Coordinating ST’s International Sign Contest annually provides one of my most enjoyable job duties. The opportunity to review hundreds of top-flight projects that arrive through the transom –mostly on our FTP server and via email – always delivers an exhilarating experience.
Given the quality of entries we receive, it’s always unfortunate that some very worthwhile signage doesn’t make the winners’ circle. But, just because an entry doesn’t earn recognition in the contest gallery, it may still appear on our pages. This month, we’ve culled through several submissions left in the field and compiled this gallery.
As they say, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Maybe you’ll like some of the signage presented here more than those that earned glory in last month’s issue. In any event, ST proudly offers the “best of the rest.”
This 6-ft.-diameter, 30-ft.-tall monument pays tribute to Detroit’s Woodward Ave., which has long served as Motown’s central artery. Every August, the Woodward Dream Cruise attracts more than 40,000 muscle- and classic-car owners, and approximately a million onlookers. Calori + Vanden-Eynden, a NYC-based, environmental-graphic-design firm, developed the program. David Vanden-Eynden, the firm’s co-principal, said the tribute concisely promotes Woodward Avenue’s legacy without creating visual clutter. The design team referenced existing imagery that the client, the Woodward Ave. Action Assn., currently implements within its marketing. He said, “We chose glass because it’s durable, adaptable and allows interior illumination.”
Harmon Sign (Toledo, OH) installed and assembled the monument’s components, and fabricated the flat, aluminum, horizontal and vertical bands that cover the seams within the glass panels. The glass components and hardware required the coordination of several vendors. The sign incorporates internal, solar-powered LED lighting with mounting brackets, drivers, controllers and enclosures. The laminated, curved-glass panels are situated on the galvanized-steel support column with a mounting plate, outriggers and glass-mounting clips. The monument incorporates 16 glass panels.