Sign Language

The sign I posted in my last entry got me to thinking about one of my things, signs. I guess it's always been my need to resist authority that's always made me notice and in most cases, dislike signage. In my lifestyle I'm always saying in the 'lower 48' and now 'n.o.b.' (north of the border) , in these places the signs usually tell you what you can't do or to be careful doing anything that you want to do....like these. Man, that first one's a pretty darn wordy watch out ain't it. I hate that. And of of course the second one is a no brain er, everybody I now hates that one.

But here in Mazatlan the signage takes on an interesting flair. Sometimes they're colorful and informative and every now and then they actually tell you what you CAN do...I like that. Like  this one here. every business has the right to refuse service to anybody or anything, these guys just make it a little clearer for us, no confusion. The only thing negative I could say is...ain't lions kinda cats to?...but hey, it's their place.

Some signs just give you some insight to the business. People n.o.b. are all hung up on appearances. I even know people who have  hired graphic designers. But me I admire the guy that keeps expenses down and instead of focusing on the promotion focuses on the product. That's something I tell the folks at the Soldotna Chamber of Commerce...lets focus on the product...NOT the Promotion. The product IS the promotion. Ricky here has it right.

This next series of signs are just examples that jumped out at me. I love the color of the sardines. I like the bait shops guys courage. I like the officialness of the church store. The fish/beer sign says it all and you've seen it before. And the guy asking  for you secrets...well I don't know about that deal. There's a whole bunch of stuff on this planet I don't want to know about, seriously.

I also appreciate it when people use what they have. In the 48 people spend some serious lettuce just to let you know where they are. The blue Stewarts Landing sign we have to get you to Mile 14 cost over a thousand bucks. I see myself taking advantage of one of the 10 gillion trees we have to put a sign on just like this guy used his entryway. Or even putting the meeting place sign on the ground where you'd actually meet.

I'm a guy that spends countless hours on the river absorbing its beauty. One of my pet peeves are signs like this, brought to you by the government of course. They're ugly and  controlling , they always tell you what you can't do and never what you can. They basically say...don't have fun here.

So for me its refreshing to see colorful and whimsical signs. Some are fun and some say lets have fun and some are just plain practical. Signs like this....take a picture.