Gateway Signage
 

Gateway Signage is important.  Don't rush it.

At a recent Council Meeting there was a narrow vote asking for more time concerning the Southampton Gateway sign.  The Port Elgin Sign was already subject to more thinking.  

Two things are necessary for a Gateway sign:

1.  An Icon or image that is grasped quickly.

2. A short tagline.

In order to get both, it sometimes takes the perspective of history and reflection.  You can't build an icon to suit a tight schedule or be impatient.  Calm down and think a bit.

KINCARDINE

Some years ago Kincardine had an excellent Gateway sign.  It fact it was an open gate!  I have it before me now.  It's perfectly mounted in a frame.  It shows my sister in about 1938..  She is standing next to the Gateway sign into and out of Kincardine. It invited the visitor back and if you were just passing by, it beckoned you.   It is made of stone and wood and it has the tagline in large letters    It is simple and warm, like the Scots that it honours.

The sign is good as is really.  The font is clear and 'COME BACK" is all caps -- not to be missed. Direct like Scots are.  The stone reflects Bruce County Limestone well.

It tells us about the Town's Scottish Heritage and bids us return in just 6 words.  Even as a child, I saw and respected that sign.

PORT ELGIN

Port Elgin used to have a great tagline "The Town of Maples".  It's been lost over time.  Many of the people living there don't know it.  They still have a lot of maples and if they revived the tagline, maybe they could plant more.

It could be brought back with a sign that highlights a maple leaf and a sunset.  I don't think bringing in a sailboat adds much. Simple is better.  If they want, use the sailboat and sunset with something that says:

'World's greatest Sunsets'

or something that can be easily remembered, would be really good.  A colourful sunset would do it. So it's maples or sunsets.

(next column)

13/01/2009 04:21 PM

The Southampton Market

(continued)

Southampton:

The simple Icon....

Southampton is very lucky.  They have an instant and powerful icon which is the Imperial Tower on Chantry Island. It is rooted in history and tradition.  It is used on hundreds of house signs in the area.  I was at the Sign Maker this week and he was making another batch for more homes.  Other places it is used are:

1. Hospital Logo

2. Library Logo

3. G. C. Huston School Logo

4. Marine Heritage Logo

5. Lighthouse Restaurant, Square Deal Neils, The Southampton Market ..... etc.

6. Walker House has pictures of it hanging on the wall

7.  .... and hundreds of houses and thousands of pictures in albums and on digital media.

8.  It is used in names like... Chambettes, Chantry Singers, Chantry Centre and the list goes on and on...

9.  The Art School thrives on the image in the summer and students paint the views of the 4 Lighthouses.

10.  The County  reinforces the Lighthouse Icon as the image of Bruce Tourism.

11. The three Gateway Signs paid for 20 years ago by the Chantry Island Chambettes which are at the main entrances to Southampton use it and a range light and a sunset..

Southampton has 4 Lighthouses ... one Imperial Tower and 3 Range Lights -- all are in great condition and cared for by volunteers.

So what about the tagline?  In 1995 in his epic series of books 'fo'c's'le', historian John Weichel coined the perfect tagline for Southampton  ....

"THE OLdest Port on the Bruce Coast"

It was placed on the 3 signs in about 1995 or 96

Well, big deal, you say!  Why is this important?  Here is why!

• It links our Aboriginal Peoples who were using the mouth of the Saugeen for thousands of years.

• It honours the early settlers, who used it for the Fishing Industry.

• It serves as part of the historic Harbour of Refuge that included Chantry Island Light, the three Range Lights and the Long and Short Dock with all its storied history.

• It honours the lumbering and wood working industry that used it for supply and shipment.  It is a very large port.

• If anything more need be said, take a look at what went on this summer with McNally putting in the new water line.  They had a tremendous job to do and again Southampton served as the perfect harbour for their work. (put in McNally in the Saugeen or Kincardine Times Search Engine to see articles about the use of the Harbour this year)

Conclusion:

In baseball, if you've got a great fastball, use it.  Don't throw the changeup when you can use your best pitch.  The recent sign designs coming out of some company that does not know the area's history and who are not good graphic designers, seems silly in the extreme.

Also, backlighting a plastic sign is too much like Big Box Stores signs.  Do we have to copy them?

Mike Sterling for the Saugeen and Kincardine Times

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