Friday, May 6, 2011

The Running Man

So in a Wal-Mart, which is under renovations in the suburbs, I noticed that their fire exit signs had gotten a redesign. As we have discussed in the blog before sometimes we forget to have fun while designing. I feel that this icon is comedic. While fire is very serious, this is the reaction someone would have. They would run out of the building running for their lives, literally. But we rarely have seen this iconic man in such an active manner. We have seen this “man” standing or moving an arm, but he is usually stationary. To see him running made me laugh. I wonder why the designer decided to make the man run. In other fire exit signs there are just the stair or door outline showing you that is your emergency exit. When I see something done differently I wonder; who designed it? How was this job acquired? Did it take them long to do it? (While it is simple I do not like to assume it was done in a couple minutes as we all can attest to sometimes the simplest design takes the longest to make). These are the questions that I have always thought of when seeing any simple design. Especially one that is seen by a lot of people that essentially can save lives.

17 comments:

  1. I thought this version was funny! I can almost hear the person screaming as well.

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  2. This sign reminds me of how AXE sometimes uses these figures for their advertisement campaigns. The figures most of the time are in motion just like the one above.

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  3. Now that you mention it I don't think I have ever seen this typical icon man in movement!

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  4. It is comedic, I agree with you in that I haven't seen them in motion either. I wonder if someone put it up there like the ones they put in the CTA?

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  5. hehehe, look at this comedic take on this sign:

    http://blog.ivman.com/wp-content/FireExit.jpg



    Seriously though, I agree that the guy is hardly ever in motion. It's interesting. I enjoyed looking at the signs while I was in Yosemite last summer. Some of them are more graphic (i.e. man falling off cliff) but most are just pretty funny - like many warning signs in America there are things that we shouldn't need to be reminded of but in a sue-happy society we must have them!

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  6. I personally find the "Danger High Voltage" or "Risk of Electric Shock" signs to be sort of comical as well.

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  7. Not only is the figure in motion but the legs of the figure are actually curved. Whenever we see Mr. generic stick man, his legs are always straight. I think this detail makes the image a bit more humorous, and less serious.

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  8. What they said.

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  9. Haha Tony, a little too early for ya? I agree though, he looks funny--more like a cartoon than the traditional icon we typically see.

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  10. i like this a lot. it's definitely a fun spin on a serious topic.

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  11. Interesting I kind of want to see it the other signs in Walmart to see if they match.

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  12. Very funny, I'll have to look out for more signs like this one!

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  13. That sign is just waiting to be graffiti'd with a caption. "lolfire", maybe.

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  14. What Tony said.

    I personally would have added beads of sweat to the running man.

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  15. I think the curved lines of the figure are what add the comedic effect.

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  16. It gets the job done! You'll definitely know to run in case of a fire, its a sign that people will remember.

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  17. Much better than before. Nothing wrong with a little animation!

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