Preface: I am a total geek and I have stopped caring who knows it. With that out of the way, one of my favorite things in the world to do is study old maps. And my favorite part of old maps are the titles! I told you, total… geek.
I’ve always been amazed at how much attention used to go into the details of these hand-drawn works of art. These days all we do is send a satellite up into space, or someone out to drive around and snap pictures of our streets – and don’t get me wrong, that’s pretty neat for other reasons. But Google streetview ain’t got nuthin on this. Go ahead, geek out…
In 2013 I gave myself a photo assignment. Pick 13 subjects, and take 13 snapshots of each… 13x13x13. Turns out this was much more work than I thought. So I’ve been accepting submissions from others. Today’s series of 13 comes to us from Tiny Fish Printing , a custom apparel printing company located near the public market.
T-shirts are an American staple. We all have our favorite one that we wear until our belly button shows through. They’re a great way to show our support for our favorite local institutions… restaurants, bands, clubs, etc. They allow us to show off our creative side, even we don’t have a creative bone in our body. And best of all, they keep us from being naked.
Uh, ok… Let’s just take a look at 13 awesome local t-shirt designs…
If you’ve been following along, you know how we’ve been trying to apply a little design for the betterment of our transit system. First we took a shot at designing a better bus stop sign for Rochester. RGRTA is currently studying that concept in anticipation of one day replacing their existing signs. Next we designed a better bus pass for which RGRTA gave a nod of approval. The new passes will be rolled out very soon!
But wait, there’s more! RGRTA has now asked for help redesigning one of the most important transit tools of all; their big, bad, bus schedules…
WHOA! Not so fast.
It appears RocSubway jumped the gun and accidentally published some information that wasn’t ready for primetime. New bus schedule designs are being worked on, but it will be some time before they are finalized and ready to be shared. If you caught the sneak peek, congrats. And thanks for providing your feedback!
Can you believe it’s been two years since I tried to redesign Rochester’s bus stop signs? Everyone seemed to agree that a makeover was in order – even the folks at RTS who were nice enough to meet with me. But a year later there had been no serious progress on that front. At which point I turned my attention to something else I thought I could improve on; the fare cards. This time I was able to make some real progress…
While visiting Seattle a few years ago something occurred to me. Here I was on the other side of the country in a city I had never been to before in my life, and I was navigating their bus system like seasoned Seattleite. There were no fancy digital real-time signs, I had no smart phone, no GPS anything… I didn’t even have a printed schedule. I didn’t need any of those things because I had this…
If you’re a New York motorist you’ve probably heard about Albany’s latest attempt to use your wallet to fix their budget gap. Beginning in May 2010 you may be required to buy a new set of plates for your ride (starting at $25). I say “may” because this is not a done-deal and lawmakers just might buckle under the pressure from protesters and decide against the whole idea. But if Patterson has his way, your car may soon be adorned with lovely new blue and gold plates… GAG!
Perhaps being a graphic designer disqualifies me from passing judgement, but based solely on the proposed design, I say this is a bad idea. But let’s take an informal poll…
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After the Erie Canal was rerouted south of downtown Rochester, the Rochester
Industrial & Rapid Transit Railway (the “subway”) was built in
its place as a link between the five different railroads and interurban trolley
lines that served the Rochester area. As the industrial landscape of Rochester
changed, and highways replaced the railroads, the Rochester subway gradually
became a relic of a bygone era. In 1956 the subway was abandoned and much of
its route was converted into Interstate 490 — built to connect Rochester
with the New York State Thruway (I-90). Read more about the history of the Rochester Subway.
RochesterSubway.com exists to help spark
public dialogue around how we can better connect the neighborhoods of Rochester
NY, surrounding communities, and their cultural offerings. Rochester’s
future is written in her past. Let's rediscover it.
![Rochester Map Typography [IMAGE: Rochester Public Library]](https://www.rochestersubway.com/images/photos/rochester-map-typography-1910-detail.jpg)
![13 Rochester T-shirts [PHOTO: Tiny Fish Printing]](https://www.rochestersubway.com/images/photos/13-rochester-tshirts.jpg)
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