I’m guessing it’s nearly impossible to please a lot of people here.  Everyone please take a step back and consider that the aesthetics of the exterior may not be for your age demographic.  If you’re into theater, you’d go regardless of what the signage looks like.  Someone in their 20’s might be into these type of designs.  Sometimes you have to appeal to the youth in order to remain relevant.  
 

I really wish everyone would stop wishing Cleveland remained cookie cutter.  It has enough bland locations.  You all should desire for it to find ways to add color and pizzazz in order to stand out among other cities.  Keep in mind, this is coming from an individual who loved to original signage.

1 hour ago, superior said:

I’m guessing it’s nearly impossible to please a lot of people here.  Everyone please take a step back and consider that the aesthetics of the exterior may not be for your age demographic.  If you’re into theater, you’d go regardless of what the signage looks like.  Someone in their 20’s might be into these type of designs.  Sometimes you have to appeal to the youth in order to remain relevant.  
 

I really wish everyone would stop wishing Cleveland remained cookie cutter.  It has enough bland locations.  You all should desire for it to find ways to add color and pizzazz in order to stand out among other cities.  Keep in mind, this is coming from an individual who loved to original signage.

 

Where are you getting that these designs are specifically meant to appeal to "the youth"?

Completely agree with X.  

2 hours ago, X said:

 

Where are you getting that these designs are specifically meant to appeal to "the youth"?

That’s not what I said.

For people who care about good design...

 

Bad design knows know age.  'Serif font here, sans serif there.  Plastic coated pastiche all around... Yeah, it's a poor assortment. They're fun somehow, but as far as excellence they come off as a swing and a miss.

 

Installing a jumble of ill-coordinated choices doesn't add up to anything passing for pizzaz.

Edited July 17, 20231 yr by ExPatClevGuy
Clarification

2 minutes ago, ExPatClevGuy said:

Bad design knows know age.  'Serif font here, sans serif there.  Plastic coated pastiche all around... Yeah, it's a poor assortment. They're fun somehow, but as far as excellence they come off as a swing and a miss.

 

Installing a jumble of poor choices doesn't  add up to anything passing for pizzaz.

It adds color.

So many of you really sound like the old man who says “get off my grass” (with selective reading skills).  At the end of the day, EVERYTHING doesn’t need to appeal to YOU.  I assure you all, as a person from out of town, the type of signage is one of the very least things I would ever pay attention to.  I would only care that it is noticeable.  Sometimes things that aren’t the most appeasing can be the most memorable (in a good way).

While I appreciate how Playhouse Square continues to invest in it's maintenance and development, it perplexed why The Allen, Ohio, and State were mimics of their historic original designs  yet now were discarded. I always felt they were masters at historical restorations. These replacements try to be somewhat nostalgic but at the end lack the history of the old.  Yes, the replaced Connor Palace marquee had no historic significance.  I have attached photos from Cleveland's Memory Project so all can see how close 4 of the marquees were to their originals that are being replaced. The Palace could have been replaced with something that matched the original marquee linking the past to the present

I for one am not especially interested in seeing the marquees match anything that used to be there. I am interested though in any type of quality design regardless of historic value. And yes l realize "quality" is often in the eye of the beholder.

The Mimi Ohio (God I hate that name) marquee is the worst one to me by far. BUT the main thing that drives me nuts is the font. It looks so uninspired and dull.

At this point I'd rather they had gone digital with the marquee, placing unique features on the tops of them to differentiate.

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14 hours ago, superior said:

That’s not what I said.

 

18 hours ago, superior said:

I’m guessing it’s nearly impossible to please a lot of people here.  Everyone please take a step back and consider that the aesthetics of the exterior may not be for your age demographic.  If you’re into theater, you’d go regardless of what the signage looks like.  Someone in their 20’s might be into these type of designs.  Sometimes you have to appeal to the youth in order to remain relevant.  
 

I really wish everyone would stop wishing Cleveland remained cookie cutter.  It has enough bland locations.  You all should desire for it to find ways to add color and pizzazz in order to stand out among other cities.  Keep in mind, this is coming from an individual who loved to original signage.

 

Now how did I get that idea?

20 minutes ago, X said:

 

 

Now how did I get that idea?

The same reason you glanced over words such as "may" and "might".  Nothing that I said in that part was concrete in nature (which you did when you said "specifically").  That was meant as an example or possibility only.  I'm not accountable for what you comprehend or miscomprehend.  

9 minutes ago, superior said:

The same reason you glanced over words such as "may" and "might".  Nothing that I said in that part was concrete in nature (which you did when you said "specifically").  That was meant as an example or possibility only.  I'm not accountable for what you comprehend or miscomprehend.  

As a 20 something and someone who expressed mild reservations about these marquees I'm also curious why you implied that these might be designed to appeal more to the youth than older generations. I confess to having no idea what youth appeal in a theater marquee would even mean. 

don't want to wade in too far since I think these marquees look silly, but also don't really care - but you also say we need to get away from cookie cutter bland designs and these look like something a theatre at legacy village would have. 

40 minutes ago, superior said:

The same reason you glanced over words such as "may" and "might".  Nothing that I said in that part was concrete in nature (which you did when you said "specifically").  That was meant as an example or possibility only.  I'm not accountable for what you comprehend or miscomprehend.  

 

It may be that even while couching your language like that people might still think that you meant what you said.  Sometimes you may actually be responsible for what people interpret your words to mean.  I may or may not be specifically talking about you, or course.  Maybe I don't even mean what I wrote at all!

41 minutes ago, Ethan said:

As a 20 something and someone who expressed mild reservations about these marquees I'm also curious why you implied that these might be designed to appeal more to the youth than older generations. I confess to having no idea what youth appeal in a theater marquee would even mean. 

 

I was involved in a survey at Playhouse Square about ten years ago. The questions made it obvious that PS was very concerned with the appearance and overall feel of safety for those who might normally not feel comfortable in an urban environment. Like, there were several questions about whether I would even walk down Euclid Ave lol.

 

Anyhow I have a suspicion that "clean and new" somewhat sanitized designs are in their wheelhouse for what they perceive most visitors to want. I'm hesitant to make a Crocker Park reference but the old marquees did have a yesteryear, Time Square in the 70's vibe to them that I loved, but suppose some people could relate their look to urban grit, crime or whatever. 

The Allen Theatre's round marquee was one of it's most distinguished features.  I didn't think it needed a replacement. Why not just gilt it gold?

Edited July 17, 20231 yr by dave2017

While I feel there could have been a little more time spent on the design, I think a big reason for replacing them all is so they share the same parts.

They should now all have the same bolt sizes and light bulbs to make it easier to maintain them.

 

What did they do with the old ones they just removed?

There are plenty of theater buildings in Northeast Ohio that lost their marquees over the decades and could have used them, at least as templates if the structures were too far gone?

I think this whole discussion can be summed up with "Everyone has their own taste, it's impossible to please everyone."

 

But I think we can all agree we just want things done right and not half-assed. Even if it's not my taste as long as it looks great quality-wise I am happy. 

Has anyone seen these up close enough to confirm whether they are actually plastic, or just a really flat looking brass?  If they're the latter, they should form a patina which will make them look a little less generic-suburban-movie-theater-like.

1 hour ago, X said:

Has anyone seen these up close enough to confirm whether they are actually plastic, or just a really flat looking brass?  If they're the latter, they should form a patina which will make them look a little less generic-suburban-movie-theater-like.

They are made out of aluminum with a powder coated gold finish

16 hours ago, dave2017 said:

They are made out of aluminum with a powder coated gold finish

 

i knew they were aluminum, i knew it lol.

 

brass is more expensive, plus it doesnt look like brass.

 

anyway thanks for this info — i was very curious.

 

and just hoping they weren’t plastic.

 

but plastic or aluminum, either way, it means no patina, so the look is permanent.

 

not sure how i feel about that.

 

On 7/17/2023 at 10:38 AM, Ethan said:

As a 20 something and someone who expressed mild reservations about these marquees I'm also curious why you implied that these might be designed to appeal more to the youth than older generations. I confess to having no idea what youth appeal in a theater marquee would even mean. 

Great question.  I try to take a step back and attempt to envision what is the ultimate goal.  Even though I'm not the most avid fan of the marquees, I'm not against them either.  I decided to show pictures of the marquees to my children who are 26, 17 and 14.  Neither of them had a cynical thing to say about them.  In fact, they all thought they looked nice.  My 14-year-old even enjoyed the name Mimi on the marquee.  My 17-year-old is an actor and loves theater.  He was actually impressed with them and felt that they stood out to him personally because of the color schemes and how they popped visually to him (to be fair, he also enjoyed the previous ones as well).  

 

When I mentioned "appeal", for all of us who enjoy theater, we'll go regardless to what the marquees look like.  I don't think PHS is sitting down configuring how to appeal to middle aged and elderly audiences as much as a potentially untapped demographic.  Older people are stuck in our ways.  This would be a hard sell to us regardless to whatever they decided to do.  I would like to believe that PHS is trying to appeal to the youth by blending the old with a newer concept.  I'm sure a 10-year-old who visits the Allen Theatre today, would have fond memories of how the marquee looked while thinking back on it 20 years later.  I highly doubt that children today would complain or have the perception of tackiness concerning the marquees when they are 30-40.

On 7/17/2023 at 11:10 AM, X said:

 

It may be that even while couching your language like that people might still think that you meant what you said.  Sometimes you may actually be responsible for what people interpret your words to mean.  I may or may not be specifically talking about you, or course.  Maybe I don't even mean what I wrote at all!

Congratulations 

On 7/17/2023 at 10:41 AM, Whipjacka said:

don't want to wade in too far since I think these marquees look silly, but also don't really care - but you also say we need to get away from cookie cutter bland designs and these look like something a theatre at legacy village would have. 

I don't necessarily disagree.  Again, I personally enjoyed the old marquees.  When I mentioned "cookie cutter", it was in reference to how many individuals come on UO to complain about how this or that new structure doesn't blend into the surroundings or how they need to make sure the city maintains this tanner and browner is better visual.  Look at every single addition to the city, people complain about how something shouldn't be glass.  Once people become comfortable that glass has been added to the skyline, then they complain about the type of glass the next structure has.  A lot of the things people complain about on here are things other successful cities not just in the U.S. but around the world have been doing for years.  

On 7/17/2023 at 11:28 AM, surfohio said:

 

I was involved in a survey at Playhouse Square about ten years ago. The questions made it obvious that PS was very concerned with the appearance and overall feel of safety for those who might normally not feel comfortable in an urban environment. Like, there were several questions about whether I would even walk down Euclid Ave lol.

 

Anyhow I have a suspicion that "clean and new" somewhat sanitized designs are in their wheelhouse for what they perceive most visitors to want. I'm hesitant to make a Crocker Park reference but the old marquees did have a yesteryear, Time Square in the 70's vibe to them that I loved, but suppose some people could relate their look to urban grit, crime or whatever. 

This is a very good point.  I know that I personally was unaware of that possible thought process.

I think everyone's overreacting. They're starting to add individual elements to each sign and they actually look pretty nice. Wouldn't hurt to reserve judgement until the project is complete and at this point I'd say Connor is the closest to it right now.

 

 

 

 

 

 

When seeing them together, they really look nice to me.  It better unifies the theater district as a place.  

I wonder why they didn't use the same lettering style on all of them?

Thank you @GISguy for the photos .    I was happy with the Connor Palace but as each of the following  marquees were installed I questioned many aspects of the designs.  They all have a heavy gaudy quality  compared to the elegance that the marquees used to be.   The individuality of styles made Playhouse Square feel more like a thriving theatre district and now more one note. I agree with @LibertyBlvd wondering why the lettering isn't the same on all. 

 

41 minutes ago, GISguy said:

I think everyone's overreacting. They're starting to add individual elements to each sign and they actually look pretty nice. Wouldn't hurt to reserve judgement until the project is complete and at this point I'd say Connor is the closest to it right now.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Something to consider…

Many of you have expressed personal dislike for the new marquees. While their design seems to be a dramatic change from the ones we all loved from the past, I’m guessing much of the initial dislike results from the fact that they look so polished and new creating a jarring contrast against the older buildings. By contrast, the previous ones were aged and subdued. I ask you all to give them a couple years to settle in. Let nature and time have their effect and then do your personal critique.

The issue is that the powder coated aluminum doesn't really age.

41 minutes ago, dave2017 said:

The individuality of styles made Playhouse Square feel more like a thriving theatre district and now more one note.

 

They're nowhere near finished. Like I say they're adding individual elements so I think there's still some time to reserve judgement. Yes, they could definitely be individualized more, but they aren't as bad as some folks made them out to be. I'll be curious what they do with Allen because idk, it's definitely simpler than the other ones.

The Helen and  Outcalt Theatre marquee needs to still be installed on The Bulkley Building as well 

1 hour ago, ArtMasterCLE said:

Something to consider…

Many of you have expressed personal dislike for the new marquees. While their design seems to be a dramatic change from the ones we all loved from the past, I’m guessing much of the initial dislike results from the fact that they look so polished and new creating a jarring contrast against the older buildings. By contrast, the previous ones were aged and subdued. I ask you all to give them a couple years to settle in. Let nature and time have their effect and then do your personal critique.

Add some landscaping and we have something here.

Looks amazing. Anyone know if they are supposed to be taking down the green digital boards above the marquees? Considering each Marquee has digital displays on them you'd think it would be too busy.

55 minutes ago, ASPhotoman said:

Looks amazing. Anyone know if they are supposed to be taking down the green digital boards above the marquees? Considering each Marquee has digital displays on them you'd think it would be too busy.

The digital boards remain. The LED panels were updated inside of them

9 minutes ago, dave2017 said:

The digital boards remain. The LED panels were updated inside of them

Awesome thanks!

9 hours ago, LibertyBlvd said:

I wonder why they didn't use the same lettering style on all of them?

 

I think the big challenge of this project was unifying the look of the marquees as parts of a coherent “district” while still allowing each theater to maintain its own identity. If color, material, and size are going to be the same then it comes down to stuff like text and lighting to distinguish them.

 

I’m sure someone else could’ve done an even better job, but personally I love how the marquees look so far, and I’m glad to see more prominent signage for the Allen and Connor Palace theaters.

I also wonder why they simplified The Allen Theatre marquee and removed Cleveland Playhouse from it.  

Edited July 21, 20231 yr by dave2017

2 hours ago, dave2017 said:

I also wonder why they simplified The Allen Theatre marquee and removed Cleveland Playhouse from it.  

 

Maybe those are details yet to be installed.  I hope so.  It would be a big improvement from what's there currently.

State is easily in second place behind Connor. Looks like stage curtains behind "State".

I also wonder why they simplified The Allen Theatre marquee and removed Cleveland Playhouse from it.  

Oh this is gorgeous.

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I am warming up to the look of these.  Still curious about the font choices though.  Why is the Connor Palace the only one on Euclid with a serif font?  Seems like it would be a more cohesive look if all the fonts were the same.  But what do I know, I'm not a graphic designer.

The State marquee proportions block much of the blade LED sign above it. 

Edited July 21, 20231 yr by dave2017

Are they still needed? Maybe they can be removed.

@LibertyBlvd  The LED panels were just updated as part of this project.  

I was wondering.  Can anybody think of a city outside of New York with so many theater marquees clustered so close together?  Remember the Hanna is right across the street from the Euclid marquees.   Maybe some district in LA, although they would probably be mostly movie marquees.

Edited July 21, 20231 yr by Htsguy

^ I can’t think of one. London’s West End has a cluster, but not side-by-side like that. Ditto Chicago.