When design is too good…
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- miesvan
The graphic designer Michael Bierut, a partner working in the New York office of the firm Pentagram, designed a 21-foot sign for the new U.S.-Canada border crossing at Massena, New York.The sign is being dismantled by the Customs and Border Protection Agency for fear that it will be a target for terrorists.
- baseline_shift0
that sounds silly.
- bigtrick0
link to article:
http://www.fastcompany.com/blog/…
- miesvan0
i guess Michael Bierut thinks the same
http://www.fastcompany.com/blog/…
- designbot0
And who is paying for it? What a waste.
- zman0
USA = paranoid dellusional
- lvl_130
too good? not really.
- janne760
Where is drgss when you need the Norwegian?
- IRNlun60
Ah, makes sense. All decisions should be based on how terrorist would react.
- janne760
I can't read it, that Moran should have moved closer to take the photo.
- zman0
People must think terrorists are completely retarded. They supposedly got away with knocking down the pillars of the western financial world AND hit the fucking Pentagon of all things, a super HQ for the largest military in the world and now they're afraid of a big ugly sign in the middle of no where. Not healthy.
- I would have told them to take it down because its big and ugly...the truth.zman
- harlequino0
Terrorist: "Fuck me!! They took down the sign! Where the hell are we - Mexico, Hawaii, Vancouver, Spain?? Our plans have once again been foiled!"
- Milan0
wait... the "design" is the half-cut off words "UNITED STATES"? WOW!
- hans_glib0
more pix:
- akrokdesign0
it needs a big warning sign. no photography. etc. lol.
- Shaney0
it needs finishing, then it can be decided if it's worth nicking
- luckyorphan0
I tend to have a problem with Beirut's design, frankly.
He is quoted in the article as saying, "So we thought a big sign would create a kind of ceremonial moment to mark the significance of the building. Public buildings have had inscriptions for years: every New Yorker knows that long passage about "Neither snow nor rain nor gloom of night" that appears on the main post office building on Eighth Avenue. In a way, this sign was meant to be a 21st-century version of that."
The thing is, what he has created is not a sign, but rather, an ad. It's a branding gimmick, and not really a sign. The use of the huge, bold typeface in hazard yellow (seen on the rest of the building as well in a more understandable fashion) suggests more that either the US is either dangerous, is obsessed with consumerism and advertising, or that it is a place that looks for every possible surface to claim as its own. I suppose if the word "CANADA" is on the other side of the building for those leaving the US, then it'd be more understandable.
Last but not least, he cites the NY Post Office building inscription (http://www.pbase.com/rfcd100/im... as one of his inspirations. Frankly, Beirut's solution is more about the designer than it is the concept. He's effectively tagged the building with his design, and hasn't considered that since this is a somewhat municipal building intended to welcome people, perhaps a little more class and a little less advertising would be in order. Travelers don't need giant letters to let them know where they're going.
This design is certainly not too good.
- SigDesign0
AHHH!!!
- kgvs720
Just like WTC is being built into a bunker to withstand between 300 and 400 mile an hour planes. Like that happens so often.
