Downtown Signage idea for Downtown OKC Inc.

[metro]

Dave, Kim, et al,

I've been meaning to post this for months and keep forgetting. I'm not sure how many of you have been to Houston and if so to the Galleria/Westheimer/Post Oak Rd. area but I think these signs would be great downtown, perhaps in the CBD and around the Ford Center. The suspension cables look much in this picture but at street level they really aren't that noticeable. These would be huge for our image as a city. At night you can't see the suspension cables and the street name glows in a bluish indiglo from all 4 angles.

[roboticbrad]

It wont let me view the picture. what do I need to do to see it?

[brianinok]

Yeah, those signs and the traffic lights that match are the coolest I have ever seen. It sure would be great if we could get those downtown!

[jbrown84]

I agree. Great idea metro.

[metro]

If you like them please contact Dave Lopez and Kim Searls of Downtown OKC Inc. and express your interest. I've personally talked with someone there (won't say who) and they will do some more research on the idea. You can get their contact info at www.downtownokc.com

[metro]

Kim Searls, any comment on this idea?

[writerranger]

Metro, You are right, and there's probably not a better example of that style of signage in the country than the Houston Galleria/Post Oak area. It's amazing and - at night - it's absolutely beautiful. Signage - beautiful? Yes! Really! Good post.

[writerranger]

One other thing....I have always pictured a combination of the Galleria/Post Oak area with Legacy in Plano. Wow. Mixed-use with an urban feel that just speaks to me. Never been to Legacy? Check it out:
http://www.shopsatlegacy.com/
Sorry, kind of off-topic, but the combination has always excited me.

[Bobby H]

While that display in Houston is very nice, it would be lame for Oklahoma City to duplicate the same concept.

It would be far better for Oklahoma City to have its own, attractive & unique civic signage concepts. Some of that involves local businesses and civic organizations to be willing to invest at least some money in good quality signs.

The city would need to establish some kind of plan and bring in qualified sign companies, and possibly environmental design firms as well, to collaborate and create a great, unique concept.

Lots of businesses will spend a fortune on TV ads, newspaper advertising and other ad media and then not spend squat to have a decent looking store front and signs that work both in function and visual asthetics. That's in spite of the fact that on premise signs deliver more customer exposures per dollar spent than any other form of ad media -by a very wide margin. The average McDonalds brings in $600,000 in extra sales based solely on drivers seeing the sign in the distance.

Lack of good investment in quality signs has been a problem both state-wide and nation-wide for a long time. This is compounded by the lack of "glamour" the sign industry itself carries. There is a good number of people who do great, creative work in the sign industry, but they are vastly outnumbered by people who lack the talent and qualifications needed to shape the commercial landscape of a community.

I say this as a voice of experience, having worked for the past decade doing design work in the sign industry.

If someone can convince Oklahoma City leaders to develop a good downtown sign system concept to unify the neighborhood and give it more identity that would be great. Even better would be convincing more local businesses to dress up their store fronts as well as possible.

The Oklahoma City sign ordinance also must be tailored to allow some areas of the city to have vibrant and even dazzling signs. Right now building and installing such displays is quite restrictive. Unfortunately, the restrictive ordinance (as well as ordinances in many other cities) do little to fight what I call "junk signage."