While in Amsterdam, I came across the first ever coffeeshop in the city, and some really great signage. It reminded me a lot of the signage in Dalston, with the use of neon lighting to create the font.
The font is all capitals, which works with the short words and grabbing your attention. The lack of serifs also works with the signage because it makes the words easier to read. The huge logo in the middle of the words allows the people passing by to know what they are looking at and it makes it very easy to recognize and see from far away.
Last weekend when I got the pleasure of exploring the beautiful Amsterdam, I came across the gorgeous Magere Brug bridge, otherwise known as the "Skinny Bridge."
This bridge opens and closes over the famous Amstel River in Amsterdam. On the bridge I found lovely decorative font of the name of the bridge as a way of signage. It wasn't necessarily in the most obvious location, but the tiny little label was perfect because you could't miss it. The yellow bubbly block letters are easy to see, especially with their color being yellow, contrasting with the dark green paint of the bridge itself.
Walking through the streets of Amsterdam was a wonderful time. We got to see all the different street art and signage, and it was all so different than America or London. Here is an example of graffiti done in decorative fonts.
It is very different than the street art I chose for one of my previous blogs in Brighton. It uses a totally different color scheme, using more pastel colors. The colors are more pastel because they are in a different hue than the brighter colors used on the streets of England. There is more white added to this particular wall of graffiti.
This sign is a demonstration of wayfinding. This past weekend I went to a music festival called BuitenWesten in Amsterdam, Netherlands and these were signs that helped all the festival goers find their way around.
It had arrows directing to all the different stages, toilets and food joints. Everything you need to know at the festival. Perhaps they were in Dutch, but they still were very useful! The font is hand written, with no serifs. The way they are on wooden arrows hand-painted on gives it a very camp-like aesthetic.
This past Sunday I got to join in on an awesome event at Oval Space London. The lovely DJ Tennis took the decks and threw down an awesome day-time party.
The location was so rad. It was located in an industrial area, with loads of street art, and located on a gorgeous terrace overlooking a really cool rusty "thing?" The whole event was tennis themed, which was absolutely adorable.
When you first walked in, you were given a tennis ball with Oval Space printed on it, as almost a party favor. When they gave it to me, I was totally stoked. The fact an event took the time to really put this thing together was a nice change from the basic boring old looking club.
After two flights of stairs, you are on the terrace. The terrace was covered in green felt and a tennis court painted on it. Tennis balls were hanging from the ceiling and the food was all tennis themed as well...with some amazing hot dogs and burgers.
The venue was so very intimate. My fav.
There is nothing better than hovering over a dj and watching him do what he does best: spin. I was literally three feet in from of DJ Tennis himself and it made the experience that much better.
The first half of his set was really mellow, perfect for a terrace event. Everyone was grooving, socializing and having drinks and hot dogs with friends. It was an incredible vibe and the atmosphere just wonderful.
The set progressed and he threw in some amazing tracks at the end that had the whole house dancing. Everyone was feeling it and it was awesome to watch. Nothing better than good food, good vibes and good music.
I had zero expectations before I left for Brighton, which I think is what made it so incredible. Perhaps I lack knowledge in geography, but I didn't even know it was on the coast of England (lol).
A few people from my group and I spent two days and one night in this beautiful, coastal city, and it was frickin' awesome! We arrived early Friday morning after a gorgeous hour train ride through the English countryside.
The second we got there we were luckily enough to come on a day where there was a food market going on. I got an amazing Arabic spring chicken wrap, something I would never eat ever but I was feeling spontaneous! And it was delicious!
For two days straight we honestly wandered the streets, totaling at 30 miles in two days. Crazy, I know.
We wandered the famous lanes, chocolate shops, different pubs and made our way all the way to Kemp Town, known for its infamous gay community. The shops were absolutely adorable, ranging from thrifty to expensive jewelry shops.
It was absolutely dreamy. The coastal breeze, a mimosa on the beach and the lovely pier community...it was all so different from central London, so it was nice to get away and experience a different side of England.
One of the most amazing restaurants in all of London is hidden on a tiny side street off of New Bond Street. The whole restaurant was built as individual art installations in each room. The rooms are absolutley fascinating between the all pink old-fashioned tea room to the egg shaped bathrooms. Not only was the architecture and design of all the rooms crazy creative and fun, but the French cuisine was divine.
The sign for the restaurant is in a Sans Serif font. It is very simple, and I think that is the whole point. The restaurant's design was so thought-out and perfected to the T with creativity, the sign is almost a piece of irony. The word sketch is also placed in the lower right hand corner, leaving a huge block of red space. Although the word is not centered, the sign looks balanced and clean.
After you see the simplistic sign outside the ginormous doorways, you find a hop scotch game as your entrance. Brilliant. And adorable.
