Archive: Opinions

As I cover local events one of the things that amuses me is how much time is spent talking about signs.  Businesses want big splashy signs to attract the attention of passersby and to tell them where their stores are.  Municipalities that care about such things want tasteful, demur signs that not only identify businesses, parks and other places, but have some sort of unity of design that brands the town or village, makes it easily identifiable in a way that helps define the character of the place.

The issue of signs came up again Monday in the Village of Lansing Trustees meeting at which new signage for the new Village Hall was discussed at length.  The Village Hall shares a driveway with a couple of businesses, and Trustee Gerry Monaghan rightly argued that people passing by know about those businesses, but have no idea what the municipal building is for because of its comparatively diminutive sign.

That sign is not only somewhat too demur, but butt-ugly cobbed-together street signs announcing board meeting times dangle below it.  Village Clerk Jodi Dake presented ideas Monday for new signage that will do the trick, but a lot more attractively, plus a sign on the building that identifies it clearly as the Village Hall.  At the same time Monaghan, an artist, told the board that the need for new signage presents an opportunity to consider updating the Village logo and sign.

Despite the face that most people don't realize that the Village Hall is... well, the Village Hall, The Village does a better job than the Town of branding itself.  It has an attractive seagull logo that is used on its signs, stationary, etc. that helps give the Village an identity.  The Town of Lansing's logo is a map of the town that does not graphically produce well.  It looks OK on the Highway Department sign and on the side of its trucks, but in newsletters and letterhead it is weak.  Design-wise it is simply not attractive, which makes the town seem a bit shabby.

I have been going to Lynchburg, Virginia while my daughter is in school there, and I couldn't help but notice signs on the highways that identify businesses that evidently pay for the maintenance of the attractive road dividers.  The signs are unified in design and attractive.  That is municipal signage at its best.

Code Enforcement Officer Lynn Day has proposed some attractive wayfinding signs that will not only help brand the town, but replace all those little signs stuck into the dirt at the Town's main intersections pointing to this business or that.  That is a great start toward branding the Town, but the Town should seriously consider updating its logo before the new signs are made.  The Lansing Harbor Festival used to hold a logo contest.  The Town could do that, or simply hire a professional to craft a logo.  I can recommend an excellent graphic artist who happens to live in the Town.

The Village trustees frequently talk about erecting wayfinding signs, though have not taken any action on them.  Good wayfinding signs help people find what they are looking for without creating ugly blotches on the municipal landscape.  Part of the problem with the Village right now is that there are so many businesses all in one small area, but some are not visible from the main drag.  Would you know where TJ Max is, or Friends & Pho restaurant, or Big Lots or Ace Hardware if you didn't already know where they are?

Business owners have been critical of the Village for its sign law and strict enforcement.  After a neighborhood flap over an electronic sign the Town of Lansing discovered it had inadvertently deleted it's sign law, and it took over a year to come up with a new one.

So our municipalities are thinking about these things.  But, like Monaghan, they should be taking it a step further.  They should be thinking about how municipal signs define a community, while being mindful that they need to be legible and stand out so people can see what they say.  With all the recent sign activity on both Lansings' boards, Monaghan is right: this is a very good time to evaluate the logos and overall look of these signs that play a major role in defining a community.

v10i21