A fellow publication designer, knowing of my interest in pictorial Americana from past decades, suggested that this book should interest me, so I bought a copy. The author (and designer) has certainly collated a rich selection of signage from Hollywood and other parts of LA. There are over three hundred photos in the book and predictably, this includes a few soft focus ones that maybe should have been left out, like the Hollywood Brown Derby (pages 86-87) Movie Town Motel (144) and Holiday Inn (147).
Despite the fascinating material, I was very disappointed with the book. Visually, it's a mess. It doesn't seem to be designed using a grid to tie the different design elements together throughout the book. The only constant seems to be the text size (with lots of different line lengths) and type for most of the headings. Annoyingly, the photos are presented in various styles: square, oblong, upright, circular and frequently overlapping or butted together. Their impact on each spread competes with colored panels with white or black type and colored graphic shapes for chapter headings. It's as if each spread is designed to be unique, unlike any other in the book.
There are a couple of other less-than-professional pages. Page 4 has the photo credits arranged alphabetically rather than by page number first. If the reader wants to know about Tiny Naylor's coffee shop they have read through all the credits until they find 106. Page 175 has a whole page of the author's thanks, several hundred words worth, too. I doubt any reader would be interested.
I very much doubt if other publishers of highly visual books, like Chronicle, Taschen or Thames & Hudson would put out a book as scrappy looking as Hollywood Signs.
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