Creating Places: Eastside Cycles

It always pains me to criticize folks who are doing something very positive for Nashville. And the wife-husband/business partners duo of Francie Hunt and Scott deShon are class folks clearly making a wonderful contribution to the city with their Eastside Cycles. But I have to be honest: The exterior of the couple's new location in Five Points is glaring, as each excessively large letter of the business name screams from window after window after window. At quick glance, the lettering looks hand painted on the glass, rendering the presentation even more make-shift. The overall effect reminds me of the over-the-top signage we see at used car lots and check-cashing joints. Essentially, the building looks like one massive sign. It's disheartening, particularly when you consider Hunt and deShon are such community oriented people who would never purposely deface the district. In fact, the Eastside Cycles metal signage — with the pointing bike rider — is as cool as it gets.

Perhaps I'm being harsh. And it's possible I did not get the best view of the signage and, as such, failed to see that it's temporary. The bottom line, however, is this: Rarely do massive and significantly spaced individual letters — one per window, no less — provide an attractive visual for a business. The keys to signage are a combination of quality color scheme, font, materials and proportionate relationship to the overall building exterior space. Blended perfectly, a sign can make a strong contribution to the built environment. Fumble with any of the elements and signage is often no more attractive to our manmade fabric than a surface parking lot.

I wish Eastside Cycles nothing but the best. I also hope new signage is forthcoming.