São Paulo Scrubbed of Outdoor Ads
(Mods: This post is sort-of design related, but feel free to delete if you feel it's not relevant enough)
I saw this today on Digg: World's Fourth Largest City is Completely Billboard-Free
In September of 2007, the world’s fourth-largest metropolis was scrubbed of almost every type of outdoor advertising - even pamphlets. It’s all part of mayor Gilberto Kassab’s quest to eliminate visual clutter, making the city itself the focal point rather than colorful, increasingly desperate marketing campaigns.
Read the full article here, and see the photos of the advertising-free city
As much as I like the idea of a city where not every unused space is used to try to sell me something, I can't help but wonder how much of a hit the design community and advertising industry in São Paulo took as a result. No advertising signage, billboards, neon signs, pamphlets, etc. I'd imagine small sign shops and low-end designers and printers took the brunt of it. It makes me wonder how quickly advertising could become obsolete. Do you think this is a trend that could continue in other places? Do you think this was a fair practice by the São Paulo local government? The article says they went as far as slapping down $8 million in fines against those not in compliance.
Also, what is your opinion of the photos in the above link? It's funny, and I hate to say it, but I think the city actually looks soulless and dull. I'd take a subway station plastered with 20 years worth of accumulated posters over blank canvases everywhere any day.
I saw this today on Digg: World's Fourth Largest City is Completely Billboard-Free
In September of 2007, the world’s fourth-largest metropolis was scrubbed of almost every type of outdoor advertising - even pamphlets. It’s all part of mayor Gilberto Kassab’s quest to eliminate visual clutter, making the city itself the focal point rather than colorful, increasingly desperate marketing campaigns.
Read the full article here, and see the photos of the advertising-free city
As much as I like the idea of a city where not every unused space is used to try to sell me something, I can't help but wonder how much of a hit the design community and advertising industry in São Paulo took as a result. No advertising signage, billboards, neon signs, pamphlets, etc. I'd imagine small sign shops and low-end designers and printers took the brunt of it. It makes me wonder how quickly advertising could become obsolete. Do you think this is a trend that could continue in other places? Do you think this was a fair practice by the São Paulo local government? The article says they went as far as slapping down $8 million in fines against those not in compliance.
Also, what is your opinion of the photos in the above link? It's funny, and I hate to say it, but I think the city actually looks soulless and dull. I'd take a subway station plastered with 20 years worth of accumulated posters over blank canvases everywhere any day.