Here’s a question: how do you take a busy street and make it less hectic? Actually, lemme rephrase that: how do you take a busy street and make it seem more chaotic? The answer is you add noise.
Over the last 2 weeks, Jen and I spent about a week in Boulder, Colorado checking out the town, and hunting for places to live. We plan on moving there sometime before Fall of 2008 so Jake and I can open a skinnyCorp office in Boulder, and so we can both get a major change of scenery.
The first night and first day we were there it was snowy so you couldn’t see much of anything. However by the 2nd day, the snow cleared and melted and it was clear and beautiful. Jen and I ventured out first on foot, then by car, for the whole day. Walking around on Pearl street, a very busy foot-traffic-only shopping area, I noticed something that I thought had to be a fluke. For as many people that walk that strip (over 100,000 per day on average), there’s no advertising. I noticed the trend continue on the roadways too. Busses had no ads on their sides. Bus shelter had no branded walls. The view of the mountains in the distance isn’t obstructed by billboards. NO ADVERTISING.
I could be incorrect, as I didn’t cover every inch of Boulder, but it wasn’t until we drove to Denver that I saw the normal amount of ads on billboards, busses and benches. It got me to thinking about how useless outdoor advertising is. The reality is that no one pays attention to it. In theory, I know that it just adds to the visual noise of a city, but it wasn’t until I spent time in a city without it that I realized just how much noise it produces. By not being distracted by taglines and product photography trying to steal my attention, I was able to take in so much more of my surroundings. I found myself walking slower, looking off in the distance more, and generally taking in the sights.
Beyond the fact that Boulder (and probably Colorado as a whole) is more mellow that Chicago, I’d venture to say that the fact that there’s minimal to no reckless graffiti (etching, crappy sharpie tagging, or annoying stickers), minimal to no vandalism, and a generally really high respect for the city has to do with the fact that the city doesn’t sell itself out to advertisers. The way I see it… just as you’d be more inclined to throw your clothes on the floor in a dirty bedroom; a city filled with visual noise is going to quietly give its consent to additional visual chaos.
In the week since I’ve been home I find myself more annoyed with our city littered with ads. I’m sure it will wear off, but I can’t help but imagine how different our city would look without the constant visual noise that companies pay so much to create.
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Jeff, this is an interesting observation, because thats exactly what russia was like pre 1991.
also most outdoor advertising isn’t really about being noticed, its more subliminal check out the Derren Brown video on you tube.
as a human being you are a to a degree a product of your environment an if you are surrounded by and ‘you will be a consumer’, whats more as a creative you are influenced by visual stimulation.
this is why i believe european design is better than american. lol