Over the course of a few weeks, a bold neighborhood declaration was edited down until it disappeared, leaving only a faint impression. I appreciated the casual, gradual collaboration implied by this erosion.
Also funny that all the weeds disappeared along with the messsage.
See also:
Dan’s recent musings on a piece of graffiti he ran across.
I was walking to dinner with a client in Chicago and saw this choice piece of graffiti. I immediately imagined using the image for an end slide in a presentation – “Problem Solved.” Very nice.
It wasn’t until after I had posted the shot on Facebook and seen it uploaded that I realized what it actually said. Which means that I saw the graffiti, composed the shot, took several alternate shots, and processed it in Photoshop, all the while seeing what my mind had interpolated rather than what was actually written there.
We’ve had numerous experiences of clients joining us in the field and saying – after we’ve interviewed someone who was either using or enthusiastic about their products – “She’s not our customer,” because the person didn’t fit their organization’s idea of who their customers are. We’ve also heard, “We already fixed that problem,” even after seeing clearly that the solution was unknown to the end user and the problem was still a problem.
It can be very hard to see something as it is if you come to it with a strongly ingrained idea of what you think it is.
But there is a reality – customers, environments, markets – whether you are seeing it or not. If you’re developing and selling products and services, you’re far better off working from an understanding of what’s actually there, rather than what you think is there.
I’ve posted about 150 photos fo Flickr from our recent trip to London. Here’s a few favorites
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From Leuven, Belgium. Interface controls for a media player, presented out of their default context. Note how the set of controls has grown since the days of (say) portable tape recorders, what with the move to digital. Yet I’m struck how comfortable they are to look at, just at painted on a wall.
See more of my pictures from Belgium here.
A few months ago we saw a very cool Hollywood used car lot, Kay Kars, featuring rather poorly executed (and dated) film icons as enthusiastic decoration.
A mural along one wall featured Brando, Marilyn, Clint, and Arnold.
A banner along the street showed some of the same classic stars, as well as Bugs and the Three Stooges.
Meanwhile, an otherwise non-famous bunny encouraged potential shoppers to “Come On In”
A few months along, Kay Kars has either moved or closed down (the website describes their luxury car inventory; not likely the same business) and the empty lot is nothing but sad.
Update: Here’s the scene in February 2009:
On a recent trip to Maui, I came across car after car, abandoned and disintegrating, on the sides of the roads.
At what point will these dumped cars become interesting historical artifacts?
How long ago were petroglyphs simply graffiti?
So much about value is a matter of framing. Has there ever been a marketing tactic more transformative than the simple passage of time?
Dumpster graffiti, Montmartre, Paris
The power and meaning of language doesn’t always travel well.
Hong Kong, January 2006
I believe these are phone numbers, but what function are they serving? Interesting mysteries in foreign countries.
Update: as qiawen points out in the comments, these are ads for local services, such as a plumber or appliance repair person.
If you attended the 2002 IDSA conference, you may have seen architect Bruce Tomb talk about his experience with his others in his community graffiti-ing or removing graffiti from his building, and how he essentially turned it into an ongoing art project. I wrote about it here (six boxes down, in blue) and today the SF Chron has an in-depth piece about Tomb and his building.
The posters are bright, papered over each other and peeling. A public gallery of outrage and passion on a former police station that once housed drug dealers, gang members and drunks in its holding cells, the dozens of radical statements plastered on this wall at 23rd and Valencia streets make up what may be the most outspoken site in the country.
Unbeknownst to most passers-by who stop to stare, behind the poster wall lives a quiet man who furiously defends its aesthetic. With his hair slicked neatly back and black Dickies pants that match the sturdy frames of his glasses, Bruce Tomb does not look like a fighter. But for the past seven years, he has fiercely protected the 25-foot square front wall of his home, the former Mission Police Station.
Tomb, an architect, views the 1950s-style industrial building, in which he lives with his family and operates his business, as a beautiful piece of modern architecture and a valuable part of city history. Some of his neighbors disagree, seeing the boxy structure vacated by police in 1994 for a larger precinct house at 17th, six blocks down Valencia Street, as an eyesore.
I saw this graffiti in Toronto recently and I had no idea what it was…according to this however, it’s the promotion for a Toronto band. Interesting!