Gathering Place
Gathering Place
Hideous airport
signs clash, create
confusion in travelersNot a day passes without the daily papers running a letter to the editor slamming the signs at Honolulu International Airport. Complaints about the signs have ranged from their obnoxious size and color to the confusion they cause. One letter asked why The Outdoor Circle hasn't expressed outrage at the color of the blinding yellow signs.
Ordinarily, contractors and developers have the sense to include us in the planning when making such sweeping changes, but in this case we had no idea the signs were being altered.
As soon as the signs went up, The Outdoor Circle received complaints. An environmental graphic designer explained that the signs are hard to understand because the "obnoxious impact of the background color overpowers the typographic message of the sign."
He also noted that the sign posts were painted with a strong purple-blue, and pointed out that the primary attention needs to be on the message, not on the sign structure or background. He said the floral pattern is rendered in an amateurish fashion and lacks warmth. He offered to work with us and the airport representatives to develop some preliminary solutions to the sign problem.
The Outdoor Circle's goal is to change the color scheme to a neutral, reflective vinyl color or to use the typical highway green with white reflective vinyl letters. Either of these would fit into Hawaii's tropical environment without compromising the signs' legibility. Given that these signs are among the first things a visitor sees after arriving in Honolulu, they should convey the aloha spirit. What we have now does not do that.
Outdoor Circle staff and volunteers met once with airport employees in November and it was apparent to us that nothing would change until after the new administration took over in January. With a new governor, director of transportation and airport administrator in place, we got together again with the powers that be at the airport. We were surprised by how easily they agreed that the signs need to be replaced.
Davis Yogi, administrator of the Airports Division, has promised to get back to us soon, after he better understands how the airport ended up with these signs.
The Outdoor Circle promises that we will not give up until the signs have been changed. Should you feel similarly, please contact our office at 593-0300 and we will keep you updated on our progress.
Mary Steiner is CEO of The Outdoor Circle.