The Observation Deck

Signage Color Selection: Community Input Sought

As part of its signage and wayfinding design project, the Downtown Lakewood Design Sub-committee is seeking community input on the color selection for street signs in the district. Four sign blanks, each a different color, have been posted on poles in the 14700 block of Detroit Avenue. The blanks are posted about 10 feet high; two colors are displayed in front of Geiger’s Clothing & Sports, the other two in front of The Melt Bar & Grilled.

Community input on the colors can be submitted through a survey located on the LakewoodAlive website: http://www.lakewoodalive.com

Please take a moment to provide your feedback. Once a color is chosen, the design project completed, and funding becomes available (timetable unknown at this time), Downtown Lakewood will implement this aspect of the Detroit Streetscape Plan. The result will be a functional and exciting signage and wayfinding program in our primary commercial district.

The historic color palette approved by the committee reflects the community’s expressed desire for traditional elements in the design, as determined at the October 2, 2008 public meeting on the subject.

The signage design project is funded by a grant award to LakewoodAlive from Heritage Ohio matched by the City of Lakewood, and is an outgrowth of the community-based Detroit Avenue Streetscape Plan funded by a grant award from NOACA and adopted by City Council in December of 2008.





Downtown Lakewood is a LakewoodAlive program to revitalize Lakewood’s primary commercial district using the National Main Street Four-Point Approach™.

LakewoodAlive is a nonprofit economic development organization dedicated to improving the quality of life of residents by creating alliances with community leaders, leveraging community assets and expanding the pool of available resources to facilitate economic stability and growth in Lakewood, Ohio.

Thanks... I am pulling for purple or yellow

These are kind of formal color choices, is that the look we're going for or are we going for the coffehouse type of atmosphere? Maybe more of a urbane type of air.

How about something different that doesn't look so corporate? Maybe turquoise and cream? Or cranberry with a silvery lettering.

If I am remembering correctly from my Driver's Ed days, there are certain street sign colors that are reserved by law for traffic usage.

Best check that out before we start using reds, yellows, etc.....

Sharon wrote:

These are kind of formal color choices, is that the look we're going for or are we going for the coffehouse type of atmosphere? Maybe more of a urbane type of air.

How about something different that doesn't look so corporate? Maybe turquoise and cream? Or cranberry with a silvery lettering.

Exactly!

The logo, the fonts, and the colors look like they were designed by a 50 going on 80 year old.

Grace,

I think you may be mistaken.

Dad and I volunteer with Lakewood seniors. You should see the beautiful stuff they come up with....

Maybe your computer just added 2 "o's" by mistake?

Couldn't you have really meant- 5 to 8 year olds?

Gary I don't see anything about that and these strike me as more of an area sign than a legal street sign indicator.

If we must end up with these, perhaps an LHS purple and gold theme could be done.

I'd like to take some folks to "Coventry Village" in Cleveland Heights.

Gary

I suspect a 5 to 8 year old might have come up with something a bit more creative.

And you know, I know lots of 80 year-olds that act 50. It's the 50 year olds that act 80 that are a problem.

The Coventry Village logo was designed by an artist, not a corporate stuffed shirt.

Grace O'Malley wrote:The Coventry Village logo was designed by an artist, not a corporate stuffed shirt.

Hmmm...if only we lived in a city filled to the brim with artists...

I hate to say anything negative here, as I am usually attacked by the "go-along, get along types," but I must say that I am not a fan of this sign. On my way back from Oklahoma I drove through a couple southern cities with successful "downtowns." What I noticed is that these places emphasized the location over a undistinct place like a downtown.

For example, in Oklahoma City, the hotspot is called Bricktown. The signage is almost the exact opposite of ours, emphasizing the location over the generic downtown. In Memphis it was Beale Street and in Louisville it was Fourth Street.

I think we need to be realistic about where we can generate growth and how large that area might get. The we should name it something closer to that. For now I would at least suggest that we reverse the downtown and Lakewood. A good question to ask is, "Where else in Lakewood would "downtown" be?" If you were a traveler, would you really get lost on Park Row and think it was downtown?

So maybe the sign should say Detroit Avenue, or the Hub (an old streetcar reference). I dunno, guess I am just rable rousing again.

Jim,

Is that edit button ever coming back or do I need to proof a few more times before I post?

Ryan

Demro & Liston make great points.

First, having new signage is a wonderful thing.

Second, this type of design is fluid and can be vetted and changed at this stage. This isn't a bad thing. There isn't a designer who hasn't tweaked a concept.

Looking at a color palette is very useful in case there is a reason for multiple signs - and we may need them.

We may indeed have multiple districts and overlapping districts so we may need to consider visual clutter. What would that look like?

Consensus on color palettes is very sticky. I'm not a fan of Crate & Barrel colors but I like historic color palettes that reflect our Ohio past. They may be the same colors. I adore the psychedelic Coventry bus bit I don't want street signs looking like that. (We never had the same hippie legacy anyway).

I must admit that I am not at all a fan of the type used in the sign or the bridge reference in "downtown". Do we have to cross a bridge to get there?

I assume that following Mainstreet guidelines means that our downtown Lakewood has boundaries, although that is going to feel strange when Cook and Detroit may be designated "Downtown" and Gladys & Detroit isn't.

That's where Ryan's thoughtful suggestions need consideration.

It takes more than a meeting or two to work out the kinks.

Kudos to Mary Anne Crampton for getting the ball rolling, but please, let's think this through a little more. The end result will be so much better for it.