American Signs: Form and Meaning on Route 66
Nonfiction, Graphic Design
ISBN: 9781580931199
The boldfaced links to the booksellers listed first will search the respective sites for the above book. The links to the remaining booksellers take you to their homepages.
- Barbara's Bookstore
- Books & Books
- Hennessey + Ingalls
- Joseph Fox Bookshop
- McNally Jackson
- Phaidon Store
- Tattered Cover Book Store
- 192 Books
- AIA Bookstore (Washington)
- AIA Bookstore & Design Center (Philadelphia)
- Ars Libri Ltd.
- Beautiful Pages (Australia)
- The Bookpress Ltd.
- Domy Books
- F.A. Bernett Books
- The Fashion Bookstore
- Modernism 101 Rare Design Books
- Open Air Modern
- Peter Miller Books
- Potterton Books
- Rizzoli Bookstore
- Trevian Books
- Van Alen Books
- William Stout Architectural Books
Search for a Book Store Near You
Designers & Books does not have any financial relationship with any of these booksellers.
On 1
book list
Rick Poynor
A rare example of a book about graphic design—in this case roadside signs and lettering—where the investigation is conducted visually by means of photographs, diagrams, and annotation, as well as in longer texts. In a typical spread about the formal etymology of a motel sign in Amarillo, Texas, each part of the sign is explained in words and pictures. Representing eight years of research, Mahar’s 2002 study is an obvious descendant of Learning from Las Vegas. Its exceptionally detailed and cleverly sustained analysis is more illuminating than a purely text-led discussion would be, making it a paradigm for future visually inventive design studies.
Comments about American Signs: Form and Meaning on Route 66
2 commentsAs an appreciator of the American Landscape and signage, I bought "American Signs: Form and Meaning on Route 66" based on Rick's list.
Wow - talk about esoteric Post Modern psycho babel.
The author applies grid structures to many assorted signs without articulating why it is significant? Anyone could come in after the fact and assign a grid to anything. The author would apply lines with arrows that supposedly suggest the flow of the sign/typography - I don't see the connection.
The other thing is many of the photographs of the signs are really small therefore I needed to get my 4x readers out. What was difficult about these small images is they were comparatively analyzing each other for assorted reasons while I couldn't tell what I was comparing because many of the images were smaller than one inch.
I was so excited to get this book. I started reading it and realized it was coming from an academic who seemed more proud of an expansive vocabulary wrapped up in esoteric vernacular. As an academic I can usually handle this, but it was to much.
I did appreciate how social, political and historical events were tied in with the evolution of the roadside sign.
I wish I didn't need to be such a downer. Perhaps Rick can explain further why he recommended this one?
Swiss
As a designer and marketer, who just happens to work in the sign industry, thanks for placing this book on your list! I'm not here to argue the "delivery" of the book but rather champion the continued awareness and celebration of a piece of disappearing Americana. Keep it up!