You are Here
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You are Here 〰️
I am not there anymore.
When I lived in San Diego, I got a bunch of interesting opportunities to work with architects and artists who were, well, looking for cheap work. And boy, did I deliver!
If I remember correctly, I was beside myself with excitement that Foundation For Form asked me (me!) to work on branding for a new apartment complex they were building. It sounded basically like the coolest thing I’d ever heard. And it was. If only I could have afforded to live in San Diego, I could have stayed and seen the neon sign go up!
Me, presenting some silly nonsense to a group of architects at a Pecha Kucha event in San Diego, 2011.
I used to do a lot of networking when I lived in San Diego. Like, a lot. There wasn’t a pretentious art party I didn’t try to get into. There wasn’t a design-build group of people I wasn’t friends with. There wasn’t a crowd of architects that I had absolutely nothing in common with that I was too proud to try to entertain. The tears of a clown, you know? I learned a lot during this time. Mostly, I learned that if I wore something fabulous and just showed up and kind of didn’t say very much, it made me seem mysterious and interesting. And if I could JUST get someone to pay me a ton of money me to do really cool graphic design, then maybe I could actually afford to pay my rent AND buy fabulous clothes.
Well I live in Missouri now, so maybe you can guess how that went. But I did have a few moments of glory. And this was one of them. I got to do the identity and apartment signage for some very cool, very expensive apartments in a hip neighborhood of San Diego.
Original sketch vs. final You Are Here logo.
Set-up slides to the original identity presentation aka me doing my best “Don Hollis” impression.
The architects already had a name for their new building. You Are Here. In the center of this new structure, was an original Texaco gas station. They kept this element intact and wanted to pay homage to what it was and what it was becoming. You Are Here!
What they needed from me was an identity, fun ideas to get the buzz going, and to make it look generally cool. This ain’t your grandma’s mixed-use space.
More slides from the original logo presentation including color palette and starter ideas for how to expand the identity, including a… bat signal?
Leaning into colors and design that could communicate the modern quirk of the new space while referencing its location and former use, I created a very arrow-centric circular logo. Honestly the main reason I wanted it to be a circle was because within the original Texaco station, and still standing in the center of the structure, was a huge round area for a sign to be placed. I mean you can’t NOT put a big round sign there.
Top of the original gas-station section of the new You Are Here mixed-use space. Neon sign created by Tecture.
After we had the logo established, I created some assets to get the party started.
Social banner and stickers for the launch and leasing campaign.
After the logo, color palette and the tone of voice were established, I set out to create the apartment and wayfinding signage. I had it in my head that they should look like vintage office plaques that were able to be taken in and out of metal sliders. The sort of sign you’d get on your office door in the 1950s? But more colorful. And funnier.
I also wanted each person who moved in to have a bit of choice over what their own apartment signage said. Not totally bespoke, but with enough options so there would be a wide selection and variety as you walked around the building.
The only issue with interchangeable double-slider apartment signs, was that at that time, which was around 2012, I had never actually created any signage, let alone something this out-of-the-ordinary. I had no clue what vendor to contact, how much this should cost, how to provide files, how long it would take, or what materials to specify. There were about 100 different parts and pieces to these signs, so it was a bit of a beast. I blocked most of the ending of this project out, but I do remember being yelled a few times, and I think I cried a lot. But I guess it worked out, because the signs were created and installed!
Left: Signage inspiration. Right: Originally-presented signs with interchangeable phrases tenants could choose from.
The first samples I got from the sign vendor, they worked! And as a bonus, I got to pay homage to Jackée.
Some very poorly photographed signage after their installation. They’re real!!!
It’s always cool to see something you create out in the wild. But especially when it’s something that feels permanent, something built. Something physical you can point at and scream, “HEY I DESIGNED THAT!” and some other person can also see that yes, you designed that. And then maybe it blinksblinks in neon.
I’d like to think it’s one of the little parts of me I left in San Diego. I was there.
Credits
Client
Foundation for Form
Agency
Terri Mitchell (dba PR1ZE)
Design
Terri Mitchell
Copy
Terri Mitchell
Neon Sign
Tecture