-century England, the first generation of advertising billboards, known as flyposting, began to plaster the faces of any and all urban surfaces. The signs were printed on sheets of paper and wheatpasted to walls, buildings, and structures using a mop and bucket. They became so ubiquitous and obnoxious that the general public soon began to regard them as visual pollution. By 1839, London outlawed unregulated flyposting on the walls of private property.

Men and boys with advertising boards for Patent metallic pens and a masquerade at the Argyll Rooms. ca. 1825 Artist: George Scharf.

With city walls no longer available as free ad space, new strategies were required. Advertisers knew that the key to successful commercial messaging was a combination of cheap and repetitive dissemination and a great location. Fortunately for them, there happened to be a large mass of unemployed men willing to become the new “walls” for billboards, and thus the human sign was born.

“AN ANIMATED SANDWICH, COMPOSED OF A BOY BETWEEN TWO BOARDS“

Sketches by Boz Charles Dickens

Charles Dickens originally coined the term “sandwich-man” to describe the unfortunate individuals who made a living walking around affluent neighborhoods with promotional boards attached to their bodies. These early street crews of the rural poor patrolled the wealthier sections of London as human signs, often wearing elaborate costumes and rigging to support messages at torso level and above the head.

The reality of the sandwich-man.

The idealized sandwich-man.

Diagram of eye contact evasion over the engraving of "A Shower in Piccadilly by Woodville," Richard Caton II.

This illustration shows a sandwich-man standing amid sidewalk traffic in a pose of unwavering boredom, as well-heeled citizens avoid direct eye contact by scanning the advertisement displayed across his chest. The class divide and the resentment are as palpable as the messaging.

As the streets filled up with sandwich-men, the businesses behind them found new and more elaborate ways to outdo each other. Human billboards sometimes worked in groups, using their number and repetition to add a performative element to their sales pitch. Other times, it would be the design or illumination of the sign itself that set it apart from the competition.

“The Lowest Depth,” Punch, April 16, 1864, 155.

L. Raven-Hill, “Sandwich-Men,” from Walter Besant, East London Types,  (London: Century, 1900) 245.

W. McConnell, “The Present Sandwich-Man,” and “Smith’s Model” from William Smith, Advertise: How? When? Where? (London: Routledge, 1863), 137 and 138.

Alongside the rise in popularity of the human billboard across major European and North American cities in the early 20th century came the birth of protest movements. Although there is no direct historical link between the sandwich-men and picket lines, the individuals involved would have surely stemmed from similar social classes. The same cheap, easily made, mobile human billboards were equally effective communication tools whether they were used for protest or advertising. A message could turn an ordinary unruly mob into an organized crowd leveraging the tools of rampant capitalism to speak truth to power.

The first documented examples of protest signs appeared during the Women’s Suffrage Movement, both in the United Kingdom and in the United States. However, it was the women who marched in the Great Suffrage Parade of 1913 — the first civil rights march on Washington D.C. — who perfected the technique. The National Woman’s Party (NWP) commanded the attention of politicians and the public through its aggressive agitation, relentless

Three-quarter sandwich.

Double-story sandwich.

Full-length post. Handheld.

Suffragettes, London, date unknown.

Women's Suffrage Picket Parade, 1917.

of the women marchers as organized and led by Inez

Washington, D.C.

Diagram

Milholland and Jane Walker Burleson, March 3, 1913,

lobbying, clever publicity stunts, and creative examples of civil disobedience and nonviolent confrontation. Human signs were a crucial element of their parades, pageants, speeches, and demonstrations. Simple and direct messages conveyed the frank demands of the marching women on posters drawn by professional letterers and sign makers, as printing was prohibitively expensive.

It wasn’t until the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s that massproduced signs began to outnumber the manual works of sign makers. These preprinted signs would be assembled beforehand and distributed to protestors on site, ensuring consistency and message discipline. Hand-lettered signs did still exist, partly influenced by the artistic spirit of the hippie subculture. By the time of the Anti-Vietnam War Movement in the late 1960s, demonstrations featured a colorful diversity of homemade and prefabricated sign styles.

The panorama of signage techniques from mass printing, to hand-lettering, to silk-screening, has continued to expand, up to and

Full-length sandwich.

Hand-held post.

Horizontal post banner.

Two-post banner.

I CAN’T BELIEVE I STILL HAVE TO PROTEST THIS FUCKING SHIT

including today’s protest movements. The worldwide 2017 Women’s March drew attention with the creativity and power of its homemade signs. No singular message could compete with the panoply of styles and formats. The New York Times reported that in the weeks before the march, sales of art supplies like poster and foam board, markers, glue, and other art supplies skyrocketed.

For the first time, libraries are making a concerted effort to collect protest signs from the Women’s March. No longer considered

Anti-Vietnam War protest and demonstration in front of the White House in support of singer Eartha Kitt, 1968.

"I AM A MAN," Sanitation Strike, Memphis, 1968.

historical ephemera, these human signs are now being archived for the future. In 2016, the Swann Galleries in New York City auctioned off a damaged original “I AM A MAN” sign used by striking sanitation workers in Memphis in 1968. Something that originally gained fame precisely for its cheapness and disposability has now claimed its rightful place in the halls of museums.

The following pages present a taxonomy of the unique human sign as an object in itself, beyond graphic techniques or content. May we honor the journey of this unpretentious item: from its origin in advertising to its past, present, and future as a shepherd of social change.

Thousands attend the Women's March on Washington in 2017.

A SIGN IS PHARMACY

The history of performative apothecary signage.

Behind the starched coats and tidy shelves of every demure community pharmacy is a surprisingly exciting and flamboyant past. Traditionally, the business and vocation of pharmacy drew from the mystical and botanical sciences, sprinkled with a healthy dose of swaggering salesmanship. The last visual vestige of this more exuberant pharmaceutical past is the green LED cross and its franticly paced animations. A look back through the history of pharmacies reveals how this profession has steadily moved away from the fringes and toward the more commonly accepted neighborly practice we see today.

PRIEST DISPENSER

AGE OF TUNICS

Priest/Healer/Dispenser

Pharmacists date back to ancient Mesopotamia, where their responsibilities combined those of a priest, physician, scientist, and dispenser.A This hybrid pharmacist/healer role encumbered the practice of medicine until the 12th-century Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II issued a decree separating the functions of physician and apothecary. This decoupling determined the spatial and retail typology of what the modern pharmacy would become, a place that is both a laboratory for the compounding of remedies and a small storefront from which to sell them.

To advertise their wares to an illiterate street audience, Roman pharmacists used a variety of symbols to identify and legitimize their trade. These simple representations varied by region and culture, but common imagery included animals thought to be mystical, tools used by pharmacists, and combinations of the two, like the Caduceus and Bowl of Hygieia symbols. A The first pharmaceutical texts were written in 2100 B.C.E on cuneiform clay tablets with formulas and instructions for the pulverization, infusion, boiling, filtering, and spreading of herbal ingredients.

The Greek god of medicine carrying a rod with a single snake became a medical symbol in the 5th century B.C.E.

Asclepius

A short staff is entwined by two serpents, sometimes with a wing at the top. It is the staff carried by Hermes in Greek mythology and by Hermes Trismegistus in Greco-Egyptian mythology.

Caduceus

Mortar and Pestle

These instruments were traditionally used in pharmacies to grind ingredients for preparing prescriptions.

First used in Europe in the 16th century, the italic "R" with a hanging leg crossed by a line to make an "X" is derived from the Latin word recipere, meaning “take thou.” The symbol often appears written on prescriptions to designate pharmacy.

RX

Bowl of Hygieia

Pharmacies have used this symbol of a chalice with a snake wrapped around it since 1796. The snake belonged to the god of medicine Asclepius, son of Apollo, and the bowl belonged to his daughter Hygieia, the god of health who, according to myth, fed water to a snake from her bowl.

Unicorns

The mythical creature’s horn was believed to have medicinal qualities. The symbol was commonly associated with apothecary and chemistry in 18thcentury England and Holland. It may have simply been a way of boasting that a pharmacist had access to the rarest and most exotic ingredients.

Swans

These symbols of intelligence and purity were widely used by medieval apothecaries in Finland and Denmark.

Serpent Around a Palm Tree

A derivation of the Caduceus used by French and Portuguese pharmacies in the 1800s.

Gaper

Primarily used in 17thcentury Holland, it is a wooden figurehead often depicting a North African man with an open mouth, sometimes with a pill resting on his tongue. His gaping tongue represents taking medicine, while his grimace represents the bitter taste.

RETAILER

DISPENSER

MIXOLOGIST DISPENSER

RETAILER

AGE OF TONICS

Mixologist/Retailer/Dispenser

Pharmacists in the early 19th century were not required to be licensed or even have a formal education. Dubious knowledge of extracting and isolating key herbal ingredients, such as opium or morphine, was often sufficient grounds for opening a business. If a pharmacist found success in a town, they would stay; if a local was poisoned, a move would be imminent.

With the advent of the American Civil War and its extreme death toll, medicine fabrication grew into a more large-scale industrial pursuit backed by advancements in the understanding of chemistry. Over time, the billowing pharmaceutical industry shifted the production process from small local pharmacies to giant corporate laboratories in an effort to create standardized, reliable mass prescriptions. To make up for the income shortfall, apothecaries put their backroom knowledge of botany and raw ingredients toward mixing fizzy drink cures and redesigned their storefronts to include counters called soda fountains. B Their sugary carbonated beverages and tonics were said to heal a variety of ailments and stabilize moods in cases of hysteria and melancholy.

As the role of pharmacists evolved, so too did their signage. Many moved away from symbols in favor of more elaborate, three-dimensional signs to attract customers. The most well-known type of pharmacy sign in the late 19th century was a show globe; a glass vessel hung outside the store or in the window, filled with a colorful tonic illustrating the mixology skills of a particular practitioner. B Sodas, seltzers, and

Pharmacy Symbols

Show Globe

A glass vessel with a globe-shaped base that tapers to a narrow neck was often filled with brightly colored liquids and hung in pharmacy shop windows well into the second half of the 20th century. The term "carboy" is derived from the Persian word qarabah or qarrabah, meaning “large flagon.” The carboy is thought to have originated in the Near East, where drug sellers filled large glass vessels with vibrant liquids like rosewater and wine to decorate their stalls. The show globe was used to designate pharmacies in England and the United States starting in the 17th century until falling out of favor in the 1950s.

Apotheke “A”

This large red Gothic "A" on a white background with the Bowl of Hygeia was first registered as a trademark in Germany in 1951.

Red Cross European medical institutions and pharmacists used this symbol until they were forced to seek alternatives when it was adopted by the International Red Cross in 1863. In 1949, the Geneva Conventions prohibited pharmacists’ use of the red cross symbol, leading many countries to eventually require them to use a green version.

Green Cross

First introduced as a pharmaceutical sign in continental Europe in the early 20th century, it replaced the now-abolished red cross. Green was chosen either as a nod to the fact that many medicines are plant-based or because military pharmacists wore green armbands in the 18th and 19th centuries. This color association may even date back to the Order of Saint Lazarus during the Crusades, who bore a green cross while caring for lepers and other afflicted pilgrims.

CARE PROVIDER DISPENSER

RETAILER

CARE PROVIDER DISPENSER RETAILER

AGE OF STANDARDS AND LIPSTICK

Care Provider/Retailer/Dispenser

The world wars of the 20th century ushered in rapid advancements in medical production, requiring the formalization of pharmacy practice at the national level. Official government bodies were tasked with accrediting licenses, setting dosing standards by ailment, and making prescriptions mandatory. Gone were the mysterious remedies and tonics and gone too were their commercial cousins the soda fountains.C

Pharmacies that had always kept their products out of reach behind the counter were remodeled to accommodate aisles of shelving where customers could easily grab over-the-counter medicines. In the back of the store would be the neighborhood pharmacist dispensing the now-expansive catalog of mid-century prescription drugs in tablet format. With their role diminished to merely filling prescriptions, pharmacists supplemented their businesses by selling health and beauty products and skin-care treatments. Colorful show globes gave way to glowing glass tubes of neon, better for nighttime visibility. Pharmacy councils pushed for the creation of standardized pharmacy signs at the regional or national level, most commonly the green cross.D This simple lowresolution shape was easy to construct in neon tube, and its ample size provided space to include text or other symbols. Over time, lawmakers made the green cross the default signage choice throughout Europe and elsewhere.

D

C Coca-Cola patented its Contour bottle in 1915, helping it become the dominant soft drink and speeding the decline of soda fountains.

There are subtle regional differences, including the use of a Maltese cross or a cross with the Bowl of Hygieia.

CARE PROVIDER DISPENSER

CARE PROVIDER DISPENSER RETAILER

AGE OF LEDS

Light-emitting diodes or LEDs have existed since the 1960s, but they were not initially considered bright or reliable enough to be used for outdoor signage.E A second generation of LEDs limited to the single colors of red, yellow, and green emerged in the early 1980s, and the green cross signs on pharmacies were among the first to experience a mass upgrade. LEDs are not only more energy-efficient than traditional lighting but are also dynamic, making it possible to communicate additional information like the time, date, and temperature using simple software.

Today, green LED crosses mark the locations of most European pharmacies. According to the World Health Organization, Europe has more pharmacists per capita than anywhere else in the world, with 8.28 per 10,000 people.F That means a leisurely stroll within a five-to-seven-block radius in any European capital would likely pass by two or three strobing green crosses.

Below is a brief collection of green cross sequences. It’s an ode to the competitive streetscape of European pharmacies but also to the unwavering pharmacist, whose role may have changed, but whose ability to draw, entertain, and inform customers has stayed consistent for generations.

Timeline of LED technology

1962

Nick Holonyak Jr. created crystals of gallium arsenide phosphide — the first time the three elements had been crystalized together — to make an LED that emitted a visible red light.

1968

LED was first popularized in 1968 by Stanley Kubrick’s film 2001:ASpace Odyssey, where it appeared on a watch face. It would go on to take over the world of small electronic devices.

1971

Scientists Edward Miller and Jacques Pankove created a blue LED.

1972

Electrical engineer M. George Craford invented the first yellow LED.

1977

An Iowan student named James Mitchess prototyped the first LED television display.

1977

Pure gallium phosphide (GaP) was used to produce the green LED.

1985

Gilbert Industries produced the first LED exit signs in red.

1987

Green and red LEDs were considered bright enough to replace light bulbs in vehicle brake lights and traffic lights, but no more.

1989

Raymond Deese invented the first LED traffic lights, installed in the city of Philadelphia.

1989

Japanese electronic engineer Shuji Nakamura and physicists Hiroshi Amano and Isamu Akasak discovered a bright blue LED which is the basis of all LED products today, regardless of their color.

1998

E LED was first popularized in 1968 by Stanley Kubrick’s film 2001: A Space Odyssey, where it appeared on a watch face. It would go on to take over the world of small electronic devices. F Pharmacy at a Glance 2015-2017, International Pharmaceutical Federation.

LED holiday lights were first introduced.

Early patents for light-emitting diode designs. Clockwise: Losev's SiC diode was proposed as a light-relay, patented in 1927; Zoltán and György's LED design, patented for General Electric in 1941; Board and Pittman's infrared LED design, patented for Texas Instruments in 1966; Holonyak's visible light LED design, patented for General Electric in 1969. Adapted from patents SU12191 (Soviet Patent), US2254957A, US3293513A, and US3476993A.

Pharmacy Temperature

Opened 24 hours a day

Opened 12 hours a day

Date Time

Bowl of Hygieia Caduceus

Moving stripes

Crossing lines

Cross pattern Love

Small cross

Ornaments

Swirl

Arrow pattern

Zigzag

Bright star

Multiple swirls

Concentric circles

Moving border

Rotating bar

Diagonal stripes

Snake

Growing square

Growing

circles

Rotating star

A SIGN IS A FINGERPOST

Striking a balance between universitality and local character.

In today’s world, it’s safe to assume that the stop sign on your block is the same one you’d see one street over, one neighborhood over, or even in the next city. You take for granted that you could travel as far as the roads would take you and all the roadside signs along the way would come from a universal catalog. Although road-building has existed since well before the Roman Empire popularized it in the third century B.C.E., the standardization of road signage didn’t emerge until the 1920s with the mass production of automobiles. These motorized vehicles would usher in a new age of velocity and design.

Going from horse-drawn carriages to cars is the technological equivalent of going from telegraphs to internet-enabled smartphones, so roadside signage has also had to evolve to keep up with the demands of modern transport. From the time of the Romans until today, road signs have always responded to vehicles’ speed and drivers’ ability to read them in motion. The faster the vehicle, the bigger the sign; the lower to the ground the driver, the shorter the sign.

3 Direction 4 Direction

Within this progression of speed lies the humble yet hardworking fingerpost sign. A fingerpost, or guidepost, consists of a central post with one or more projecting arms, known as fingers, that point in the direction of nearby destinations. Nowadays, you might find this type of signage in cities, parks, and tourist destinations.

LOCATION COLLAR

Wayside markers, crosses, cairns, standing stones, and posts

The very first signs for vehicular transport were simple wayside markers. Typically painted on a stone or post, these signs indicating the distance to a nearby town became commonplace starting in the Roman Empire.

Fingerpost

The advent of the horse-drawn carriage necessitated signs that were taller and more complex than traditional ground-level milestone markers.

Milestones and Velocipede travel

In post-Napoleonic France in 1853,the first guidelines were passed, stating that all milestones must be made from French hard rock and located on the right side of the road.

Touring Club signage and stop sign

In 1885 Carl Benz invented and patented the Benz Patent-Motorwagen. In 1908, production roll-out began on the Ford Model T, the first affordable automobile available to the middle class. Born out of velocipede clubs, the touring clubs formed by Michelin, Renault, and Citroen in France, and Fiat and Pirelli in Italy developed the first basic road signage, drawing attention to dangers and providing directions to places of interest.The first octogen-shaped stop sign appeared in Detroit, Michigan. Originally, stop signs were yellow to increase their visibility in the dark, but they were changed to red following the invention of glass-bead retroreflectorization.

International standards and treaties

After World War I, the League of Nations believed that new technological developments were making national borders obsolete, creating the need for universal communication and standards. The organization went on to develop the framework for the international code for road traffic signs that we still use today.

Originally, the fingerpost was introduced in response to coach and wagon timetables of the 1600s. A taller sign allowed a wagon driver to see the information without stopping or leaving the wagon to read lowlying posts. So successful was this signage type that by 1697, U.K. legislation required local municipalities to place tall markers at road intersections indicating the way to the nearest town and the route to London. The first generation of fingerposts were made of timber with wooden hands indicating direction. The pointing hand, or manicule, was the most common and well-used directional symbol at that time. A

of the earliest of manicules.

metal type manicule printed in Breviarium Juris Canonici

a

A The Manicule is a typographic mark found in manuscripts since the Medieval and Renaissance period. It is also called: printer’s fist, bishop’s fist, digit, mutton-fist, hand, hand director, pointer and pointing hand. First used in the 12th century, the handwritten manicule Would appeared on the edge of a page to mark correction, annotations, or notes. In due time, it became so recognizable as a graphic symbol that it was standardized in wood and metal type sets and eventually replaced the arrow.

One

A

–

summary of Canon law, compiled by Paolo Attavanti (c. 1445 – 1499), printed in Milan by Leonhard Pachel and Ulrich Scinzenzeller, in August 28, 1479.

Izod’s

or Cross

Post

Hands was erected on Westington Hill above the Cotswold town of Chipping Campden in Gloucestershire, U.K. in 1699.

Early wooden fingerposts in Saxony, Germany 1726.

With the rise of human-propelled vehicles like velocipedes, bicycles, and motor wagons, came vast improvements to both road surfaces and fingerpost-casting methods. The stylistic variation of these artifacts reflects the large number of local iron foundries and engineering workshops across Industrial-Age England.

By the 1920s, motorized cars had become the dominant form of transportation, necessitating an innovative approach. The newly assembled Ministry of Transportation codified U.K. driving laws and set design standards for fingerpost signage. The rules were simple: a black-on-white color scheme for legibility; a letter cap height of 6.35-7.62 centimeters; and the name of the maintenance authority printed on the post. Beyond that, it was up to the local parish and its foundries to design the signs as they saw fit.

The years between 1920-1939 saw a flourishing of fingerposts in England as each local foundry produced bespoke designs for their posts, fingers, and finials. The designs were cast in molds to ensure efficient mass production. Road travelers could easily note county border crossings by the small differences in fingerpost styles.

FINIAL

ROAD #NUMBER#

ARM / FINGER

LOCATION COLLAR

Diagram of fingerpost elements.

This creative surge came to an abrupt halt in World War II when the Ministry of Transportation ordered the removal of roadside directional signs to avoid aiding invading German troops. Fingerposts only began to appear again towards the end of the war, if at all.

In 1960, graphic designer Herbert Spencer drove from central London to Heathrow Airport, photographing each sign he came across to effectively demonstrate the haphazard nature of the country’s roadside signage. He published the results in two photo essays in Typographica magazine under the headline “Mile-a-Minute Typography.” In the accompanying text, Spencer voiced “an urgent need to review the whole system of British road signs and to adopt simple pictorial symbols in place of the wordy and often ambiguous notices at present in use.” Following the article’s publication, the typography and graphic design duo of Jock Kinneir and Margaret Calvert were appointed to design England’s modern standard for road signs.

The removing signs in war preparations in the U.K. preceding World War II.

Images from the “Mile-a-Minute Typography” article in Typographic magazine.

The 1964 redesign of U.K. road signs focused on the “absolute essence” required at faster speeds, and the result was a clean and simple pictorial scheme using the new Transport typeface. Older sign types were to be replaced and the installation of new cast-iron fingerposts was prohibited. Local county authorities were strongly encouraged to remove their existing fingerposts on minor roads, although it was not legally mandatory.

From 1964 to 1994, if any rural fingerpost fell into disrepair, it would be replaced immediately by one of the new standardized sign types. Only a few rebellious counties — notably Cumberland, Dorset, Sussex, and Somerset — failed to remove their fingerposts on minor roads and were able to keep them in good condition through regular maintenance. Fingerposts weren’t included in the national signage standards for minor roads with light and slow traffic until 2002. Today, these signs only appear on secondary rural roads, where they are considered an integral part of the English countryside’s character and heritage. The maintenance and repair of these rural icons are stewarded by local preservation groups. A relic from the age of horse-drawn carriages has gone from functional, to derelict, to ultimately becoming a symbol of pastoral England.

A road sign at the entrance to the London-toBirmingham motorway. 1962.

Abandoned fingerpost in Somerset

Abandoned fingerpost in Somerset

County, England

County, England.

Considering the history of fingerposts and how perceptions of them have shifted over time, it’s natural to wonder about the future of today’s signage. In 50 years, will there be preservation efforts to save the original signs of Jock Kinneir and Margaret Calvert? Or will the “absolute essence” designed into those signs be superseded by the UI/UX language of the automated machines ferrying us around? Would infusing some local character and personality into road signage help prolong its lifespan?

Signage and wayfinding best practices consistently champion the efficiency of minimal and universal communication for transportation signs. But we might do well to consider an alternative to this systembased thinking that includes local inflection and personality while remaining standardized and functional. Rural English fingerposts represent a middle ground between the ideals of universality and the charm of local character.

Abandoned fingerpost in Somerset County, England.

Details of fingerpost.

Details of fingerpost.

Jane Birkin and Serge Gainsbourg take a break as they drive through Oxfordshire in 1969.

Photograph: ©Andrew Birkin

Rushton

Herstmonceux 52°11'34"N 01°42'23"W

Cumbria

54°30'N 3°15'W

Crowan

Dorset

A SIGN IS AIR TRAVEL

A hyper-generic solution for airport typography.

Flying used to be a high-priced luxury reserved for the cosmopolitan elite or the occasional travel emergency. Nowadays, the rise of low-cost carriers has put it among the most popular and efficient means of mass travel. Nearly 10,000 commercial planes are in the air at any time, accounting for almost 40% of the global fleet.A These aircraft can now land at more destinations than ever before, with the number of airports in the world ballooning to over 40,000 to accommodate emerging markets, like China and India, and provide additional capacity in aging travel hubs.B

B According to the Central Intelligence Agency, there were over 41,700 commercial and cargo airports worldwide in 2021.

A Data from 2017, before the Covid-19 pandemic momentarily decreased air travel by 10-20% in 2021.Cargo airports worldwide in 2021.

If 40% of the global commercial fleet is in the air, that means the remaining 60% is grounded on the tarmac, either parked for maintenance or in the perpetual process of being loaded and unloaded, fueled and refueled, or boarded and deboarded. One peek out an airplane window will reveal a logistical ballet of ground crews, service vehicles, and other aircraft. The colossal task of organizing this intricate dance between man and machine has given us the series of cryptic numbers, lines, hash marks, and signs that adorn airport tarmacs. These graphic markings were first standardized in 1944 by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)and have not changed since.C They establish a visual language that allows pilots to easily navigate the tarmac of any airport and understand the procedures of taxiing, takeoff, and landing — ensuring the safety and efficiency of operations.

C The ICAO is a specialized agency of the United Nations that coordinates the principles and techniques of international air navigation and fosters the planning and development of international air transport to ensure safe and orderly growth.

The original ICAO visual specifications created a signage system in red, yellow, and black that exclusively used the U.S. Federal Highway Administration’s Series D font, also known as Highway Gothic.D This sans-serif typeface from 1948 is the same one found on highways across the United States. The only exception is the tarmac identification number, which requires its own typographic treatment in order to be legible from high in the air above.

D The ICAO is a specialized agency of the United Nations that coordinates the principles and techniques of international air navigation and fosters the planning and development of international air transport to ensure safe and orderly growth.

FHWA Series D Font or Highway Gothic.

Typical Airfield Signs

Runway Markings.

Taxiway Markings.

Holding Position.

Runway holding

Runway

Instrument

Typical Airfield Signs

Information:

No

Location:

Taxiway location sign

Runway location signs

Runway boundary signs

Direction:

Runway Exit

Destination: Yellow background with black text

Outbound destination

Runway designator / Numbers 1-36 1/18 LRC

Runway threshold markings

Aiming Points

Taxiway markings: Yellow paint lines

Holding position: Yellow paint line

Runway markings: White Holding side

When these graphic markings were first developed in the 1940s, airports weren’t much more than functional military sheds set alongside landing strips. As the buildings’ interiors grew in complexity, so did the need to guide travelers on the landside of airports. Black text on a yellow background was found to provide excellent contrast and legibility on a taxiway, and this same color combination started to appear on wayfinding signage inside European airports in the early 1960s.E The tarmac signage color palette jumped from airside to landside, but its font did not come with it: the FHWA typography continued to serve exterior functions only.

Benno Wissing, design for directional signage, Schiphol Airport. 1962.

E Amsterdam Schiphol airport signage still uses yellow backgrounds with black text.

Air travel progressively shed its military character to become a luxury commodity during the design highpoint of the 1960s-1970s. At the same time, airport architecture started to reach new heights of expression with Eero Saarinen’s iconic TWA Flight Center at New York City’s John F. Kennedy International Airport. Airlines soon began contracting experts to spruce up airplane cabins as well as fashion designers like Emilio Pucci to revamp crew uniforms. This pro-design trend extended to signage too, with Kinneir & Calvert’s Transport typeface and Adrian Frutiger’s series of Frutiger typefaces created specifically for Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport. Airport signage and wayfinding soon came to be considered an integral part of the character, function, and experience of each facility.

Eero Saarinen’s TWA lounge.

Gatwick Airport signage by Jock Kinneir, 1958.

Braniff print ads from 1965 showcasing a series of uniforms the stewardesses would change into during the flight.

An interior view of the inner ring of the departure floor of Paris’s Orly Airport in 1964.

A drawing of the typeface Frutiger 55, by Adrian Frutiger, 1974.

Frutiger typeface.

The exuberance of this design highpoint soon met with the reality of fuel scarcities, terrorism, and other complexities of modern mass travel starting in the early 1980s. The push to reinvent the typography of each individual airport came up against budgetary resistance. “Use what works” was the new mantra and method for choosing airport signage typography. Currently, three typefaces dominate the wayfinding signage in 75% of airport interiors: Frutiger, Helvetica, and Clearview (Frutiger being the most widely accepted). F Its ability to deliver readability and familiarity — and its capacity to be paired multilingually — has made it the global standard font for airport wayfinding systems. These three typefaces over a white, yellow, blue, or black background now comprise the accepted design range for interior airport signage.

F Adrian Frutiger designed the typeface Frutiger for the Paris Charles de Gaulle airport in 1975; it is currently used by eight of the world’s largest airports (ATL, DXB, HND, LHR, PVG, CDG, CAN, AMS)

In airport construction projects, architects are typically tasked with reflecting a particular region or city through the design of the building. Wayfinding consultants are given less wiggle room, limited to using the same three typefaces in a variety of color combinations or implementations. Given how risk-averse airport planning groups tend to be, and the cost of creating a custom typeface in a variety of languages, we can expect the reign of Frutiger to continue indefinitely – albeit in different shades and flavors.

But what if there were an alternative to the current typographical hegemony of the big three in this age of airport construction? What if there was an existing typeface already familiar to travelers and currently in use at all airports? Rather than trying to squeeze endless personalities from the same three fonts and colors, why not finally bring the single universal FHWA font family indoors? Doing so would let us finally embrace the fact that air travel is not about locality but globality, and that runways and concourses are equally functional and essential to smooth air travel.

A SIGN IS DEFINED

ADA:

Acronym for American Disabilities Act, a U.S. civil rights law passed in 1990 that prohibits discrimination based on disability and created a standard for signage compliance including Braille dots, raised characters (also called tactile characters), and/or pictograms.

ADA Sign:

Sign containing Braille and tactile elements installed on the latch side of the door to the room being identified.

Arrow:

Graphical symbol (such as ← or →) used to point or indicate direction. In its simplest form, an arrow is a triangle, chevron, or concave kite affixed to a line segment or rectangle. Complex versions more closely mimic the actual projectile weapon.

(See Manicule)

Arrow Marquee Sign:

Often found roadside near the entrances of churches and schools, this illuminated sign uses slot letters to announce coming attractions such as performances, events, and sermons.

Arrow Spinner Sign:

Also known as a “twirl” or “flip” sign, this human-held sign indicates the direction to a local business. The holder of the sign often engages in a performance with it.

Awning:

Extending outward over main building entrances or windows, this metal-frame structure is stretched with heavy canvas, providing shade and protection from the weather as well as an apt space for a sign.

Barn Advertising:

A common sight in the early-to-mid 20th century, these outdoor advertisements painted onto the exterior walls of American roadside barns have now faded into obscurity.

Barber’s Pole:

The iconic pole with stationary or rotating angled stripes in alternating colors — often red and white — has been indicating the location of barber shops since the Middle Ages.

Banner:

Usually hung outdoors on the side of a building or a light pole, this temporary sign communicates upcoming events and is often used in repetition for maximum visibility.

Billboard:

A large outdoor board used for displaying advertisements.

Blade Sign:

A sign mounted perpendicular to a wall and usually protruding slightly so as to be legible to oncoming foot traffic. (See Flag Sign)

Channel Letters:

Custom metal or plastic letters fabricated in three dimensions, commonly found in exterior signage on public and commercial buildings.

Chevron:

Also known as “arrow road signs,” this former heraldic symbol indicates a sharp turn to the left or right when painted on a road surface. On police and military uniform sleeves, it designates rank.

Clearance Bar:

Also known as a “bang bar,” this ceilingmounted sign warns drivers of height restrictions in parking garages, valet carports, car washes, drive-throughs, and other low-clearance structures.

Directional Signage:

Any sign that provides written or visual information to help direct people to a destination, usually with short text and arrows.

Directory Sign:

Typically found at entrances or in elevator lobbies to identify the tenants of an office complex or building.

Donor Signage:

Individual signs and plaques honoring key stakeholders and donors who have made a financial contribution to a cultural, educational, or medical institution.

DOT:

Conspicuity:

The visual property of being clearly discernible. In signage, it is the quality of an object or a light source to appear prominent in its surroundings.

Conveyor Belt Billboard:

Found in airport arrival halls, this billboard sits perched within the baggage conveyor, attracting the attention of passengers waiting patiently for their luggage.

Acronym for the U.S. Department of Transportation, which plays a significant role in regulating and establishing standards for signage on roads and highways.

EGD:

Acronym for Experiential Graphic Design: the orchestration of typography, color, imagery, form, technology, and especially content to create communicative environments.

Exit Sign:

Also known as the “Running Man,” this symbol was designed by Yukio Ota in 1979 as part of a move away from using words in a native language, (i.e. “EXIT”). It was introduced into the ISO in 1987 and is now the standard in Australia, Britain, Norway, and many parts of Asia.

Cornerstone:

A stone placed in a lower corner of a building façade bearing the date of when the structure was made and/or a short commemoration.

Fascia Sign:

A flat sign mounted parallel to a wall or other vertical surface that does not typically project from the wall.

Fingerpost:

Also known as a “guidepost,” it consists of a post with one or more arms, known as fingers, pointing in the direction of nearby destinations. Commonly found in cities, parks, and tourist destinations throughout the English countryside.

Gantry Signage:

Traffic signs mounted on an overhead support or cantilevered on one side, usually on high-traffic roads with several routes and lanes.

Flag Sign:

A sign mounted perpendicular to the wall and projecting away from it. (See Blade Sign)

Flyposting:

Also known as “bill posting,” this guerrilla marketing tactic of wheat-pasting posters onto construction barricades, building façades, and alleyways originated during the Victorian era.

Gateway Sign:

Also called a “precinct sign,” it marks the entrance to a town, neighborhood, development, park, or other public area.

Ghost Sign:

An old hand-painted advertising sign on a building that has been preserved for nostalgic appeal, or simply due to indifference.

Globo Light Sign:

Typically used for theatrical performances and projected light signage, it comprises a strong light source and an object placed inside or in front of it to control the shape of the emitted light and shadow.

Hoarding:

Temporary boarded fence in public places, often around a construction site, to protect the public from the dangers within and also to display advertisements.

ICAO:

Acronym for the International Civil Aviation Organization, established in 1944, a specialized agency of the United Nations that coordinates the principles and techniques of international air navigation, including the graphic language of airport exteriors.

Icon:

A symbol that maintains a likeness with the object it represents, from the Greek eikon, meaning “image” or “clue.” Generally, icons are used to communicate information without the need for words, leaving their meaning open to interpretation.

Identification Sign:

A sign bearing the name of the business displaying it.

Interpretive Signage:

Signs that help people discover and understand the significance of places, people, and historical events.

Inflatable Sign:

Made of flexible material or fabric, this temporary sign for special events or promotions takes on a three-dimensional shape when inflated with air or gas.

ISO:

Acronym for the International Organization for Standardization, an international standard development organization founded in 1947 and composed of representatives from the national standards organizations of member countries. ISO develops and publishes over 24,000 international standards including the pictogram language commonly used in signage.

LED Display:

Flat-panel display that uses an array of light-emitting diodes as pixels.

Lightbox Signage:

A box with one translucent glass or plastic side containing an electric light that provides an evenly lit flat surface or sign.

Manicule:

Also known as “printer’s fist,” “mutton-fist,” “bishop’s fist,” “index,” “indicator,” “digit,” “pointer,” or “director,” this typographic mark features a hand with its index finger extended in a pointing gesture. It originally appeared in handwritten margin notes and later made the shift to typography, where it is considered to be the precursor to the modern arrow. (See Arrow)

Marquee Letters:

Channel letters with lightbulbs on the inside, often used on theater and cinema signs.

Marquee Slot Letters:

Also known as “Wagner slotted letters,” these red plastic letters slide onto two parallel rails, typically used for theaters and cinema marquees.

Marquee Sign:

A permanent structure projecting over the front of a building incorporating a large messaging area, usually at movie theaters and concert halls. Typically illuminated and ornate in design.

Mile Marker:

Numbered milepost along a road used to determine a vehicle’s exact location.

Milestones:

Also known as “wayside markers,” “crosses,” “cairns,” standing stones,” and “posts,” these numbered stone posts along a linear route (road, rail, or canal) indicate the distance to towns, cities, and other places or landmarks. They first appeared as stone obelisks during the Roman Empire. (See Waymarks)

Monolith:

A structure created out of a single mass of material such as a block of granite, marble, or formed concrete.

Monument Signage:

A freestanding sign resting directly on the ground or a ground-level foundation, often used to mark a place of significance or the entrance to a location.

Morris Column:

Also known as an “advertising column,” this cylindrical outdoor sidewalk advertising structure dates back to Berlin in the mid-19th century.

Mobile Billboard:

Also called a “mobile sign,” it is a large advertising sign mounted on a trailer or the back of a truck and driven around town.

Mural:

A wall surface that has been decorated with a direct application of paint, tile, or printed graphics to feature artwork, photography, or other designs.

Nizioleti:

Derived from the Venetian nisioeto, which means “sheet,” nizioleti are small wallmounted signs indicating the names of Venice’s streets. These white frescoes with freehand black frames form a unique part of the city’s urban landscape.

Parapet Sign:

A sign mounted on the low wall built along the edge of a building’s roof.

Neon Sign:

Electric sign made from long luminous gas-discharge tubes containing rarefied neon or other gases. Neon was discovered in the early 1900s by George Claude, who later perfected the tube-bending method to create letters.

OOH / Out of Home:

Also known as “outdoor advertising,” “outdoor media,” and “out-of-home media,” this category encompasses all advertising experienced outside the home, such as billboards, wallscapes, and posters. It also includes place-based media in locations like convenience stores, medical centers, salons, and other brick-and-mortar venues.

P-Symbol & Sign:

Introduced at the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam, this symbol became the standard for designating parking areas.

Pedestal Sign:

A freestanding sign comprised of a base, a pole, and a rectangular area for temporary messages, commonly used to inform people waiting in lines.

Pictogram:

A symbol or simple illustration used to represent an object or concept in its most basic expression without language. Unlike an icon, a pictogram’s meaning should always be clear and recognizable to people from any culture. (See Icon)

Pin-Mounted Letters:

A signage fabrication technique where a set of letters is mounted on a wall with vertical pins that can be cast, molded, cut out, or fabricated using materials like plastic, acrylic, wood, or metal.

Pharmacy Cross:

An exterior sign used to designate pharmacies in continental Europe, with a specific green color and plus-sign shape. Often illuminated with LED motion graphics that display the time, temperature, or other animations.

Readerboard:

A sign on which copy can be changed manually, usually consisting of a panel mounted with individual letters or pictorials. Like a window sign, it can advertise special prices or items and is easily visible from a passing motor vehicle.

Regulatory Signage:

Signs informing of the rules or regulations of a building or site.

Reverse Channel Letters:

A signage fabrication technique of backlit or halo-lit individual letters projecting light onto the walls behind them.

Sandwich Sign:

Pylon Sign:

Also known as a “totem” or “monument sign,” this freestanding sign can range in size and is often found at the entrances to strip malls.

Post No Bills:

Intended to discourage unauthorized flyposting, it is a notice prohibiting any advertisements on a particular surface or wall. (See Flyposting)

Post and Panel Sign:

A sign made from a combination of standard poles and panels.

Also known as an “A-frame” sign, this collapsible mobile sign is commonly used for sidewalk advertising. It is constructed from two boards hinged together at the top, so that when unfolded, the base spreads out in a triangular shape that resembles a large "A" from the side.

Signage Band:

In a single-story building with multiple tenants, a signage area runs above the entrances but below the roofline, forming a designated zone for each of the individual business’s signs. Typically used in strip malls.

Sky Sign:

Also known as a “scaffolding sign,” it was a common rooftop sight in the early 1900s. Erected with prominent steel supports and illuminated freestanding letters, the sign was visible to pedestrians and motorists from great distances.

Stolpersteine:

Also known as “stumbling stones,” these 10-centimeter cubes mounted with brass plates are inscribed with the name and birth and death dates of victims of Nazi extermination or persecution. They were first created in 1992 by the German artist Gunter Demnig to commemorate individuals at their last place of residence or work. Over 75,000 have been laid, making it the world’s largest decentralized memorial.

Street Furniture Signage:

Advertising displays placed along sidewalks and on bus shelters, telephone kiosks, benches, and other street furniture.

Social Distance Dots:

Round floor decals used to remind people to maintain social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Supergraphics:

Coined by the architectural writer and critic C. Ray Smith in the late 1960s, supergraphics describe a particular graphic application of decoration to buildings, interiors, and streetscapes that flows across multiple surfaces and uses bright colors, bold geometric shapes, and large-scale lettering “aimed at playing down the seriousness and weight of architecture.” (Yoldi López, 2015).

Spinner Sign:

A rectangular sign, either freestanding or wall-mounted at its base, with a message that rotates in the wind, not to be confused with an arrow spinner sign.(See Arrow Spinner Sign)

Split Flap Display:

Also known as a “Solari board,” a digital electromechanical display of alphanumeric text and occasionally fixed graphics, often used for public transport timetables in airports and railway stations.

Trivision Billboard:

Also called a “three-message sign” or “tri-media,” it consists of triangular prisms placed inside a frame that rotates 120 degrees into three positions, each showing a different advertisement or message.

Tactile Sign:

A sign, or an area within a larger sign, that conveys its message through raised or engraved characters, making it accessible to the visually impaired. Usually, the characters are in Braille but they can also be shapes or maps. Required by the ADA for all permanently identified rooms.

Traffic Signal:

Also known as a “traffic light” or “stop light,” this signaling device is positioned at road intersections and other locations to control flows of vehicular and pedestrian traffic.

Unipole:

A large-format billboard mounted atop a single steel pole or column, typically around two to four stories in height. The “threesided unipole” is topped by a three-sided billboard.

Variable Message Signs:

Also known as “VMS” or “portable message signs,” these electronic road signs give travelers information about special conditions such as construction, traffic, or other alerts.

Wayfinding:

First coined by Kevin Lynch and used in his book TheImageoftheCity (1960), this encompasses all the ways people --and animals-- orient themselves in physical space and navigate from place to place. There are four types of wayfinding signs: identification, directional, informational, and regulatory.

Waymarks:

Also known as “crosses,” “cairns,” “standing stones,” and “guideposts,” these signs form a series used to mark out a route, especially a footpath or bridle path. (See Milestones)

Wet Floor Sign:

Used to notify and remind people of slipping hazards in the immediate area, like the presence of liquid or other substances on the walking surface as a result of routine cleaning, accidental spills, product leaks, or inclement weather conditions.

IMAGE SOURCES AND COURTESY

Unless stated otherwise, all images ©Point of Reference Studio. A concerted effort was made to contact all sources.

A SIGN IS FORBIDDEN – Page 28

Page 28 Fabio Venni from Amsterdam, NL, Via Wikimedia Commons.

Page 34 Photo By @dflohr on Freeimages.com

Page 28 Stephen Cannon, Smoking in Shibuya, Via Flickr.

Page 38 Photo By James Goggin, S.R. Crown Hall, Illinois Institute of Technology, College of Architecture, January.

Page 39 Ellin Beltz, via Wikimedia Commons.

Page 40 Courtesy of Library of Congress Web Archives: Wolcott Marion Post, Man going in colored entrance of movie house on Saturday afternoon, Belzoni, Mississippi Delta 1939, Mississippi, No known copyright restrictions.

A SIGN IS FIRE – Page 42

Page 42 Hochgeladen von Duschan 1944, Public domain via Wikimedia Commons.

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Page 27 Clerkenwell fire station crew wearing the proto-breathing apparatus in 1908, © London Fire Brigade / Mary Evans Picture Library.

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Page 49 Exterior of the Iroquois Theatre, 1903 , Courtesy of Chicago Daily News collection, Chicago History Museum.

Page 50 Cutaway drawing of the Iroquois Theatre in Chicago, with the panicked audience trying to flee the onset of the Iroquois Theatre fire. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons.

Page 50 Investigation after the fire, viewing ruins, Courtesy of Chicago Daily News collection, Chicago History Museum.

Page 50 View towards the stage from the upper balconies. Courtesy of Chicago Daily News collection, Chicago History Museum.

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Page 56 Close view of the broken fire escape that led many to death. 1911. Courtesy of the Kheel Center at Cornell University.

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Page 61 Unknown. 1942, Courtesy of the Boston Public Library via Digital Common Wealth.

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Page 62 Unknown. 1942, Courtesy of the Boston Public Library via Digital Common Wealth.

Page 62 Unknown. 1942, Courtesy of the Boston Public Library via Digital Common Wealth.

Page 62 Unknown, 1942, Courtesy of the Boston Public Library via Digital Common Wealth.

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Page 66 Front page of the Chicago Daily Tribune, December 2, 1958. Courtesy of Chicago Tribune historical photos/TCA.

Page 67 Aerial view of Our Lady of the Angels grade school on fire Dec. 1, 1958. Courtesy of Chicago Tribune historical photos/TCA.

Page 68 View of the school entrance during the fire. Courtesy of Chicago Tribune historical photos/TCA.

Page 68 Interior View of the school. Courtesy of Chicago Tribune historical photos/TCA.

Page 68 Interior View of the school. Courtesy of Chicago Tribune historical photos/TCA.

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Page 72 Fig 12-A: Newspaper front page Caption, The Las Vegas Review, November 22, 1980.

Page 73 Jim P. Laurie photographs of the MGM Grand and Las Vegas Hilton Fires. Courtesy of the UNLV Libraries Special Collections.

Page 74 Clark County Gov. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons.

Page 74 National Archives at College Park, still pictures. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons.

Page 74 Jim P. Laurie photographs of the MGM Grand and Las Vegas Hilton Fires. Courtesy of the UNLV Libraries Special Collections.

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A SIGN IS WASTE - Page 78

Page 80 Ryoji Iwata, 2017. Public domain via Unsplash.

Page 81 Punch, or The London Charivari, Vol. 99, September 6, 1890.

Page 82 Andrew Spencer, 2023. Public domain via Unsplash.

Page 87 Junya Watanabe, Tokyo Night View

Page 88 Annie Spratt, 1966. Public domain via Unsplash.

Page 90 Herbert Bayer, Diagram of the Extended Field of Vision, 1930.

Page 103 Zoe Holling, 2018, Public domain via Unsplash.

Page 108

Tânia Mousinho, 2021, Public domain via Unsplash. Jakub Pabis, 2022, Public domain via Unsplash. Michael Dolejš, 2020, Public domain via Via Unsplash. Lisa van Vliet, 2022, Public domain via Unsplash. Mohamed Essawy, 2021, Public domain viaUnsplash. Annie Spratt, 1966, Public domain via Unsplash.

Page 125 Octavian Catan,2019 Public domain via Unsplash.

A SIGN IS HACKED - Page 126

Page 126 Ezra Ball, "This sign has been hacked," 2007.

Page 129 Unknown, 1994, Police care on the Great Dome MIT. Public domain via Hacksmit.edu.

Page 129 Unknown, "Max Headroom broadcast signal intrusion incident." Public domain via Wikimedia Commons.

Page 160 Unknown, 2014, Sun Hacker. Public domain via Twitter.

Page 161 Bas Welling, "Hacking the highway traffic signs," subtitled, Via YouTube.

Page 162 Jonathan Maus, "A Vandalized Sign" Public domain via Cyprus Mail.

Page 162 James Herring, 2022, "Ukraine Sign Sabotage" Via Twitter.

Page 162 Stephen Lam, 2018, "A row of burned vehicles are seen on Skyway during the Camp Fire in Paradise." via Reuters.

A SIGN IS OVERSIZED - Page 164

Page 166 No Author, "Eiffel Tower with Citroen Advertisement." Public domain via Wikimedia Commons.

Page 167 Unknown. 1917, "View of Main Street looking north from the top of a building near 6th Street," Los Angeles. Via Wikimedia Commons.

Page 168 Unknown. 1910, Rear view of "The Leaders of the World" Colossal Electric Display. Courtesy of Museum of the City of New York.

Page 168 Unknown. Hotel Rosslyn and Hart Brothers Rosslyn Hotel Annex, Los Angeles. Via USC Libraries Special Collections.

Page 169 Jack Pearce, 1950, "Elm Road Triple Drive-In Theatre." Via Wikimedia Commons .

Page 170 Greg, 2007. "Strip Mall," Via Flickr.

Page 171 Unknown, "Typical Unipole sign." Via PSDmockups.

Page 172 Anna Frodesiak, 2016. "Three-Sided Billboard Structure," Via Wikimedia Commons.

Page 173 Photo By Author, 3 Images of Learning from Las Vegas - 1997.

A SIGN IS THAT WAY - Page 182

Page 182 William Powell Frith, 1872, "The Fiar Toxophilites Painting," Via Wikimedia Commons.

A SIGN IS AFFLUENCE - Page 206

Page 206 Unknown, "Engraved Sign in Stone Wall Mockup." Via Creative Markety.

Page 208 Meta Dizayn. Public domain via Pexels.

Page 212 Screen Capture of June 16, 2006, "Comparison Chart of Old to new Philantrophy." Courtesy of Fortune.

Page 216 Boston Globe. Via Getty Images.

Page 218 Steve Granitz. WireImage Via Getty Images.

Page 218 Unknown. Public domain via discoverywatch. webnode.

Page 218 Unknown. Public domain via discoverywatch. webnode.

A SIGN IS PROTEST - Page 222

Page 222 Robert Abbott Sengstacke , Archive Photos, "Memphis TN Demonstrators," Via Getty Images.

Page 226 Illustration from William Smith, Advertise: How? When? Where? (London: Routledge, 1863). Public domain via Google Books.

Page 226 John Orlando Parry, "A London Street Scene," 1835, in the Alfred Dunhill Collection. Public domain via Wikipedia.

Page 227 George Scharf , 1825, "Men and boys with advertising boards." © The Trustees of the British Museum.

Page 228 Illustration from William Smith, Advertise: How? When? Where? (London: Routledge, 1863). Public domain via Google Books.

Page 228 Illustration from William Smith, Advertise: How? When? Where? (London: Routledge, 1863). Public domain via Google Books.

Page 229 POR Diagram over Woodville, Richard Caton II engraving titled "A Shower in Piccadilly"

Page 230 Punch, "The Lowest Depth," April 16, 1864, 155 Courtesy of National Gallery of Art Library, Washington, DC.

Page 231 Illustration L. Raven-Hill, “Sandwich-Men,” from Walter Besant, East London Types, (London: Century, 1900), 245. Courtesy of the Library of Congress.

Page 231 Illustration from William Smith, Advertise: How? When? Where? (London: Routledge, 1863). Public domain via Google Books.

Page 233 Bain News Service, Public domain via Wikimedia Commons.

Page 233 Harris & Ewing, 1917. "Woman Suffrage Picket Parade," Courtesy of U.S. Library of Congress.

Page 234 Winsor McCay, 1913, "Suffrage march line--How thousands of women parade today at Capitol." Courtesy of U.S. Library of Congress.

Page 238 Bettmann, "Soldiers at Civil Rights Protest." via Getty Images.

Page 238 Thomas J. O'Halloran, 1968, "Anti-Vietnam War Protest and Demonstration in Front of the White House in Support of Singer Eartha Kitt." Courtesy of U.S. Library of Congress.

Page 239 Vlad Tchompalov, 2017, "Crowd Of People Holding Placards." Public domain via Unsplash.

A SIGN IS A PHARMACY - Page 240

Page 240 H. Armstrong Robert, 1938. "Smiling Man Behind Counter." Public domain via Alamy.

Page 266 Rod Reiser, 1954, "Show globes in Ferndale Michigan pharmacy", Public domain via Wikimedia Commons.

Page 270 Michael Weinold. Via Wikimedia Commons.

A SIGN IS A FINGERPOST - Page 294

Page 301 Jesse Taylor Photo collection," Joseph Izod’s post of 1699 in the Cotswolds," Courtesy of the Chipping Campden History Society.

Page 301 Carl Christian Schramm, "Hölzerne Armensäule," Public domain via Wikimedia Commons.

Page 305 Nick Fewings, 2020, "Black and White Street Sign.", Public domain via Unsplash.

Page 306-307 Magazine Image, Mile-a-minute typography Typographica Magazine, Courtesy of The Print Arkive 1961.

Page 309 Unknown. Courtesy of the Milestone Society.

Page 309 David Neale, Via Wikimedia Commons.

Page 311 Nick Fewings, 2020, "Dorset Fingerpost at Hell Corner." Public domain via Unsplash.

Page 311 Unknown. Courtesy of the Milestone Society.

Page 311 Fox Photos, Hulton Archive. Via Getty Images.

Page 312 Andrew Birking, 1969. "Jane Birkin and Serge Gainsbourg take a break as they drive through Oxfordshire". ©Andrew Birkin.

A SIGN IS AIR TRAVEL - Page 326

Page 326 Hans Jakobsson. "Cabin of the 747B."

Page 328 Arpingstone. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons.

Page 328 Image from Flight Radar 24.

Page 329 Image of Paris Airport. Via Google Maps.

Page 332 Illustration from FHWA 700 Series. Courtesy of MUTCD.

Page 335 Schiphol, 1962. Collection Dutch Graphic Designer Archives Foundation. via Nederlands Archief Grafisch Ontwerpers.

Page 336 Design Magazine, August 1958, "Image from Gatwick Airport." Courtesy of the Jock Kinneir Library.

Page 336 Peter Brandt, "TWA Second Floor and lounge", Courtesy of Peter Brandt.

Page 336 Braniff print ads, 1965 Braniff International

Page 337 Andrian Frutiger, 1974, "Fruiter 55," Courtesy of Museum für Gestaltung Zürich.

Page 338 Andrian Frutiger, 1974, "Fruiter 55," Courtesy of Museum für Gestaltung Zürich.

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About the Author

Jeffrey Ludlow is an award-winning designer in the field of signage and wayfinding. In his career of over 20 years, he has worked on projects for Nike, Prada, the Victoria and Albert Museum, and Apple. His portfolio includes signage systems for the CCTV building by OMA, Apple Park in Cupertino, CA, and a variety of cultural venues around the world. He is a trained architect, author, and artist, as well as the co-founder and creative director of Point of Reference Studio. Based in Madrid, POR specializes in global place branding and signage/ wayfinding projects. Prior to founding POR, Jeffrey worked as creative director of Bruce Mau Studio and as art director for the N.Y. design consultancy 2x4.