Plastic Fantastic Signs of the Time

The introduction of molded plastic signage has proliferated across the American landscape since the 1960s. Uvex, a division of the Eastman Chemical Products, and a subsidiary of the Eastman Kodak company at that time, was responsible for a large part of this growing trend in fabricated signage. Many businesses soon traded their old handpainted and electric neon signage for the shiny new backlit plastic models made of many colors. However, the consequences of this new swing in advertising had a devastating impact on an elite industry of hand signpainters who couldn't compete with the behemoth plastic companies. Greater harm is the plastic's damaging environmental toll taken on our landscape and oceans as mounting evidence has since revealed. 
     Uvex wasn't the only company responsible for producing molded plastic signage, but it did have some reasonably nice marketing materials. Concepts in Uvex, their trade catalog promoting their modern and "versatile, high impact plastic sheet" of "lustrous beauty" was published in the 1960s. No designer listed, but it certainly has the earmarks and influence of Alexander Girard's colorful work. And you gotta love the Vanna White of plastic molded letters.

  

::Via the Hagley Digital Archives.

Carnival Type Gone Bad

Kerning people! That C is ready to fall off the cliff. 
Spotted at the Lakefair midway in Olympia, Washington.
::Via the Letterology archives.

The F UN SLIDE.
::Via Wired Magazine online by K. Maziarz. 

The Zipper needs to zip up its kerning as well.
::Via Matt Marshall's Flickrstream.

You can fly a plane right through this Super Sizz ler signage in Bowie, MD.
::Via Bowie Living.

Is it that hard to come up with another font aside from Souvenir for the word SouvenirS? Perhaps one with true small caps even? Seen at the souvenir stand at the Lakefair Midway in Olympia, Washington. 
::Via the Letterology archives. Todays Summer rewind originally appeared on 8.3.2011. 

Typographic Endangerment

Q: What's wrong with these pictures? A: the lettering in each of them is all in danger of vanishing someday. Fortunately, typographical preservationist Molly Woodward of the Vernacular Typography site is dedicated to creating a digital archive of lettering and signage images from around the world and reaching out to the people responsible for creating them. To achieve this, she established a Kickstarter initiative with a goal of $5000 to be reached by today; March 2nd. Well, I'm a little late to the party, but she has fortunately exceeded her goal so far. Even so, I encourage anyone to become a backer and donate even $5 to her noble efforts. I suppose someone has to preserve all the endangered environmental type of the world. It's an endless task.


To learn more about her project, watch the video below.

Carnival Type Gone Bad

Kerning people! That C is ready to fall off the cliff. Spotted at the Lakefair Midway in Olympia, Washington. 
:: Via the Letterology archives.

The F UN SLIDE.
:: Via Wired magazine online by K. Maziarz.

The Zipper also needs to zip up its' kerning.
:: Via Matt Marshall's flickrstream.

You can fly a plane right through the Super Sizz ler signage in Bowie, Maryland.
::Via Bowie Living.

Is it that hard to come up with another font aside from Souvenir for the word souvenirs? Perhaps one with true small caps even? Seen at the souvenir stand at the Lakefair Midway in Olympia, Washington. 
:: Via the Letterology archives.