Commercial Signs Research Articles

On the Spatial Semiotics of Vernacular Landscapes in Global Cities

Ordinary people living ordinary lives inhabit meaningful spaces; in globalized urban environments, these spaces are vernacular landscapes. Urban spaces are also subject to the effects of social inequality. Class, racial/ethnic, religion, and citizenship hierarchies mark urban territories with differential meanings. Spatial semiotic analysis makes it possible to see even the most powerless of urban dwellers as social agents in the local reproduction of urban culture. The authors argue that sociological analysis of visual data is necessary to understand how urban vernacular neighborhoods are changing as a result of globalization. They present visual data on vernacular neighborhoods in Antwerp, Berlin, Brooklyn, Cape Town, Hong Kong, Lisbon, London, Manchester, Paris, Philadelphia, Rome, St Petersburg, Stockholm, and Tirana. These images are among the 9000+ photographs from more than 40 global cities available from their online archive. Urban spaces are filled with signs of collective identity. In the physical environment, architectural details, commercial signs, and graffiti, among other things, signify the flows of people and culture. So too do social practices, such as commercial transactions, socializing, and commuting in the public spaces of vernacular ethnic neighborhoods. The authors’ analysis, based on hundreds of images in their archive, reveals distinctive visual representations of social differences in vernacular landscapes.

Obama signs bill turning over space shuttle replacement work to commercial firms

Obama signs bill turning over space shuttle replacement work to commercial firms Obama signs bill turning over space shuttle replacement work to commercial firms

Exploring the Literacy Environment: A Case Study from Urban Senegal

Previous articleNext article No AccessExploring the Literacy Environment: A Case Study from Urban SenegalMariko ShiohataMariko Shiohata Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUSFull Text Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Comparative Education Review Volume 54, Number 2May 2010 Sponsored by the Comparative and International Education Society Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/651451 Views: 97Total views on this site Citations: 4Citations are reported from Crossref History © 2010 by the Comparative and International Education Society. All rights reserved.PDF download Crossref reports the following articles citing this article:Michelle Kuenzi Education, religious trust, and ethnicity: The case of Senegal, International Journal of Educational Development 62 (Sep 2018): 254–263.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijedudev.2018.05.007Birgit Brock-Utne Education and international development: Theory, practice and issues, International Review of Education 61, no.33 (Mar 2015): 427–429.https://doi.org/10.1007/s11159-015-9476-yMariko Shiohata Language use along the urban street in Senegal: perspectives from proprietors of commercial signs, Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development 33, no.33 (May 2012): 269–285.https://doi.org/10.1080/01434632.2012.656648Jessica Mejía, Sarah Pouezevara Using EGRA as a National Reading Diagnostic: Nicaragua and Senegal, (Sep 2011): 39–82.https://doi.org/10.3768/rtipress.2011.bk.0007.1109.2

Alcohol outlets near schools in a midsize Romanian city. Prevalence and characteristics

Objective: alcohol availability is one of the strongest predictors of adolescent alcohol use, and subsequent harm. Alcohol outlets near schools are an important indicator of three types of availability related to adolescent alcohol use; physical (number), economic (price), and legal (compliance with age limits). Method: two teams with trained students (16 and 17 years old) visited all 37 schools in a 200,000 inhabitant Romanian city (Pitesti). On the spot all alcohol outlets were visited and data was collected on outlet characteristics and visitors. Also, by conducting mystery shopping purchase attempts by the researchers, compliance on the age limits for alcohol sales was tested. Results: a total of 40 outlets were found within a 250 meter distance around 23 schools. Alcohol turns out to be cheap, and commercial alcohol brand signs are dominantly visible. With respect to compliance with the 18-year-old Romanian age limit for alcohol sales, only eight (20%) outlets refused to sell alcohol to under aged decoy customers. Conclusion: adolescent alcohol availability is high on the physical, economic and legal aspect. Pitesti is the first city in Romania where an international alcohol prevention project has started to reduce alcohol related consequences. This project involves all relevant stakeholders, and the first new legislation on this subject had been implemented.

Relative Visibility of Internally versus Externally Illuminated On-Premise Signs

Poorly visible on-premise commercial signs have been associated with reduced safety because drivers trying to locate and make sense of these signs may drive slower than the rest of traffic and perform erratic, last-second maneuvers. One of the main reasons for reduced sign visibility is poor sign lighting. In addressing this issue, research has demonstrated that internally illuminated on-premise signs have 40% to 60% greater visibility than externally illuminated signs on a controlled test track. Even so, an ever-increasing number of jurisdictions are implementing sign ordinances that prohibit the use of internally illuminated on-premise signs, mainly for aesthetic reasons. The objective of this research was to expand on the earlier test track research by evaluating the relative visibility of internally and externally illuminated signs on open roads in the real world. The results of this research clearly demonstrate the superiority of internally illuminated signs across a wide variety of driving conditions, sign offsets, sizes, shapes, colors, external lighting designs, and quality.

Contested Terrains: Visualizing Glocalization in Global Cities

This essay employs a visual approach to explore some of the ways that spatial practices become markers of a globalising and glocalizing world. Images are offered that reflect some of the symbolic competition created by more and less recent migrants as they lay claim to ‘contested terrains’ by changing what they look like. Although often dismissed as mere “marking” of territory, such ordinary practices by migrants of symbolic home or community building are crucial to understanding global cities. One indicator of their importance is the, often hostile reactions by the dominant society to them. A brief review of some of the most important theoretical perspectives on these interrelated phenomena, such as those of Saskia Sassen, David Harvey, and Manuel Castells, isolates common expectations about the visibility of resulting competing spatial practices in shared multiethnic residential and commercial environments. It is argued that many of the contradictions created by the concentration of global capital can be seen in the neighborhood streetscapes of global cities. From Georg Simmel, through Henri Lefebvre, and Lyn H. Lofland, the visible, and the symbolic, have been central to urban analysis. Therefore, the ubiquitous aspects of what Jackson called ‘vernacular landscapes,’ such as commercial signs and graffiti in Berlin, Frankfurt am Main, London, New York, and Rome are addressed.

Environmental Harmony and Evaluation of Advertisement Billboards with Digital Photogrammetry Technique and GIS Capabilities: A Case Study in the City of Ankara.

Geographical Information Systems (GIS) have been gaining a growing interest in Turkey. Many local governments and public agencies have been struggling to set up such systems to serve the needs and meet public requirements. Urban life shelters the advertisement reality which is presented at various places, on vehicles, shops etc. in daily life. It can be said that advertisement is a part of daily life in urban area, especially in city centers. In addition, one of the main sources of revenue for municipalities comes from advertising and notices. The advertising sector provides a great level of income today. Therefore advertising is individually very important for local governments and urban management. Although it is valuable for local governments, it is also very important for urban management to place these advertisement signs and billboards in an orderly fashion which is pleasing to the eye. Another point related to this subject is the systematic control mechanism which is necessary for collecting taxes regularly and updating. In this paper, first practical meaning of notice and advertisement subject, problem definition and objectives are described and then legal support and daily practice are revised. Current practice and problems are mentioned. Possibilities of measuring and obtaining necessary information by using digital images and transferring them to spatial databases are studied. By this study, a modern approach was developed for urban management and municipalities by using information technology which is an alternative to current application. Criteria which provide environmental harmony such as urban beauty, colour, compatibility and safety were also evaluated. It was finally concluded that measuring commercial signs and keeping environmental harmony under control for urban beauty can be provided by Digital Photogrammetry (DP) technique and GIS capabilities which were studied with pilot applications in the city center of Ankara.

Durk Gorter (ed.), Linguistic landscape: A new approach to multilingualism

Durk Gorter (ed.), Linguistic landscape: A new approach to multilingualism. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters, 2006. Pp. 1, 89. Hb $54.95.The four articles in this book adopt the definition of linguistic landscape (LL) offered by Rodrigue Landry & Richard Y. Bourhis (1997:25) as their authors investigate the visual makeup of cities worldwide: “The language of public road signs, advertising billboards, street names, place names, commercial shop signs, and public signs on government buildings combines to form the linguistic landscape of a given territory, region, or urban conglomeration.” The authors categorize signs as either top-down (official signs issued by public bureaucracies) or bottom-up (non-official signs posted by individuals or businesses), and each article examines details such as where the signs appear, the order and relative prominence of languages on multilingual signs, and whether or not multilingual signs contain (full or partial) translations.

THE EFFECTS OF COMMERCIAL SIGNS ON USER'S SENSE OF VISUAL QUALITY IN HISTORIC CITY CENTRES OF DIFFERENT URBAN CONTEXTS

This paper focuses on the relationship between visual quality of the built environment and commercial signage in historic city centres. It identifies the physical aspects of commercial signs and buildings that should be taken in account in the development of a general approach to control commercial signs in historic city centres of different urban contexts. This study suggests that while some visual preferences are influenced by users’ urban contexts, others can be universal and applied to define general urban design principles. This study explores whether user perception and evaluation of the number of commercial signs and the percentage of building facade coverage by these media has some influence on (i) user satisfaction with commercial street facades, (ii) user perception and evaluation of order, colour variation and complexity, and (iii) user feeling of pleasure and interest in relation to the appearance of commercial streetscapes in historic city centres. The findings (i) show that there are common visual preferences among users from different countries, and (ii) suggest that these can be applied to develop a general approach to control commercial signs in historic city centres. Keyword: Visual quality; commercial signage; historic city centre; user perception and evaluation.

Basel: einsprachig und heteroglossisch

Situated in the officially monolingual German part of Switzerland, the city of Basle is, in reality, very heteroglossic. Almost 30 per cent of its inhabitants are not Swiss citizens, and most of these are not native German speakers. In some of the city’s primary schools, more than 60 per cent of the students are non-native German speakers. Does the linguistic landscape (as defined by Landry/Bourhis 1997) reflect these demographic facts? Our analysis is based on comprehensive photo documentation of a representative sample of shopping streets in demographically different parts of the city. We tried to understand the process of linguistic landscaping (that is, landscaping focusing on by whom, for whom and with what?). As one would expect, German is almost exclusively used in official signs (on public roads and government buildings) and also dominates in commercial and private signs, even without regulation by linguistic laws. Sometimes, German is replaced by Swiss German dialect to further shape a local identity. English is very visible in the linguistic landscape, particularly in the city centre. However, except for in brief commercial signs, it is mixed with German. These bilingual signs do not address native English speakers; indeed, any detailed information is written in German. It seems that English words or names are used to give shops and companies products international panache. The other official languages of Switzerland, even French, as the language of neighbouring France, appear much less often. On the contrary, languages of immigration, in particular Turkish, are very visible, especially where immigrants live. There, one finds monolingual signs in different languages, mostly with cultural or private content, but again bilingual signs (Turkish-German, Portuguese-German, etc.) dominate. These document the fact that multilingual authors utilize their repertoire to earn maximum economic and symbolic benefit. We conclude that German is the lingua franca among speakers of other languages, and that substantial presence of German in signs produced by immigrants is proof of, but also an instrument for, their integration. On the other hand, the presence of various languages in the semiosphere raises the awareness of the world’s linguistic diversity to the local majority and can even produce an incipient plurilingualism.

The Postal Age: The Emergence of Modern Communications in Nineteenth-Century America (review)

The Postal Age: The Emergence of Modern Communications in Nineteenth-Century America. By David M. Henkin. (Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 2006. Pp. 238. Cloth, $38.00.)Reviewed by Konstantin DierksDavid Henkin has, for the second time, written a marvelous book. His first monograph, City Reading: Written Words and Public Spaces in Antebellum New York (Columbia University Press, 1998), was a strikingly original account of an important new kind of literacy in mid-nineteenth-century New York City, exemplified in the reading of commercial signs on city streets. That book pulled the histories of literacy and of cities in new directions. Henkin's equally original new monograph, The Postal Age: The Emergence of Modern Communications in Nineteenth- Century America, broadens the concern to and nation. Whereas scholars tend to write the history of through the invention of technologies such as the telegraph or telephone, Henkin focuses instead on the everyday use of communications. This enables him to discern a communications revolution in the United States in the 1840s and 1850s premised not on technological innovation, but on popular culture-the sudden and concerted application of an old technology to new purposes, by new groups of people. Earlier in the nineteenth century the postal system operated by the federal government was primarily a carrier of newspapers, business correspondence, and letters on special occasions. By the 1870s that postal system had become a widespread medium enabling many ordinary Americans to experience a peculiar new and modern sensation of connectedness-for good, as well as for ill.In making this argument Henkin's second book shares a common theme with his first, namely an unsung element in the emergence of modernity in the United States. In both books, Henkin asks us to appreciate the modernity of the nineteenth century with fresh and subtle eyes, without the usual technological determinism. Richard John accomplished something comparable with his account of the development of the federal postal system in the early national era, enabling us to appreciate the formation of perhaps the first modern large-scale enterprise, ironically by a government otherwise committed to smallness even in its military apparatus {Spreading the News: The American Postal System from Franklin to Morse, Harvard University Press, 1995). John examined the role of the post office in crucial political debates of the early national era, but Henkin shifts our gaze in the subsequent antebellum era from political controversy to everyday life, from newspapers to letters, from the elite to the masses. The most important context was not political or institutional, but geographical and social: the extraordinary mobility animating the United States in the middle of the nineteenth century.That mobility came from broad historical patterns like a rush of migration westward, and from concerted historical events such as the California Gold Rush (1848-1855) and the American Civil War (1861-1865). The United States Congress responded to the emergence of such geographical mobility-and mimicked the pioneering example of the British Parliament-by dramatically reducing the cost of postage, first in 1845 and again in 1851. The most significant result was not the speed of mail across space, but access to and use of the post by more and more Americans. The volume of mail carried by the postal system more than tripled in a decade, and Henkin highlights new practices and new expectations as ordinary Americans swiftly turned something novel into something normal-into habit, into culture. Americans of all sorts wrote more and more letters, and they used those letters to send money and daguerreotypes to one another, filling the mail with objects as well as words. …

Effects of Traffic Characteristics and Mounting Location on the Visibility of On-Premise Commercial Signs

In recent years, there has been a movement in local government regulations toward restricting the mounting height of on-premise, commercial signing and other roadside oriented signs. This has caused some concern among sign designers and fabricators that automobile drivers will have difficulty in seeing and reading many of these low profile signs. These potential visibility difficulties are caused by the presence of other vehicles; either those in front of the subject vehicle, those in the adjacent travel lane, or those traveling in the opposite direction; blocking the line of sight between the subject vehicle driver and any low-mounted, roadside sign. The objective of this research was to determine the probability of another automobile blocking the line of sight between the driver of a subject vehicle and an on-premise, low-mounted, roadside sign. The results indicated that this probability is a function of the position of the subject vehicle, the position(s) of one or more object vehicles, the volume of vehicles on the road, and the speed of the vehicles on the road.

When Hershey met Betty: love, lust and co‐branding

PurposeThis paper seeks to present a cultural approach to co‐branding. The purpose here is to discuss issues concerning the phenomena of brand and branding with particular focus on the mythological narratives that are at stake in a brand.Design/methodology/approachThis paper conducts a case analysis of a co‐branded product. Provides both a managerial and a cultural reading of the co‐brand in question, before proceeding to make a “neo‐Freudian” analysis of the potentially transgressive meanings involved in the co‐branding in question. This is done not so much to produce an authoritative reading of the cultural and commercial sign of the co‐brand as to make a bold leap and provide a daring reading of a seemingly innocent co‐branded product.FindingsThrough the case study of the co‐branded product, the vast amount of cultural meanings that goes beyond the sets of brand identities proposed by the brand managers is explored. Discusses the limitations of traditional strategic branding models and suggests a certain degree of humility towards the mysterious and spiritual forces when trying to exploit mythological levels of social meanings and narratives in the branding process.Practical implicationsFor brand managers who seek to co‐operate with other brands in the marketplace, this paper offers an argument for the almost limitless potential of symbolic dimensions that are inextricably linked to combining brand universes. By doing so, a more comprehensive understanding of the meaning management for co‐branded products and potentially a more successful outcome of the branding process may be achieved.Originality/valueIn addition to existing research, this paper illustrates that the practice of co‐branding involves a play with symbolic forces that can be unpredictable and difficult to control for a brand manager. This finding has implications for the degree to which one can expect to be able to manage the social communication processes generated from a co‐branded product.

On-Premise Commercial Sign Lighting and Light Pollution

The present study explored light pollution as it may be produced by on premise identification signs. More than just “storefront” signs, on premise identification signs can also be found on the property of professional offices, financial institutions, corporate headquarters, governmental agencies, and medical offices. The present study did not examine off premise signs, such as billboards or outdoor advertising. Relevant literature and light pollution standards as they pertain to on premise sign lighting were reviewed and photometric measurements were taken of light emitted by in-service on premise signs representative of the various sign illumination modes and sign designs employed by the on premise sign industry. Data were collected on 58 internally illuminated, externally illuminated, neon, and channel letter signs. While there were some particularly bright signs, the majority of the signs tested fell below the photometric levels believed to be associated with light pollution.

On-premise commercial sign lighting and light pollution

On-premise commercial sign lighting and light pollution

Impact of Sign Orientation on On-Premise Commercial Signs

Storefront signs are often the end point of the information system travelers use to navigate the street and highway system to arrive at commercial destinations. To test the supposition that larger parallel signs would be as visible as smaller perpendicular signs, a variety of on-premise signs were tested under real-world conditions to determine their detectability and legibility. Using an open-field research design conducted on public roadways in a small downtown area and along a commercial strip development zone, 120 older and younger subjects viewed signs during both day and night conditions, with particular attention paid to sign orientation, operationally defined as parallel (i.e., being parallel to the roadway) versus perpendicular (i.e., being perpendicular to or facing oncoming traffic). Sign orientation was investigated by comparing perpendicular signs to parallel signs that were two and three times larger than the perpendicular signs with proportional increases in copy size. Contrary to most sign codes, the results indicate that perpendicular signs are significantly more detectible and legible than are larger parallel signs.

Language Policy and Ethnic Tensions in Quebec and Latvia

This article traces the factors that led to the adoption of the Charter of the French Language in Quebec in 1977 and the Latvian Language Law in 1999. Concerns for the French language in Quebec in the 1960s and 1970s, the Latvian language in the Soviet Union in the late 1980s, and in the Latvian state in the 1990s were ignited by some of the same demographic and assimilative forces in the two societies. Demographic factors included a decline in the birth rate, lower socioeconomic status, and a fear of minoritization in their own respective territories. Schools in English in Quebec and schools in Russian in Latvia attracted most immigrants. To counter these trends, language policies were drafted restricting access to English and Russian languages in schools, on commercial signs, in legislative bodies, and in municipal, public, and para-public administration. Looking for a model to change these conditions, Latvia based a significant part of its language law on the Quebec Charter of the French Language. Significant controversies erupted in both societies with the passage of restrictive language legislation. While the laws have helped to reverse the position of the French and Latvian languages, they have not solved the delicate balance between linguistic communal rights and individual rights.

Impact of Video Advertising on Driver Fixation Patterns

To assess driver distraction because of video advertising signs, eye fixation data were collected from subjects who passed four video advertising signs, three at downtown intersections and one on an urban expressway. On average, drivers glanced at the signs on 45% of the occasions on which the signs were present. When drivers looked, they made 1.9 glances, on average, with an average duration per glance of 0.48 s. The distribution of eye fixations on intersection approaches where video signs were visible was compared with that on approaches on which video signs were not visible. No significant differences were found in the number of glances made at traffic signals or street signs. On the video approach, a greater proportion of glances were made at the speedometer and rearview mirrors. Glances were made at short headways and occasionally in unsafe circumstances. In the downtown area, glances at static commercial signs were made at larger angles and at shorter headways than was the case for video signs. A comparison of the results with those of other studies showed that video signs were less likely to be looked at than traffic signs (about half the time versus virtually every time, respectively) and that individual average glance durations and total durations were similar to those found for traffic signs in rural environments. These results apply to particular video signs in particular environments. Another on-road study indicates that a video sign on a curve that is close to the line of sight and visible for an extensive period is particularly distracting.

The language of shop signs in Tokyo

A report on the salient role of English in Japan's complex commercial signs. A 1989–1990 study by the National Language Research Institute found that loanwords comprise nearly 10% of Japanese language in current use, and most of these loanwords are from English. Loanword dictionary entries continue to grow: the latest katakana dictionary published by Sanseido (2000) contains 52,500 foreign word entries.

Mastering the 'Visual Groove'

Mastering the 'Visual Groove'