RSS FeedThe Importance Of Being Signage
Signs can be a vital advertising pathway from businesses to the outside, pedestrian world and that’s what we think about this sign placed on the 7th Street sidewalk between Eye Street and K Street outside the Techworld building. You wouldn’t know any of these businesses existed without a sign such as the one to the right that alerts passers by to the underground food court at 800 K Street NW (view from Eye Street into pedestrian walkway). The only reason we know about the food court is because that’s where the post office we patronize can be found.
Before moving downtown, we never paid much attention to signs or their placement. In the living areas in near suburbia where trees outnumber residents, the only signs in sight label streets and the days the county comes by to pick up leaves in the fall. Now we pay a lot of attention to signs because their behavior is more obvious and potentially unavoidable (visually polluting?) in a dense, downtown environment where businesses compete for the attention of you, a potential customer. If the sign were the business proprietor, you might say it’s the difference between them saying “Excuse me, you might be interested in coming into my coffee shop – we’ve got some great coffee in here,” and “Stop! You can’t walk any further without noticing my business so stop in and buy a cup of joe!” Advertisers love our neighborhood because the volume of pedestrian and vehicular traffic flow guarantees a minimum number of visual impressions. Neither pedestrians nor drivers can change the channel.
Given that this food court is completely hidden from view, is this sign a right or a privilege? Did you know there was a food court in this location? And if so, how are the kabobs (we’ve only tried the cookies)?
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Comments
That picture would look better if you resized it before posting. Your code has it sized at 512 x 384, but the actual picture size is 1024 x 768 (i.e, half its size). That’s why it looks janky, crooked lines, etc. Real estate agents make the same mistake *constantly*, and otherwise nice pictures get turned into hard-to-look at messes. I can never understand it.
Anyways, *the* *more* *you* *know* (*chime*).
thanks U. we’ll take a closer look at it. it’s actually a feature. *wink*
where possible, we do like to have the full size image available online so that readers can click on the photo and get a closer look if they want to.
According to the DDOT:
“Title 24 of the District of Columbia Municipal Regulations (DCMR) prohibits the placement of any signs on sidewalks in the District, with few exceptions”
It’s a really tiny food court that mostly serves the folks in the office building. It gets very overwhelmed when there’s a sizable convention crowd at the Renaissance. The meeting level of the hotel connects to Techworld.
Randy’s right about the kabobs. They also have good chicken curry and gyros.
The cookie place does some great real fruit smoothies that are called Banana Buzzs with bananas, blueberries and strawberries with either milk or cranberry juice.
Does anyone know anything about the fitness club in the hotel that advertises in the same courtyard area? I want to find a place that’s close to work so I can work out on my lunch break, but I’m not sure if it’s for the public or just hotel guests.
Shopaholicdc, the Vida fitness club in the hotel sells memberships to non-hotel guests. I work in Techworld and some of my co-workers have memberships there.
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I get the chicken kabobs all the time. Sometimes, they’re slightly overcooked (a little dry), but usually, they’re VERY good. Their side dishes that come with the platter are also very good, and the super-personable woman who works the cash register has suggested I try other side dishes she has cooked, all of which have been worth the experiment.