WASHINGTON

An insight into some of the states signage, typography, culture and

landscape, from a young creatives perspective.

PLACES VISITED:

SEATTLE
MOUNT RAINIER
SAN JUAN ISLANDS
BAINBRIDGE ISLAND
Over the course of two weeks, signage and typography
present in various Washington cities were analysed in
terms of their effectiveness and ineffectiveness. The main
aim of this publication is to try and highlight some of the
pitfalls that designers can fall into when it comes to signage
design. There are many aspects that need to be considered
when working in this area, including the choice in typeface,
scale, readability and legibility, colour, use of material
and plenty of other factors. Alongside highlighting some
unsuccessful examples of signage, some successful examples
have been showcased and explained to further educate
what makes signage effective.
The journey began in Seattle, where signage covers every
square space and corner. Across the water from the city
centre is Bainbridge Island, which is much more tranquil
and quiet. This has much less signage because it is so much
more rural and remote. Around three hours away from
Bainbridge Island, in different directions, are the San
Juan Islands and Mount Rainier. These have incredible
landscapes that rely on signage to guide hikers and tourists.

Despite this, the amount of signage is still evidently

less than in the centre of Seattle. By covering such a
diverse range of signage, you should start to appreciate
and understand the careful considerations that go into
designing signage.
If signage design just isn't your thing, don't worry,
there are plenty of other aspects to this publication,
such as American culture and beautiful landscapes,
that have been included to really give a sense of the
state in its fullest.
Photography and design by Matt Fraser.

This 'ZAP PRO LUBE' sign was passed in Anacortes - a

small town that is on route to the San Juan Islands. Whilst
the look of the sign is not that appealing, the use of jaggededged letterforms aesthetically creates a link to electricity
and power, which is appropriate for a vehicle repair shop.
The bright red lettering against a white background is very
successful in grabbing people's attention, which is crucial as
all potential customers will be driving along with no focus
on shops off of the road.

All over the city there were decorated wall figures. These
were hand-crafted by Bill Mitchell, a local creative. The
murals came about after a group of community leaders met
under the name of the Anacortes Renaissance and Revival
Confederation. Out of that group, the Anacortes Mural
Project (AMP) was conceived, with Bill Mitchell emerging
as its creative director. His vision was to create people
painted on wood, which would attract curious visitors to
the city. As seen above, it certainly works!

These two photographs highlight some ineffective examples

of exterior signage in Seattle.
At first glance, QFC comes across as a chicken shop
mainly due to the name and typeface similarity with many
_FC shops. However, it is actually a range of supermarkets
that stand for Quality Food Centers. For a supermarket
that is trying to promote quality food, you would expect
the branding to be much more high-end and less tacky.
The building and signage are completely run down, which
immediately hinders the experience of 'quality' shopping.

The second example seen was Red Robin - a burger joint

located across from Bainbridge Island. Whilst the lettering
is easy to read against the darker red backdrop, the style of
the typeface used does not clearly suggest that it is a burger
joint; whilst the branding is effective in terms of legibility,
it is not clear at all in communicating what is inside the
building and what type of food is on offer.

Upon arriving in Seattle it was clear that the city has a

huge diversity of signage; one exterior that was instantly
striking was a local bowling alleys sign. The use of flexible
LEDs for the lettering is very effective because it is visible,
not only during the day, but at night too. As the city tends
to come alive at night, the choice in lighting is successful in
ensuring that the alley is easily identifiable from a distance
and in the dark.

The neon-looking signage also keeps with the 1960s

aesthetic when bowling blew up in America. This cultural
consideration makes the sign purposeful and immediately
identifiable as a bowling alley - very effective design.

All across Seattle there are bright yellow crosswalk signs

that purposefully aware drivers of oncoming pedestrians.
The combination of yellow and black immediately grabs
your attention because there is a high contrast between the
two colours. A high contrast means that the legibility of
text is improved, compared to a sign with low contrast.
Yellow and black are legally used as warning signs in
America and many other countries around the World.
Amber can sometimes be used instead of yellow; however,
it is much more common to see yellow being applied. Law
states that the figure part of the sign must be black, and
that the yellow part must be at least 50% of the sign's area.
This meticulous attention to detail highlights how these
signs have been extremely well considered and designed.
They are even backlit with LEDs so that they signs are
easily visible during the day and at night.

The Starbucks Reserve Roastery and Tasting Room,

located in the centre of Seattle, is the largest Starbucks in
America, where you can buy a huge range of coffee beans.
The entire building is an industrial coffee factory of sorts workers roast the coffee beans for the premium Starbucks
Reserve coffee right in front of you.
The overall branding of the store was far more luxurious
than any of their ordinary stores. The sign seen on the left
was on of their hand-drawn labels that identified the type
of coffee bean on sale. The hand-drawn lettering aspect
immediately adds a more personal feel to the product,
which is one selling deploy that enables Starbucks to
boost their sales and prices.

Not all signage is as obvious as those seen outside shops

and restaurants - signage can be seen everywhere you
look. The telephone poles in Seattle are all plastered with
posters, advertising a variety of local events and activities.
The 'F' seen in this photograph was a torn remain of an
old poster, that has now been covered completely. Whilst
it is therefore very difficult to judge the effectiveness of
this letter, and what it was trying to promote, it is clear
that it fulfilled its aim of grabbing peoples attention.

The letter was only a few inches in size and it stood out
over all the other posters and remains. In this sense, it is
important to consider the purpose of signage and how the
end goal will be achieved.

The O in the photo seen on the left was used on the

side of a donut store in South Seattle. Without actually
seeing DONUTS at the front of the store, the individual
letter does not solely highlight that it is a donut store at
all. Understandably, they have decided to keep the shop
modern and trendy, as opposed to a typical tacky donut
store; however, other than the obvious shape of the O,
there is no immediate link to what the building is selling.
This is an example of poor communication, as it has no
real purpose for people who will see it from the side.
HoneyHole was a bar in the centre of Seattle. Whilst
the high contrast between the white lettering and black
canopy provides clear legibility of the bar name, the style
of the typeface does not really highlight that it is a bar.
The curved style of the letterforms are very like those in
the Art Nouveau period, which is not very relevant to the
bar or the interior theme. Overall, the type comes across
as being effective in terms of its legibility and readability,
but unrepresentative of communicating what the building
actually is - the most crucial factor.

Capital Hill in Seattle is covered almost entirely with

art and graffiti. The area is buzzing with very trendy,
new shops; however, there is also a contrasting side to
it, as a lot of people in the area are living on the streets.
This photograph was taken along a line of very current,
expensive shops. The high contrast between the red paint
and white door is quite aggressive, giving a stern message
to anyone passing. The main aim of this message was to
stop people parking in front of the garage; therefore, only
legibility and readability needed to be considered.

The ice fridge seen in the photograph on the right was

hidden away behind a small cabin on The San Juan Islands.
The letterform used provides all the information you need
to immediately understand what it is. The subtle illustration
of ice collecting on top of the letter I is visually very strong
and obvious in terms of the contents of the unit. The choice
of red against the white unit is very striking too, making it
very visible from a distance.

Despite this being one of the least enticing displays

of type on the trip, the choice of Papyrus as a typeface
actually works quite well when considering its purpose
of promoting sailing trips. Papyrus is often used where
an antique look is desired; however, in this application
the L almost resembles a hull and mast of a sailing boat.
This is mainly due to the tall ascenders and curved stems.
In this aspect, the typeface choice is fairly appropriate for
the main purpose.
As Seattle is surrounded by water, a lot of the cities income
comes from fishing and other water-based industries. This
sign was a few minutes away from the famous Pike Place
Market, which is known for its tradition of fishmongers
throwing fish that customers have purchased, before they
are wrapped up.

With a ranch being named Wacky Nut Farm, there is

only one typeface that can truly be used - Comic Sans.
If you didn't know already, Comic Sans is one of the most
used fonts in the world. Even the Vatican have used it, in a
serious document paying tribute to the last Pope. Despite it
being used so much, Comic Sans is considered as the most
hated typeface by designers and creatives. The main known
reason for this is because Comic Sans tends to be used
everywhere without much thought or care. Ironically, this
farm was built by the creator of Adobe, which makes the
use of the typeface even more surprising.

All over Bainbridge Island there is gated farm signage

like seen in the photographs. From observing a few it was
clear that each ranch uses a different typeface - there is no
real consistency across them all. For this reason, the use
of comic sans in this case does work, as it visibly fulfils its
purpose in clearly showing the ranch name. The contrast
between black and brown is quite poor however; a lighter
piece of would may have been a better choice to make the
text more legible.