I just wrote an article for Eye, the excellent graphic-design magazine out of London, about type and lettering on public buildings. It’ll be in the spring issue, Eye 67. The starting point for this piece was Rem Koolhaas’s new Seattle Public Library, and the original ways in which really big type was being used for some of the internal signage. The article expanded far beyond there, of course. (It’s embarrassing to remember how long ago I first spoke with John Walters, Eye’s editor, about doing such a piece. It’s one of those subjects that just keeps expanding; I wouldn’t be surprised if it ended up as a book.)
There’s a lot of smaller-scale signage in the library, too – the sort of ordinary informational stuff that everyone has to deal with. I took a bunch of photos of the SPL signage, in the course of my research. Only one of them ended up in the magazine, but I was intrigued by some of the side-roads and byways that didn’t get covered in a more general article. One unexpected juxtaposition is illustrated here: an informational sign from the library (left), which was free-standing at the top of the “books spiral,” SPL’s unique form of library stacks; and another free-standing sign (below), using the same typefaces and remarkably similar color and shapes, which I noticed next to the fuel pumps in my local gas station on Capitol Hill.
Coincidence? Well, yes, probably. But it’s a surprising bit of design echo, in two entirely different contexts that are only about a mile apart. Fill ’er up! Would you like a book with that?
The Shell logo reveals that this is most likely not a locally produced poster. Perhaps Bruce Mau Design has done some work for Shell?
More likely a coincidence, as you suggest, or an influence. The writing and the design of the Bruce Mau signage are each far more coherent and personal than the Shell poster. Last week, I took a Seattle visitor to explore the public library, and we walked to the top of the “books spiral,” the multi-story ramp through the stacks. Just as I was wondering if I’d come to the top yet, I saw that very sign. I felt as if it had read my mind. Plus, it then anticipated and answered my next question: what do I do now?
The Koolhaas-designed library is both exciting and slightly intimidating, and I actually felt grateful to the signage.
The Shell Oil poster, on the other hand, didn’t make me feel well-cared for by a concerned multi-national.
Eileen