Friday, March 28, 2008

Eyesore

I can't stand anything that makes the street environment look a mess - CCTVs, signage, parking metres, traffic lights, bollards....basically everything that clutters our pavements. A typical street in Britain is now a mess of this visual untidy clutter.

Added to this list are street works. Now I understand that occationally the pavement needs to be dug up but what drives me CRAZY is when they dig up the street, erect bright orange barriers around it and then disappear for weeks at a time, allowing the hole to be filled up with rubbish and generally look a mess. This has been the case outside of college for the past few weeks. It drove me so mad that I made a sign (click to enlarge)

1 comment:

Ben Kunz said...

This eyesore challenge could be an opportunity. Imagine using some clean signage around the dug-up works projects promoting a public service project -- aesthetically pleasing outdoor with a feel-good slant.

I was driving in Michigan USA a few years ago and came across a 5 mile section of highway with one lane closed. A small sign said, "construction, next 5 miles," and had a frowny face. About 2 miles in, another sign showed the face with a slight frown. 4 miles in, the face had a flat mouth. At the very end ... happy face. Silly, but I felt much better about the public works department.

An ugly image is a communication opportunity...