Friday, February 19, 2010

Type-as-Signage: Memphis and Sex and the City 2





Pr*tty
I’ve been noticing a trend in big, bold typography that is designed to look like signage. Since I do a lot of signage design, I’m really loving that. And this ad is of one my favorites to use the type-as-sign device.

Sh*tty
I realize I’m likely to incur the wrath of the SatC super-fans, but hear me out. The overall effect of this ad is quite good actually. But as I’ve said before, god is in the details.

The big 2 is meant to look like it’s a real object (i.e. a sign) with big flashy sequins inside. But look closely, and you see they’ve simply masked out a pattern of the sequins with the shape of the number... they’re not physically held within a 2-shaped frame at all. Lazy, and cheap.

Meanwhile, while I appreciate the bold use of only the 2 in place of the full name of the movie, the title Sex and the City 2 seems rather uninspired. I have a couple suggestions to use instead: Second the City, or Sex and the City: Sloppy Seconds. Much better, right?

8 comments:

  1. What? You don't like my clever pun?

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  2. I couldn't tell if you honestly thought that would have been a better name or not :)

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  3. I agree that masking the sequins is lazy, but I also think that the designer had much more work photoshopping Sarah Jessica Parker to not look like she's 94 years old.

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  4. oh ME-OW, Patricio!
    for a coupla straight guys, you're doing this post catty justice.

    If those disc shapes in the 2 are supposed to be sequins, you CAN cut those (at least the cheapy stuff I've encountered) so it's plausible to mask it off the way they have. But if it's mimicking the kind of signs that have shiny little discs that flap in the breeze, then no, this is no good.

    BTW, Memphis is the show I saw while in town!

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  5. what exactly is the reflection in her glasses though?

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  6. I'd be more concerned with Carrie's head being dismembered by the placement of the sh*tty ad. Other than that, gotta agree with Patricio!

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  7. Laura, they're the shiny little discs that flap in the breeze. I'm sure those have a name other than sequins, but I'm too lazy to figure it out.

    Betty, the reflection in her glasses is nothing really. If you see the trailer you can see that the sunglasses have golden lenses, which sort of make it look like she's watching a desert sunset (which also fits with a plot element, I guess... they travel to the desert somewhere.)

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