dayton is not in ohio

Oh, Brother…

Oak Park has an arts district that’s located two blocks from our house. It’s a community based endeavor that includes a few small galleries of the mid-level commercial, and arts and crafts variety (you know, the kind with names like “Art Gecko”). It’s not exactly my thing, but fantastic for what it is. It’s got the perfect independent coffee shop, boutique maternity clothing store, high-end thrift shop, mom and pop barber, yoga studio, and a few nice little restaurants.

And now it has new signs demarcating the little corridor on Harrison Street. I think the signs are a great way to establish the district, draw in more businesses and help it grow… There’s just one little annoying thing: they look a lot like gigantic, red, disposable razors.

These drawings don’t illustrate too well that the signs arch back at the top, finishing off the razor design. It is beyond me how designers, arts district coordinators, and community leaders can work on something like this, and no one notices in any meeting (or has the jewels to say it) that you’re about to pay $120,000 for something that looks an awful lot like a gigantic shaving tool. I can understand the community folks, but the guy who designed the thing? The artists? It reminds me of the first time I saw a Mexican guy in a sombrero on the front grill of a Toyota about 15 years ago.

(The fun part of this is that I have an idea brewing for some guerrilla art in the form of a giant Barbasol can.)