In a time of great change and great competitiveness, where breaking the rules of the status quo is a necessary survival strategy, it’s refreshing to be reminded that some folks have been breaking the rules for a long time!
The rule in question here is that that your storefront should be somewhat welcoming. Instead, the owner of Frank’s Fancy Goods on Frederick Street in Dublin has decided to send a barrage of words and prices in the direction of passers-by. Visual cacophony is held at bay through the use of a consistent and punchy approach to color and font, with the black sans-serif typeface sitting boldly on a yellow background, spiced up by the occasional touch of red.
This wonderful photograph was just featured in a Guardian news article on the vanishing storefronts of Ireland, as documented by graphic designer and photographer Trevor Finnegan. Let’s just hope that Frank’s unabashedly honest storefront does not vanish anytime soon.
And does Frank cut keys! There are seven references to cutting keys in the photo - can you spot them all?
Yann Taylor
Yann has been designing retail and mixed-use projects for more than 25 years. After working in the UK and the US on a number of different
building types (residential buildings, civic buildings, healthcare), he landed at
Field Paoli and has never looked back. His focus is on how the public realm
is experienced: how can the buildings we design create lively and energetic
environments that allow for positive social interactions between friends as
well as strangers? Some of the may groundbreaking projects he is proud to have designed include the master plan for Victoria Gardens in Southern California;
the redevelopment of Broadway Plaza in the San Francisco Bay Area; the first Whole Foods
store to include a full brewery; and the conversion of an old garment factory
into the open-air Forum Cuernavaca, located just south of Mexico City.
Beyond the office, you’ll find Yann enjoying his
daily bicycle commute to and from work; doing research on the great public markets
and food halls of London, Paris and Barcelona; and reflecting on the subtleties
of experiential urban design. Yann is a
frequent speaker and panelist; most recently he moderated a panel for the Urban
Land Institute's Fall meeting on the challenges faced by restaurants and
retailers in San Francisco and shared his thoughts on the joys of an urban walk
with James Cook on his "Where We Buy" podcast
Although he is energized by the richness and
vitality of urban retail environments, some of Yann's favorite
buildings tend to be located at the end of long dirt roads: it's nice to get
away sometimes.
