Groovy Baby

Here at Atlas Signs and Plaques our business is signs. We make signs so that people can understand an idea (even if it is as simple as indicating an address) without the need to verbally express it. As such, we are interested in all kinds of signs: big or small, grand or infantile. The sign I’m looking at today is a very, very famous one. You’ve seen it in your high school history books. You’ve seen it on cars, posters, vans, and billboards. If you lived in the late 60’s then you saw it everywhere. I’m talking of course, about the peace sign.  The history of the peace sign can be traced back to 1958 during the acceleration of worldwide nuclear arms.

The peace sign was created by Gerald Herbert Holton on February 21, 1958. Holton was a dedicated peacemaker who, disgusted by the USA’s usage of atomic weapons in WWII, and the proliferation of worldwide nuclear weapons, joined the Direct Action against Nuclear War Committee (DAC) —an initiative dedicated to containing worldwide nuclear strength. Holton (who was a gifted designer) created the symbol for the DAC with a duality of connotations in mind

His first message was to relay the hopelessness of mankind’s continued existence should nuclear weapons adopt regular usage. To convey this message, Holton says: “I drew myself, the representative of an individual in despair, with hands outstretched outwards and downwards in the manner of [an inverted] Goya’s peasant before firing squad”. Continue reading →

American homes have seen many stylistic changes since 1600. The American Colonial, known for its sloping roofs and spacious interiors were popular for roughly 200 years before a new style, the Classical, known for the use of  “Democratic” Grecian-style pillars emerged. These home-styles were very popular but only affordable by the upper class. Lower class citizens were often forced to live in dingy urban settings where they were exposed to disease and pestilence. It wasn’t until the early 1900’s that the American middle class began to emerge, carving a social niche between the upper class and the lower class; and it was the Bungalow style home that led their residential charge.

The Gamble House, An Extravagant Bungalow/Craftsman Hybrid

The history of the Bungalow can be tracked back to the 1600’s. Originally created in Bangladesh, the Bungalow style was seen by British colonists as the perfect shape for a cottage, or summer home. The outdoor room, as defined by the porch, was seen as highly practical and symbolic of good health, awareness of nature, and appreciation of a simplified lifestyle. Even today, the classic image of a cottage is that of a bungalow-style home.

The American Bungalow

A Row of Bungalows in Buffalo NY

Despite their appeal to the British as cottages and vacation homes, no one had considered using them as full time residences. That is, until 1905 when Charles Sumner Greene and Henry Mather Greene began mass-producing bungalow floor plans to accommodate the booming American middle class.

It didn’t take long for Bungalow-style homes to catch on. Soon the Bungalow rose to define the emerging middle class as a whole. Though wildly popular in California, perhaps the region that best describes bungalows is Chicago.

The Chicago bungalow offers a fairly similar interior space as the California bungalow except that Chicago bungalows often have indoor living rooms where California bungalows had verandas (porches). Why was this? Well, because Chicago gets pretty cold sometimes. The Chicago bungalow became so popular that it eventually represented 1/3 of all Chicago homes, a number that holds true today.

A Prime "Chicago Bungalo" Example; Note the Lack of Outdoor Veranda

Here at Atlas Signs and Plaques we love what the bungalow style home represented for the American people and what it still represents today. We offer many signs that look great when placed on a bungalow style house; most notably our craftsman series, which was created with bungalow homes in mind. You can find our craftsman series, in its entirety, here.

Though new bungalows are scarcely built in 2011, they will always be representative of the American dream and the middle class that made that dream a reality.

Sleep With YouTube on the Mind

Imagine for a moment a kid in the 80’s who just watched Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” for the first time. He loves it and wants to watch it again right away, but has to wait for it to come around in MTV’s video rotation. Sounds pretty silly right? In 2011 that same kid would simply get up, walk to his computer, and type in YouTube.com. The popularity of YouTube is as sensational as it is widespread—company executives say the site uploads 48 hours of video every minute. But where did YouTube come from? How did it rise to success? Let’s take a look at the history of YouTube.

Though quickly abandoned, the idea of YouTube allegedly began as a video version of the dating site “Hot or Not”. The thought was to allow members to peruse video personals and rate other member’s videos. Chad Hurley, Steve Chen, and Jawed Karim would soon start an Internet revolution. On February 15^th, 2005 the domain name YouTube.com was registered. In April of that year the first YouTube video was uploaded, featuring co-creator Jawed Karim in an inane eighteen-second clip called “Meet at the Zoo”. A few weeks later the public beta was offered and the website soon gained millions of dollars in investor support before its eventual December full release.The First YouTube Video

YouTube exploded in popularity, swallowing enormous gobs of bandwidth like a starving troll at a buffet. It’s viewership increased from dozens of daily views in May 05 to 50 million daily views in Dec. 05. By May 06 its videos reached 200 million daily views, and by August 06, 700 million daily views. This means that in less than 1 year of its full release, YouTube had become a defining site of the Internet. Despite overwhelming success, the best for YouTube was yet to come. Continue reading →

A Collection of Benguiat's Typefaces

At Atlas Signs and Plaques we offer an innumerable amount of custom signs. Our sizes, designs, patinas, and fonts are all very unique and original. Today, we’re focusing on fonts, particularly the cherished “Benguiat” font named after legendary designer Ed Benguiat.

Who is Ed Benguiat?

You probably have never heard of Ed Benguiat, but you have seen his work. His designs are ubiquitous—he’s literally all over the place. From designing the header of the New York Times and Esquire, to designing movie posters for high profile movies (like the classic Planet of the Apes), Benguiat’s creations always amaze.

Those who have talked with Benguiat say he is very outspoken, direct, and honest. Outside of designing, he teaches a class at the “School of Visual Arts in New York” called “So you want to design a typeface (and get rich like me)”. You see what I mean about the direct thing? Never one to idle, Benguiat also plays jazz drums and pilots a 350 MPH airplane in his free time. He was also inducted into the art director hall of fame in 2000 joining the ranks of Saul Bass, Herb Lubalin, Seymour Chwast, Walt Disney, and Andy Warhol.

No Solicitors, Sporting the ITC Benguiat Font

We are proud to bring you a font designed by this very interesting person, and we know that it will serve you well, rocker-pilot or no.