The presentation of signage

Aloha. I've just returned from a two-week trip to the west coast of the US mainland, stopping by the Big Island of Hawaii for several days of laidback fun, none of which involved using a computer. It's wonderful for the creative soul actually to get away completely from technology for a while. The short time away from Japan too has inspired me and given me greater appreciation for many aspects of Japanese life, not the least of which is the absolutely amazing customer service you'll find here.

As you know, I believe strongly that we can learn many things about presentation design by casting a wide net and examining not only great speakers and presentations, but by opening our eyes to studying all aspects of visual communication. With that in mind, below are a few pics I shot while in the US last week.


This was shot above at a corndog stand near the beach in Seaside, Oregon. While standing in line, someone came up to ask the staff if they had any bathrooms. What? Didn't he read the sign?! I too didn't notice the sign (above). It made me smile; a great example of a decorative script typeface that serves to be ugly and unreadable (and even unnoticeable apparently). Well, at least the sign says "sorry." Still, a better idea would have been a small yet readable sign that not only matched the look and feel of the business, but that also informed customers that public restrooms were indeed available just 100 meters up the street.


While in Hilo, Hawaii I found this sign (above) placed at eye-level in the small toy section of a store called "The Most Irresistible Shop in Hilo." The sign is ironic, given the name of the shop, but the message is so off-putting and out of place it's amusing. I can almost hear my dad yelling at me as I read the sign, "This Is Not a Play Room, Damn It!" I don't like doing business with people who yell at me. I'm sympathetic to the shop. I grew up in a seaside tourist town, I know tourists can be a pain. Some people often seem to lose all common sense once they assume the role of tourist. But that's life. Your in-store signage says something about you. Crappy handwritten sings on faded paper say something about the brand. But signs written with an indignant tone say even more...and it ain't good. The shop was actually quite nice, making the sign all the more out of place. Come on, I say let the people play with the toys. They're "irresistible," right?


If you suffer from both arachnophobia (fear of spiders) and aviophobia (fear
of flying) you would have hated my seat on my Aloha Airlines flight from Kona to Honolulu a few days ago. I was seated in the window seat of the first row. I'm a bit paranoid myself of flying and I'm always looking for something to worry about it seems while waiting for takeoff. So I was a little distressed when I noticed a live spider crawling around, trapped between the exterior and interior windows of the 737. "What's a spider doing in there and what does its existence say about the maintenance of these planes?!" As a matter of fact, though, Aloha is an excellent airline with tremendous staff at all levels. And my short-lived bout of anxiety disappeared immediately when I noticed the sign below the window written on some masking tape: "CLEO the Spider". Funny. I learned that the spider had been stuck between the two pains of glass for several days; a flight attendant named the spider on an earlier flight. The sign said two things to me: (1) Don't worry about the spider. We are aware of it, but it's no big deal. And (2) Aloha Airlines has friendly staff with a sense of humor. We take our jobs seriously, but we can have fun too. I like that. (See my blogging buddy in Australia, psychologist Les Posen, for info on coping with the fear of flying here.)



Finally, I had a nice chuckle when we were served our second meal on the flight from Honolulu to Osaka yesterday. Sure, everyone hates airline food, but perhaps passengers will like their meal better if you remind them to "enjoy" it. Actually, it's a nice simple package with a clean narrow sans-serif typeface that says "light" as in light snack (though the cheese and ham sandwich must have been about eight million calories!).

If you ever get a chance to visit Hawaii, be sure to spend some time on the Big Island. The Big Island is the youngest and largest (obviously) of the Hawaiian Islands -- the recent lava flows are amazing. There are something like eleven different climates on the island — we went through most of them as we drove around the entire island in one (long) day. At Punalu'u Black Sand Beach I took a few photos of the sand, thinking that the sand would make an interesting texture for my images library. In the slide below, I used one of the photos as a background. You can download the photo (1024x768) I used for the background here.


The slide above uses a (background) photo of the sand at Punalu'u Black Sand Beach I shot a few days ago on the island of Hawaii.

Oh yes, I did something else pretty cool while in Hawaii. Here's a hint (I'm the one on the left).

Comments

[mikey]

mate,

been reading the blog for a while (via seth godin i think).
love it!
keep up the great work
& congratulations are obviously in order!
as we say in oz.
On ya!

cheers,
mikey

[russ stalters]

I have been reading your Blog/site for several years and have found it a fantastic resource. My son just recentely graduated with a degree in Computer Graphic Design and Art History and I forwarded your Blog to him suggesting that he start learning and benefiting from your posts and materials.

Thanks for sharing and congratulations!

[Geoffroy Magnan]

"Félicitations !" as we say in french...

Shall we get some blog articles about Marriage Photography one day ;-) ?

[Garr]

>Shall we get some blog articles about Marriage Photography one day ;-) ?

LOL.Maybe, Geoffroy :-) Our photographer was Susanne Pridoehl. Susanne is from Germany but now making a good name for herself in Hawaii. I can highly recommend her. Excellent. Her site:

http://www.leilaniphoto.com/

Thanks for the kind words, everyone.

-G

[Brad]

Congratulations to you and your beautiful bride.

I love the sand background - dropping it into some presentations right now!

[Bjorn Ruwald]

Garr,

I've been reading you for some time and have found a lot of inspiration from both your website and your blog for use in my presentation technique and slide design. Thanks so much.

And congratulations--the photo of you and your wife is amazing and captures a wonderful feeling that reaches out all the way to me here in Denmark.

And, the last slide with the sandy background is simple and elegant. Is there any chance you could share the high-res background with us?

Bjorn

[Lauren Muney]

Congrats on the wedding!!!!!!!!!! How beautiful is that setting and the two of you. Many (all!) happy years for you,

Lauren Muney
Laurel, MD USA

[Garr]

Bjorn, thank you...

>Is there any chance you could share the high-res background with us?

Do you mean higher than the 72dpi 10x7 I uploaded? That should be good enough for any ppt or key presentation. Here it is again:

http://presentationzen.blogs.com/blacksand_hawaii.jpg

Best,

-G

[Alexander Wrege]

Garr,
congratulations on the wedding! I hope you and your wife had a good time!

`O wau nô me ka mahalo, 
Alex

[Bjorn Ruwald]

Garr,

Thanks... I overlooked the link in my feedreader :-)

Bjorn

[Stephanie West Allen]

Garr, congratulations! And what a beautiful photo. May it represent the beginning of a beautiful -- and happy, creative, and long -- marriage for the two of you. I send my very best.

[Peter]

Congratulations to you and the 奥様.

[Troy Phillips]

Congratulations!

[Leah Guildenstern]

Mazel Tov! You and your wife look very happy together. I too have been reading your blog for some time and send it to others frequently as it is one of my favorite blogs.

[Chris Knott]

Congratulations!
Long time reader, first time commenter: the photo is beautiful and thoroughly in keeping with your design philosophy.

[rita]

I Have been reading your blog for a while - great job!!!! Very inspiring!!!
Congratulations!!!I send my best wishes to you and your beautiful wife. Pomyślności i szczęścia!!!(wishes in my home language, POlish:):):)

[cubicle refugee]

How did that boxed airline meal stack up against the ekiben you've written about?

[Garr]

>How did that boxed airline meal stack up against the ekiben you've written about?

LOL. One of my favorite tunes is "night and day" by Frank Sinatra. That's a hint :-) The blue box *was* nice though ;-) -G

[Curt Wehrley]

Thanks for sharing the blacksand background. And congratulations!

[Steve]

Congrats to you and your wife. Like you, I just got married (July 8th) to be exact. =) Keep blogging and thanks for sharing your insights and your life to us.

[Mehrdad]

I love your blog. All sort of interesting stuff. Your blog is the best thing I have seen on the net.

Congrats to you and your wife. Keep it up.

[Leah]

Mazel Tov!

[fstorr]

Cool. Congrats :)

[John Brom]

Aloha, Sorry about Cleo the spider. We occasionally come across freeloaders such a Cleo and the house Fly Spies. Yes our service is that good! Thanks visiting Paradise and flying Aloha Airlines.

John Brom
Vice President
Maintenace & Engineering
Aloha Airlines

[s1lence]

Congratulations on your wedding Garr :)

[Nico]

Congratulations!

I wan't to thank you a lot for your blog.

I guess we can't be good at everything. Database and presentations are such different worlds.

But this blog gives me fresh ideas. I'm going to look at signs and presentations in a different way now.

I've been through all the different types of presenting. I just need to find my personal touch now.

[Ray]

Garr,

Veel geluk en plezier in jullie huwelijk!

(flemish for : lots of luck and fun in your mariage! )

Thanks for all the great posts and keep it up.

[Jan Korbel]

Všechno nejlepší na vaší společné cestě životem.

That what is sort of "official" congratulation phrase for wedding here in Czech Republic... Word by word it means: All the best an your joint voyage through life. Don't like that phrase much so: Congratulations!

And that wedding photo from beach is great!

[Jason F.]

Congratulations good man! I've enjoyed reading your great posts over the last year, and am looking forward to many more!

[Adrian]

Congrats :)

[Ivan]

Hi,

Since late last year, your blog and site has been an invaluable resource for improving my presentation skills that are really different. My speaking ability is not something that I have to do for my Mac User Group (btw, I am President) but it is another asset that puts me ahead of the pack.

That last photo is a thing of beauty and I congratulate you on your marriage.

[Pierre Naquin]

La vie est belle !

Bravo et Félicitations !

[Dennis Balajadia]

Congratulations!

You two look great together!

[Ebutube]

Great tips on PowerPoint and presentations in general. Humor can communicate concisely and effectively! A good story has the power to capture our emotions, visual cues, and wake up an audience. Thanks for the organized ideas

[Large wall clocks]

wow awesome im very happy for you!

[Louis Vuitton]

I love your blog. All sort of interesting stuff. Your blog is the best thing I have seen on the net.

Congrats to you and your wife. Keep it up.

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I love your blog. All sort of interesting stuff. Your blog is the best thing I have seen on the net.