Never let it be said that I only discuss my failures. Today I am proud to announce the success of what I've been calling Secret Project #2.
This is the finished version, as created by the wonderful people at
Traffic Safety & Equipment Co. Rick, Fred, and Bobby were all very patient with me and my frequent calls to see how things were going, and helpfully answered all of my stupid questions ("What's a standard construction sign size?"). (The photo is also, if you look closely, a self-portrait of the Artist in His Backyard.)
I'm not sure what the genesis of this project was, other than I've been thinking about Danny and his installations in Brooklyn. His style and my desire to pull drawings off the paper and get them out into the world have been percolating in my head for a while now and two of the ideas I've been kicking around I've been referring to as Secret Projects #1 and #2. This is #2. I designed the drawing in Adobe Illustrator. This is the original design.
This was fabricated as a standard construction sign, two feet by three feet, aluminum, with reflective film. I released it into the wild Saturday, October 23, 2006, as you can see in this onsite photo.
I'm very pleased with how it came out. Some small lessons learned from this: First, I need a digital tablet. The lines on this sign were nice enough for a proof of concept, but I want to do them better next time. And second, highway signs are huge. Up close, my sign looked pretty big, but once I installed it, it was totally dwarfed, as you can see, by the other signs. They just don't look that big from the street.
I've got some more I'll be working on soon. For now: success.
Oh yeah. looks great.And nice clouds on the "main" blog by the way.
Just curious, was there a reason you chose that spot for the sign? Is it still there?
Well, Jim, I can say I chose that spot because there was already a sign there. Not a very good reason. Also because it's a spot where people sit waiting for a traffic light for a bit, so they'll get to look at the sign for a while. And it's not far from my house so I can drive by and see if it's still there.Unfortunately -- this is a learning experience -- when you sit at the traffic light, the sign is so far away it doesn't "read" very well. So I know, for the next sign, to think about how well it "reads" from a distance.It's still there, as of yesterday, 1 November. In fact I replaced my first lousy photo with a new less lousy photo taken yesterday.
Checking this out late. Wow. Cool that you did it. I had the same experience with my work. Once it was installed, large was soooo small but I never would have found that out without doing it first. It is amazing how off the "rational, reasoning mid" can be.
Indeed. Our brains are playing tricks on us all the time.
Incidentally, for anyone else coming along: Here's the update on the sign.
Love it Chris! Is it still there? How did you put it up? Was it in the middle of the night?
Did you see that highlighted word "update" up there? That leads to the update post on the sign. Short version: No, it's not there any more. Coincidentally -- or not -- it was taken down on the same day that Boston went apeshit over those blinking LED throwies.I put it up at about noon. I was trying to think of the best time to put it up without getting caught, but -- as I often do -- after thinking rationally and considering and weighing for a while, I just went and did it when I couldn't hold back any more. I'm actually very impulsive when I'm not being a total sloth. ADHD, I guess.I was nervous about putting it up until I actually did it. One thing I found was that it took no time at all, really, to actually screw it to the posts (I brought my electric screwdriver). The other thing I found was no one around here even notices you, really. As long as you're not taking their parking spot or hesitating before turning right on red, you can probably do whatever you want and no one will care.I have two more signs in the planning stages, but I'm waiting for the funds.