Monday, February 27, 2012

ocean beach











goden gate park


Golden Gate Park
            This trip was my fist time ever-visiting golden gate park. I was amazed to find out how big the park actually was. Also to find out all the different museums and things the park has to offer. Before I visited Golden Gate Park I was expecting to see a lot of signage through out the area. I was very surprised to find, minimal amounts of signs thought out the park.
            Signage played an important role in the development of Golden Gate Park. The park does not have whole lot of big signs throughout it. I think this I a good thing to not over whelm the park with lots of signs. It is best to keep the naturally look to the park and not let it become to over run with signage. The signs do serve an important purpose for the park. They let you know when you are on park property. It is important to determine with signs when you are and are not on park property. The signs outline the length and shape of the park and helped determine what was public and what is privet. This is especially important for the public to be able to detriment.
            When comparing and contrasting the different signage systems of the museums it becomes easy to see how similar they are. The De Young and the academy of since have similar sign systems. They are both located closer together so it is important the signs are different colors so people do not get confused. The Academy of sciences sign has a bright red sign with a star symbol in the middle in decorating the museum sign. While the DE Young museum has a more dark colored signs. Both museums have similar signs; they both hang down on from poles on the street. the different colors make it easier for people visiting the park to figure out which on is which.
I was not expecting to see such minimal signage in the park. I think this is a good thing to keep the naturally look of the park. On the other hand the park does seem to need more maps, it was hard to find your way around the park. There were not enough maps so you just have to walk around until you find what you are looking for. It is important to provide people with the right amount of maps so they can properly find where they are going.
The most influence park of singe that I will take away from visiting Golden Gate Park was the beauty of the nature. Another part of singe that I will take way with me is all the memorials and statues in the park. I did not know that they had so many through out the park. It was very interesting to see all the people who help create the park and also did great things for the city.
I had a good time exploring Golden Gate Park. Now I have a new way of looking at the signage and how it can determine public or privet space. Also It is a priority to not over run the park with too may signs, but also to have a good balance so people who have never been to Golden Gate Park can fine their way around.

Sunday, February 12, 2012

Haight-Ashbury



            On my very first time visiting Haight- Ashbury I was very surprised to see that it did live up to its stereotype. I was thinking that all the pictures I have seen were just an exaggeration, but I came to find it really did have a hippie feel to it. The street sign of Haight-Ashbury is a big tourist destination. The reason for tourist wanting to come see this famous street sign is that this is the known site for the start of the hippie movement. Haight-Ashbury is known as the birthplace of the free love era, most tourist want to get a glimpse of what it was like back in the sixties.
            The counter culture, which was birthed, in Haight-Ashbury is still a prominent today, as shown by all the peace signs still there. The counter cuter is usually young people who do not want to conform to everyone else. The counter culture usually tries to do the opposite of everyone in order to prove a point and spread his or her messages. The counter culture is still alive today, for example just recently the bank was defaced with an anarchists A. The main group that made this area famous was the hippies of the sixties; you can still see the signs of this movement. There are still lots of peace signs on storefronts and the head shops. The smell of weed is also very prominent in this area still today.
During my visit I was intrigued of how the vibe of this area is so different from anywhere else that I know of. Although Haight-Ashbury is not far from campus at all the people how a totally different attitude there and seemly way of living. The atmosphere is laid back with people sitting and walking around the streets smoking weed. Tourist will continue to want come visit Haight –Ashbury to try and get a glimpse of what it was like in the past.

Monday, February 6, 2012

exploring around Haight Ashbury








thought paper 2



            When looking at the signs around the USF campus one that stood out the most to me was the picture I took on the street of the store signs. Out of the many pictures that I took that day this one stood out the most to me. The group of sign and the way that they are positioned can make a difference to the way people feel about them. What really struck me was how all of these signs are so close together but each saying something different.
The sing is communicating to the people to show them that this is where the store is located. Another thing that it is communicating is what items which are sold in that store. One reads Fulton food shop, then one right next to it reads liquor and chilled wine. I think these signs are direct to commutate to people what is sold in the stores, so they will know to come in. without out having this sign I believe that less people would come in because they would have a harder time knowing it even exists.
            The sings communicate to the people that this is a place that sells food and liquor. This communicates a place to quickly grad some items. These signs are important in creating a sense of place. They help show where the store is located and what items it carries .By putting all of the signs so close together creates an interesting view. They are all on top of each other; your eye goes right from one to the next.
            The sings appear to be on the older side and this helps create part of the atmosphere of the store. By having an older sign out side it can appear to maybe less nice of a place opposed to having a brand new bright sign. Having them be all right on top of each other creates a interesting look and really draw people attention to the store. These signs serve an important purpose of getting people to come check out the store and showing them exactly the things that they carry.