Signs

Signmakers, Venice Blvd., L.A.

When I drive to work in the morning I pass by Signmakers.  It's a cool shop on Venice Boulevard, Mid-City, L.A. where they fabricate custom signs for all kinds of businesses.  They usually have eye-catching neon examples in their little front yard and other graphics painted on the side of the building.  Sometimes, when I drive by, I see the garage door up and the guys working on this huge metal cutting machine.

The other morning I spied a brilliant blue sign behind the fence.  It was Philippe's!  My favorite sandwich place in Los Angeles!  This morning, I stopped the car, got out and took a few photos. 

 Good work!  Looks just like the original signs!

I've been obsessed with signage my entire life.  Growing up in Los Angeles, the home of roadside signage, has stoked my imagination!  I grew up during the booming car culture of Southern California.  Buildings were being erected to draw in drivers from the road.  Big boomerang signs advertising EAT HERE, etc. were the norm.  Now, we're bombarded with billboards and electronic signs.  The old signs with their inventive fonts, shapes and painted colors still entice me.

Here are a few snapshots from past trips to Signmakers:

Check out these eye-catching font graphics, below!  Sadly, there's some graffiti on this mural now, but it's still cool!