Keeping with the Times

IN ITS MAY 1973 issue, Signs of the Times introduced a new format encompassing the front cover, the various sections and columns. Headlines, captions and the positioning of text saw “updated graphics and increased amounts of white space to put the overall appearance of the magazine more in tune with the trends of contemporary sign design.” The updates also included two new continuing series: “Sign Design Gallery” and a “signsofthetimespage” dedicated to spotlighting trends in outdoor advertising and sign identification. See complete issues of Signs of the Times dating from 1906 to 1923 at signsofthetimes.com/archive.

• On a Quixotic Solution
  In his letter from the editor, Dave Souder commented on the recent installation of a windmill along I-5, by the California Division of Highways, with withering sarcasm. Envisioning a future where the constantly revolving, nightly illuminated windmill succeeded in its intended purpose of relieving “highway hypnosis,” after the Federal Highway Beautification Act had cleared interstate roadways of signs and displays, the man everyone referred to as ‘Mr. Souder’ wrote, “It’s just much too simple, economical and practical to permit signs and outdoor advertising, well-illuminated at night, to conquer ‘highway hypnosis.’”