There's a story behind that.

While stopped at an intersection recently, my eye was drawn toward a helical red and blue striped sign that we all recognize as the barber's sign — the archetypal spinning sign mounted to the facade of the modest building. It made me wonder about the history and the meaning behind that design and intrigued me enough to do further research. I remember reading about the symbolism of that design years ago, but couldn't remember all of the gory details. Looking at the object in isolation seems like a strange and unusual object, but when you understand the origin and meaning, it all makes sense.



Back in the day, barbers used to perform medical procedures, including tooth extractions and bloodletting services. Apparently, they would hang the bloody bandages on a pole outside to dry and the wind would wrap the bandages around the pole. Yes, disturbing, but we’re talking the Middle Ages here. The pole represents the staff that was used for the patient to grip to encourage blood flow. The color red is symbolic for arterial blood, blue represents venous blood and the white symbolizes the bandages. It’s also possible that the blue was added when the signs were used in the United States, to honor the national colors. It's interesting how universal and immediately recognizable this design has become over many centuries in many cultures.

But a note of caution: If you’re in certain parts of Asia, the barber's pole design could be used to advertise and disguise a completely different type of business establishment, but I’ll steer clear of that story.

CreateAthon begins!

CreateAthon www.riggs-createathon.com/ is our once a year, 24-hour, work-around-the-clock creative marathon during which we provide nonprofit marketing and design services on a pro bono basis. Let the work begin! Check out the video that Emulsion Arts (Charlotte, NC) made for the event. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBuhuaf4d1s

Sears 5-speed Restoration

Update: Restoration is on! Stripped down to frame, cleaned, polished in every nook and crevice. New wheels, new tubes, tires, cables, brake pads, grips, derailluer, etc, etc. Keeping it classic and keeping the chrome.

American Pickers?

Seen on I-26 W the other day. I'd love to meet the owners.

Protect Antarctica Poster

Poster I designed to support scientific research and preservation of Antarctica and its habitat. Specifically for Dean Schuster of www.truematter.com, who is running a marathon in Antarctica for the cause: Check it out at http://runningwithpenguins.com/

 

Project Bike - Sears 5-speed

My latest project bike — I love the classic styling and modern graphics on this bike. Bonus that it's green and it's made in Austria (probably by Puch). Trying to decide whether this should be a Fixie conversion or a restore to original? These pictures don't illustrate how much work this bike will need.

After five months of on-and-off work, lots of elbow grease and finding just the right parts, it's complete! 

The restored 5-speed below:

New wheelset, tires, tubes, derauiller (Simplex), new vintage styled seat, recycled cork/rubber grips, new  left brake lever, brake pads and all cables. Ready to hit the street!

“Amper-what?”: the origin of a symbol

For a recent naming assignment we were working on, the “@” symbol and the “&” symbol came up in conversation. I’ve always loved the typographic character of the “and” symbol, known as the ampersand. The symbol is one of the oldest alphabetic abbreviations and dates back to Roman times. It evolved from the Latin word et, which means and. If you’ve ever noticed elaborate (italic) styles of ampersands, the Et letterforms are quite visible in the design. Ampersands were traditionally used for display (larger) work, as opposed to smaller, longer format texts, so the designs were more creative and elaborate. Over time, and with the creation of modern sans-serif styles, the symbol has become simplified and less ornate.