Signs of the Times - March 2014 - (Page 64)

HAPPINESS SQUARED Times Square's perpetual evolution By Louis M. Brill T imes Square is the happiest spot in New York City. Come again? Here's proof: The Geography of Happiness..., a study compiled by Lewis Mitchell and other academics at the Univ. of Vermont, ranked Times Square as the happiest spot among many NYC destinations. What's not to be happy about? Times Square offers nearly unlimited theatrical performances, phenomenal restaurants, endless shopping at an array of newly opened retail flagship stores, and, for those so inclined, ogling The Naked Cowboy. Who's happiest in Times Square? That's easy; the sign manufacturers and installers, as well as the proud owners of all the new and refurbished signage going up at a record pace all around the Bow Tie - aka the intersection of Broadway and 7th Ave.- and beyond. Our industry is busier than ever in Times Square - building new signs, replacing old ones and maintaining many more. Like the Naked City itself, the sign business never sleeps. Every open space in Times Square is covered with some form of signage. You wonder where new signage could be installed, but not a month goes by without a retailer leasing, refurbishing or demolishing a Times Square property that requires new signage. In every case, new opportunities are continually arising to refurbish and replace existing signage or add new digital signage in that space. And, all this churning 64 SIGNS OF THE TIMES March 2014 real estate is a godsend for new advertising space, and a great format for new LED displays - and multiple opportunities for an updated Times Square gallery. Spacing out LED signs began to emerge in the mid-1990s, with Morgan Stanley, NASDAQ and ABC. Many of these early LED signs still exist, but some now look a bit "long in the teeth." Thus, their owners decided their LED signs needed refreshing, and commissioned updated versions of the same signs, sometimes with a newer version of the same sign, and other times with a complete makeover. In the past year, at least four major spectaculars underwent reconstruction: Reuters and Bank of America renewed their original look, and Skechers and the Novotel Hotel emphasized signage with redefined displays. Inglot, a Polish cosmetics firm, acquired a new LED sign, as did Express (a causal clothing retailer), which installed a monumental LED display with more than 8,500 sq. ft. of signage. Reuters Thomson Reuters' gargantuan LED spectacular, the 22-story behemoth that covers much of the frontage of 3 Times Square, was first designed in 2000 by ESI Design (NYC), an experiential-design consultancy. Mitsubishi Electric's Diamond Vision Systems

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Signs of the Times - March 2014

Signs of the Times - March 2014
Contents
ST Update
Technology Update
Designing for Large Format
Vinyl Apps
Strictly Commercial
Lighting Techniques
The Moving Message
Technology Review: Summa’s DC5 and DC5sx printers
Technology Review: PrinterEvolution Neo Series printers
Design Matters
New Products
Happiness Squared
They Speak the Language
The 2013 Lighting Survey
Ganassi Racing’s Green Light
Dynamic Digital Signage Made Simple, Part 3
Industry News
Advertising index
Editorially speaking

Signs of the Times - March 2014