Boulderspace Sign Series #2
Nov 11th, 2007 by smokeproof
I realize it’s not technically a sign… but then again, it is. It just also happens to be a mural. The great thing about the newly-completed University Bikes sign is that it was hand painted, giving it a fantastic textural quality. Of course it’s not a sign that reinvents contemporary sign techniques—quite the opposite. It evokes an era when large, environmental signage was applied directly to a building’s skin, so that the identity of the business was associated directly with the structure that housed it. It feels lived-in, welcoming, and authentic, even though it’s weeks, not decades, old.
[From the You-Can’t-Have-Your-Cake-and-Eat-it-Too-Department: The old painting of a bicyclist dramatically bursting through the lower wall (just barely visible in the photo’s bottom-right corner) was retained, and still feels overdone & cheesy. Now, at least, it has a context and doesn’t feel quite so random as before.]
I appreciate that U-Bikes, a vibrant Boulder business and advocate of alternative transportation, went with a sign that’s more moody than flash. It establishes a graphic tone for the 800 Block of Pearl that felt missing for so long. Hopefully passersby will be lured to venture west from this intersection to explore some of the nuggets just up the street. I hope to see more like this in the future…