Friday Five – Signs as Art, Regulation, and the Supernatural

Friday, March 30, 2012 —

 

Perhaps a Hazardous Machine sign like this one could have helped prevent injuries during construction of the East Side Access passage.

OSHA Fines Contractor In less jubilant news, contractors tunneling the East Side Access passage from Long Island to Grand Central Terminal were fined $48,000 by OSHA on Friday.  This is the second time that MTA contractors have been fined in recent days; this citation is in reaction to an incident in which a runaway rail car left two workers injured. This situation highlights the importance of safety reenforcement, which can be implemented by posting precautions and OSHA-regulated procedures in any potentially dangerous work environment.  Incidents like this one are why SmartSign is careful to offer a comprehensive collection of signs like the one above, designed to ensure your workers’ safety.

A sign from the “Walk Raleigh” campaign
© NCSU Student Media 2012

Signs Encourage Foot Traffic Street art has again merged with street signs with one graduate student’s guerilla “Walk Raleigh” campaign. Matt Tomasulo, a landscape architecture and city planning masters candidate at UNC Chapel Hill, is spreading the word that many of Raleigh’s landmarks are located within a thirty-minute walk of each other.  He’s doing this via street signs, picking three Raleigh landmarks and creating 27 signs on the way to the locations with posted walking distances.  Tomasulo has since started a “Walk Raleigh” Facebook page to encourage visitors to start similar campaigns in their own towns. To start a similar project in your city, design signs of your own with SmartSign!

A reminder from the SmartSign collection to drive sober

Drunk Driver Crashes into Road Sign A good sign is only as coherent as the person who reads it.  One speed limit sign in Colorado Springs did not fare so well when 62-year-old David Abeyta crashed into it while under the influence of alcohol last week. He was taken to a local hospital with minor injuries, but was subsequently charged with DUI, vehicular assault, and careless driving.  The last two point to an important underlying message: that beyond strong signage, individual sobriety and respect for those who share our roads is of the utmost importance.

A digital billboard of the type that Arizona has just banned

Arizona Governor Vetoes Electronic Billboards Governor Jan Brewer of Arizona vetoed a bill on Wednesday that would have legalized digital billboards. House Bill 2757 planned to bring 70 electronic billboards to the state in compliance with the Highway Beautification Act. Brewer and others opposed to the bill cited Arizona’s astronomical research industry as the primary objection, since the intermittent light of regularly changing billboards could cause light pollution in a state valued for its dark skies. Brewer’s veto also signifies a powerful economic signal to the Arizona astronomy industry, since it sends a message about the strong valuation placed on the investments that such an enterprise brings.

Ad Age reporter Andrew Hampp experiences the “whispering sign” for
himself at the billboard’s SoHo location

Hear Voices? It May Be an Ad The audio technology company Holosonics has paired up with television network A&E on a campaign for the show “Paranormal State.” The new billboards are connected to directional speakers that essentially beam a whisper down to a few distinct spots on the sidewalks below the billboard. Passersby hear a woman’s voice mutter, “Who’s there? Who’s there? It’s not your imagination.” The audio tech company’s trademark “sound spotlight” uses sonic waves to distribute sound to a specific, targeted area to reduce noise pollution, but what are the implications of using such technology on the roads, to announce speed limits or highway exits? Are sound-directive signs a thing of the future or just an anomalous passing fad? Let us know what you think in the comments section below!

– R. Sapon-White