Behind the curtain
Reflectivity celebrates its 75th anniversary
Technology is easy to take for granted — consider the often-forgotten reflective road signs that punctuate our highways, warning and guiding drivers throughout all hours of the night. Seventy-five years ago, an innovation at the 3M Company set the groundwork for today’s reflective signage, a development that has improved driver and pedestrian safety ever since. […]
Road signs of Middle-Earth
Our office design crew is full of fans of The Hobbit, and with The Desolation of Smaug opening tomorrow, we got together and cooked up a couple of signs that Bilbo, Thorin, Bard, Gandalf and company might have found handy in their travels. Not all who wander are lost, but they might need some signs […]
The Running Boy
This week, we’re reprinting a recent essay by Ron Tanner on the aesthetics of the classic Running Boy sign. — Last summer on a 10,000-mile road trip across America I noticed a sign I’ve taken for granted for decades. It’s the children-at-play sign, a bright yellow steel rectangle with the silhouette of a running boy […]
Recycling to the point of absurdity: Q&A with Artist Boris Bally
Artist Boris Bally transforms found materials and unwanted traffic signs into stunning and subversive works of art.