So the Center City District came up with a retarded dandy of a plan - identify the SEPTA stops around town with a green circle with a T in the middle which you can see in the photo above. Look familiar? It's basically ripping on Boston's logo, the T, for their mass transit system. It was the first thing I thought of when I got an email from CCD a couple months ago announcing the unveiling of the new signage.
Don't be ashamed if you didn't notice the signs; they're not everywhere, just in at 6 'demonstration sites' right around City Hall [18/JFK, SE corner; 19/Market, NE corner; Broad/Walnut, SW corner; 13/Market, NE corner; 1525 Locust; The Clothespin, Centre Square plaza, 15/Market]. They also look so out of place you might have thought they were placed there as props for the Jamie Foxx movie Law Abiding Citizen which has been filming in Philly for awhile now. You may recall how Mayor Nutter asked that the prop outdoor cafe set from the filming of Transformers 2 be left where it was in the center court of City Hall. Wouldn't have been a far stretch. But nope. Those were installed by CCD.
I think the signs are weird. I think they're a waste of money. I think SEPTA (fucking SEPTA) (and PATCO) has to first come up with a new logo (what does the current logo signify - anybody?) and then CCD can think of plunking down some green for some signage which ties into the new logo and not something which looks like it's advertising a trolley stop on Broad St - why would I think that? Because first, the new logo is green, which, in Philly, stands for trolleys. Second, there's a big T in the middle of the logo and T is a logical shorthand for trolley. The T, in this case, stands for transit. Because the logo really doesn't have anything to do with anything pertaining to SEPTA in lettering, coloring or design; I'd also think it might be some kind of art installation (gone wrong).
Inga Saffron's writeup leans towards approval, but not outrightly so. I lean towards whatthefuck in my oh so eloquent assessment. SEPTA is a colossal clusterfuck of a situation. It's so fucked up and yet so integral to the functioning of this city it's maddening. I don't go a single day without hearing a 'fuck SEPTA' story. Let me stress that I want SEPTA to be awesome, but it is not.
Yes, out of towners need more help navigating the maze of tunnels and platforms underground, but a ridiculous logo that has nothing to do with SEPTA isn't the best beacon for them. Did CCD focus group these things at all? I would love to see some .pdfs of the 'transit concourse' maps to see if they are at all helpful. I'm not sure if I could be very objective though, being that I've been very comfortable getting around cities for the last 16 years since I was a kid going into NYC by myself. I'm no suburbanite who can't find his/her way from the regional rail to one of the city's 2, count 'em 2, subway lines going due east-west and north-south. The buses are a clusterfuck within the clusterfuck that is SEPTA, but when's the last time you saw tourists on the bus in Philly?
You can see more photos of the unveiling here [not my photos].
New plans revealed here.
9 comments:
That logo makes me want to vomit on my own dick.
If it's supposed to be universal, so everyone can find the train, then it should be an icon.
If it's supposed to be an identifier to promote SEPTA then it should be the classic shitty logo.
Wow. When I saw this post, I immediately realized that I had seen this logo recently. However, I didn't realize what it was when I saw it, nor did I give enough of a flying fuck to wonder why they were there. That make sense?
someone has to employ those out-of-work-can't-find-a-job graphic designers from Philly U.
I have a feeling that although a graphic designer did ultimately design this, it smacks of some higher up genius pulling ideas out of his posterior. He probably wanted to emphasize that they're a green company and that the logo has to be green. Nevermind the designer's insistence that the color system in place will be weakened and people will be confused. Green is the new buzz word so the logo is green. So on and so on.
Still, the signs are a half-assed break from their old signage and the result is one huge fail.
Not defending the design because I don't like them either, but they aren't SEPTA logos for a reason. They direct riders to transit stops, regardless of whether that stop is served by the MFL, BSL, PATCO, Regional Rail or AMTRAK. They purposely selected a logo that didn't look like any of those.
Im surprised no one has said how it kinda looks like the logo from Tbar.
Note how they are ONLY in Center City... for the tourists.
Bethany D - well, it is a Center City District project. They'd have no business spending their group's money in other parts of town.
I know this is old news by now and anonymous touched on it already but the "T" logo doesn't signify the transit service - it marks an entrance to the "transit concourse" that runs under a large part of Center City.
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