Forest for the Banners

The Urban Forest ProjectIf you’re in the Times Square area anytime between Friday and Halloween, look upwards to the nearly two hundred colorful banners hanging from the lampposts. They’s all part of the Urban Forest Project, a collaboration between AIGA’s New York chapter, Worldstudio Foundation, and the Times Square Alliance. The public art project features visual work from one hundred and eighty-five designers, artists, photographers and illustrators, including some by friends of mine and some by area students who have been mentored by professionals like my friend and colleague on the AIGA NY board, Emma Pressler. Emma has been a major force behind AIGA New York’s mentor program, and an article in yesterday’s Times talks about the work that she and her student partner, Wednesday Trotto (real name!) did for Urban Forest. It’s an event that ties together design, New York City, AIGA, The New York Times and a friend of mine… I call that a great story.

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  3. Shaun Inman

    I’m actually partial to the way Rosewood Fill is used here, regardless of it’s intended use. It has an unassuming, quirkyness to it, like an unrefined, irregular Clarendon. That’s probably exactly why they chose it.

  4. Stephen Coles

    It is indeed the reason they chose it – the same reason it has been, for the past few years, the snap-to font for anything rustic, western, or antique. My condemnation is as much for its misuse (the result being inauthentic) but also for its ubiquity in today’s designscape. There are just so many more authentic and thoughtful options.

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