Madison plans to update their 27-year-old sign code

According to the Wisconsin State Journal, the town of Madison will be reviewing, revising and updating their sign code. It has taken them 12 years to arrive at this decision. The city has been working on the revision since 1997, when former Mayor Sue Bauman created a special staff team to address a problem with the number of ground signs allowed on zoning lots. The update has taken years due to changes in staff, UDC membership and other priorities such as the new Downtown plan and overhaul of the zoning code, officials said. Though this process has taken 12 years to get underway, it appears that they are really adamant about making the changes happen.

The update seeks to strike a balance between First Amendment rights, fast-changing technology, creativity and visual pollution. The attempt to allow more creativity will help, Woods said. "If it's a good looking sign, we'll approve it." However, there will still be strong restrictions on electronic message boards and the code for billboard signs will remain the same. It appears that, when it comes to electronic message boards, there seems to be mixed opinions. While some seem to think the signs are a tremendous tool for businesses, there have been many who disagree.

"Signs should be about identification, not advertising," Barnett said, noting that some members of the UDC would like to prohibit message boards. "The boards are also visually distracting," he said.

"I personally don't see the need for them," said UDC chairman Bruce Woods, a landscape architect. “Some flash advertisements for things like six rolls of toilet paper for 99 cents. Do we really need to know that?"

Despite the controversy over electronic signage, I am glad to see that some cities are willing to re-address the sign codes. For many cities and states the sign codes are down right difficult to comprehend, not to mention highly restrictive. And yet others have banned the use of certain types of signage all together. Where the sign codes in this little town may mean nothing to many others, in the sign industry we can see it as a small step into the light. Hopefully, where one might lead, others will be willing to follow.

Gwynn~

For more information on this story, click here. Original story by Dean Mosiman of the Wisconsin State Journal.

More Hacked Signs

On January 29th of this year, I posted concerning a hacker who changed the message on a digital road sign. Well, it appears someone else decided that i-hacked.com (post: Inside Programmable Road Signs on Tuesday, 20 January 2009) had a great idea. In Lubbock , TX. a copy cat changed a digital sign at the loop and spur of 327 to read "OMG the British are coming." Then flashed to, "They are watching you." Originally the sign told motorists that the Frankford exit was the next right. While some motorists found the sign to be humorous, TxDOT says this could be a third degree felony, for which the punishment is 2-10 years of imprisonment or up to a $10,000.00 fine.

On Tuesday during the morning rush hour near Collinsville, Ill., a hacker changed a sign to read, “Daily lane closures due to zombies.”

A day earlier in Hamilton County, Ind., an electronic board in a construction zone warned drivers of “Raptors ahead — Caution.”

And signs in Austin, Texas, recently flashed: “Zombies in area! Run.” "NAZI ZOMBIES! RUN!!!" And "Zombies Ahead."

For several hours Monday, a message board along a road-widening project in Chico, a college town about 90 miles north of Sacramento, read "CHUCK NORRIS FOR PRESIDENT."

A member of the Jalopnik team (who also posted a step-by-step instructions about how to hack these signs) posted this: "We told you yesterday not to play with the electronic road signs. Still, we're proud of you guys — mostly because it's the first time we've seen the zombie meme making it to the mainstream media. And the Today Show no less. Yay."

You can follow this link to see an assortment of signs these steps have created - jalopnik.com

I still stand by my earlier ascertains that this type of thing is merely humorous and not life threatening to the drivers who read it. However, considering I don't carry $10,000.00 worth of change around with me, I won't be out staking my claim on a digital sign any time soon. For more information on these stories:

Click here to visit News Channel 11, KCBD.

Click here to visit news channel WIBC.

Click here to read about the Chuck Norris sign.

Gwynn~

Huntington Beach sign spinners

According to the LA Times, Huntington Beach has stuck to it's guns when it comes to sign spinners.

Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times

Carlos Soto, left, and Ricardo Marin spin signs in Costa Mesa. Huntington Beach officials say the practice is too distracting to drivers, and one city councilman calls the ads “a form of visual blight.”

The recent economic decline caused the Huntington Beach Planning Commission to revisit the ban they had previously placed on sign spinners. while the planning commission supported allowing the sign spinners, City Council members weren't convinced. It appears that the drop in sales and the decline of employment wasn't enough to convince Surf City officials that sign spinning might be a boon right now. According to Surf City officials, "the twirlers, many equipped with flashy moves or costumes, are just too distracting to drivers". And Councilman Don Hansen, whom described sign twirlers as "a form of visual blight," claimed that "The signs are just getting larger and almost more obnoxious. I hope we're not leveraging our hope of economic growth on the backs of the sign-twirling industry," Hansen said. "I don't think that's our way out; I don't think that's the job that most folks are pinning their hopes on."


Whether hopes are pinned on such jobs are not, it would seem that it simply isn't in the cards for Huntington Beach residents and neither is this cheap form of advertising. Personally, I would think that anything with the remote possibility of helping the community survive - the city thrive and flourish- should become a tolerated possibility. In these trying and lean times every dollar counts. If that means staring at gorillas on street corners or watching Lady Liberty wave, I'd say it's a small price to pay.

Gwynn~

For the whole story visit the LA Times.
Original story by Susannah Rosenblatt
February 6, 2009

Funny Signs in England

What if you had to live in a town called Crapstone? or Pratts Bottom? OR, worse yet, Penistone? What if you lived on Butt Hole Road? How would you answer the question of, "What's your address"? Would you blush as the words left your lips? Mumble it out and hope the listener understood? Wish with all your might that you lived somewhere else but proudly proclaim the name? Well, in England they seem to have a wealth of such town names and luridly funny street names, as well as a healthy mix of opinions. But, being that I am centered around the sign industry, it is the actual signs themselves that leave me breathless with mirth.

Though the residents have varied and tactful responses to Sarah Lyall, a reporter with The New York Times, I can only imagine (and cringe at) their embarrassment. Had it been I that was questioned, I would have quickly slunk off to a hidden corner and remained there till I was sure all had gone home. However, it appears that, despite any embarrassment, residents of such towns enjoy the humorous aspect and the double entendres of the names. I suppose it makes more sense if you picture a pub in England where the old timers sit around drinking a beer or two while reminiscing about good old days in Spanker Lane or Wetwang. How pleasantly quaint! Just the thought causes my lips to quirk in a smile.

The fact is, no matter how you envision such obtuse and politically incorrect verbiage, you have to admit that it certainly gives people something to talk about! What better way to spend the day than taking a hike down Butt Hole Road, Fanny Avenue, Willey Lane, Titty Ho or Asshouse Lane with a few of your closest friends? Or spending the day taking in the sites of Crapstone? Come on now... you know you want to laugh... go ahead... we won't tell!


For more information on lurid and politically incorrect street names and towns, Ed Hurst, a co-author with Rob Bailey, of “Rude Britain: The 100 Rudest Place Names in Britain” and “Rude UK: 100 Newly Exposed British Back Passages, Streets, and Towns,” gives you more than you could possibly imagine. In "Rude Britain", Rob Bailey and Ed Hurst take readers on a delightful stroll up Lickers Lane to Honey Knob Hill, peek into Beaver Close and enjoy a well-deserved sit down in the delightful Dorset hamlet of Shitterton. Then, after a year touring around the bestselling "Rude World", Rob and Ed have decided to return to dear old Blighty. The result is a triumphant homecoming tour that has uncovered 100 more delightfully rude British place names to treasure, from the hidden charms of Slack Bottom and Fanny Street to an unforgettable glimpse of Cocking. Filled with photographs of actual road signs and the fascinating etymological origins of every featured place name, this delightfully rude book is laugh-out-loud funny though the authors are keen to stress that it is all perfectly innocent (amazon.co.uk, 2008).

Gwynn~

Further information on this story can be found in The New York Times By SARAH LYALL. Published: January 22, 2009 .