was there already a post about this? the weekly rag columbus alive made the world's biggest ipod as a billboard. says it really works too  :laugh:  it's pretty cool:

 

 

The World's Biggest iPod

 

What's 23 feet tall, weights 800 pounds and packs a 4,560 GB hard drive?  OK, so the hard drive isn't really that big. But Alive's giant iPod was constructed to exacting standards—even the cord leading to the Goliath earbuds was built to scale, and the display glows with a soothing backlight at night.

 

"When we started working on designing it, we realized straight away that the best way to do it was to build it with as many of the materials as constitute an iPod as we could," explained Pete Scantland, president of Orange Barrel Media.

 

May 25, 2006

 

Read more at http://www.columbusalive.com/upfront/upfront.php

I walked by this last week and yes, it plays music!

Do they blast bethooven's 5th to deter crime?

cleveland better get its act together to start the "ipod" wars.

 

much like the cold war arms race

cleveland better get its act together to start the "ipod" wars.

 

much like the cold war arms race

 

{pretend russian accent} Columbus will crush you! {/pretend accent}

Mr. Coleman, tear down this ipod

  :laugh:  :laugh:  :laugh:

From the 10/28/06 Dispatch:

 

PHOTO: A photo illustration shows what a proposed Ohio State basketball ad would look like on the Brunson Building, 145 N. High St.  ORANGE BARREL MEDIA

 

OVERSIZE DOWNTOWN MURALS

Ad’s narrow approval may portend change

Saturday, October 28, 2006

Debbie Gebolys

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

The Ohio State men’s and women’s basketball teams are soon to appear larger than life on the wall of a Downtown condo building.  But other new, oversize murals won’t be a slam dunk.  The OSU basketball mural originally was proposed to go on the Hyatt on Capitol Square at 3rd and State streets.  But commissioners unanimously rejected that idea last month, calling the location inappropriate.  When Orange Barrel Media owner Peter Scantland proposed this week that the mural go on the Brunson Building at 145 N. High St., the vote split 4-3.

 

The vote was just enough to allow the graphic to go up for three months beginning in mid-November.  But those who voted against it made it clear that they’re getting choosier about the murals and their placement.  Commissioners Jana Maniace and Bob Loversidge, both architects, said they didn’t find fault with the OSU graphic.  They just didn’t want to hide a new Downtown building with a 19-foot by 119-foot mural.

 

Full story at http://www.dispatch.com/news-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/10/28/20061028-C1-03.html

 

They changed that guy's face just enough so that Fabio couldn't sue them.

Maybe the next contest could be to see who can superimpose faces of urbanohio posters on that mural (with the winner being the most realistic)

 

The 1968 Ohio agreement and the 1965 Highway Beautification Act include some confounding elements.

 

If Nationwide’s three-panel mural was on Nationwide’s property, for instance, it wouldn’t violate the law. If the Mini Cooper were replaced with a sign that said "Jesus saves" or "free coffee," it could be as big as anyone wanted. "Jesus saves" is protected speech, according to ODOT officials. And "free coffee" was allowed to help weary travelers, Decker said.

ODOT loses round in fight over giant ads

 

Orange Barrel Media won't be forced to take down any of its giant wallscape advertisements anytime soon thanks to a recent court decision.  The ad agency won its second court victory in as many years when the 10th District Court of Appeals in Columbus ruled June 21 that the Ohio Department of Transportation doesn't have authority over advertisements in downtown Columbus.  ODOT had argued the advertisements were too big and were distracting motorists on nearby federal roads.

 

In a unanimous decision from the appellate court, the three judges rejected all of the transportation department's arguments.  "From the beginning, it was obvious to me and my legal team that we were correct and ODOT was incorrect," said Orange Barrel President Pete Scantland.  "I'm hoping they don't try to appeal to the (Ohio) Supreme Court."  ODOT spokesman Scott Varner said the department is reviewing its options.

 

Full story at http://columbus.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2007/07/02/tidbits1.html?b=1183348800^1484232

I like that giant mural with the paint dripping down the side of the building.

ODOT loses round in fight over giant ads

 

Take that, you jackholes. Then get to your job of providing transit options other than more highways.

 

(giving the stink eye to ODOT)

Good! While I side with ODOT on billboard limitations in rural areas, their arrogance and persistence in ridding billboards in the inner city is just asinine. No agency has lost federal funding for having billboards in urbanized areas -- and they are doing a great job of keeping them out of the rural interstate line-of-sights. Kudos to that, at least.

 

Kentucky has a similar program, and ours was enacted in the early 1960s before the federal law went into effect (first in nation IIRC). But the state isn't as persistent in urban areas -- just look at Louisville...

New companies enter market for wallscapes

Tuesday, November 27, 2007 - 6:31 AM

By Marla Matzer Rose, THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

If there seem to be more giant ads Downtown than ever before, you're not imagining things.  Orange Barrel Media, the company that first became known for the massive building-bound signs, has been joined by two competitors in the months since a legal challenge to the practice was resolved.  Downtown has limited space for framing these outsized billboards, and Orange Barrel founder Pete Scantland says he has the edge in the market.

 

"To be approved by the Downtown Commission, these have to be on big, ugly, blank walls, and there's only so many of those to go around," said Scantland, who was the originator of wallscapes in Columbus. "My walls are better, I have long-term deals with building owners, and the other companies are 2 1/2 years late to the market, so I'm not worried about the competition."

 

Competitor Clear Channel, long a presence in outdoor advertising, now has two wallscapes Downtown, one on 3rd Street near Long Street, and one on the Marriott Courtyard Hotel on Spring Street. CBS Media also has one, a block away from Clear Channel's on 3rd Street.

 

Read more at http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/life/stories/2007/11/27/45_WALSCAPE_ART_11-27-07_E1_25EM4B.html

We've got some walls up here in Cleveland!

Keep 'em commin!

These advertisements are usually pretty cool...I think that Cincy has a couple, but nothing like what Cbus has.  Columbus also really seems to be into the whole video board things in the Downtown area.  They already have quite a few and this is not counting the new ones that will be going up with the Broad & High project.

I promised to post some downtown wallscape photos a while back.  Well, time got away from me.  But here's a few to start off the inventory. 

 

 

This is the current Nationwide tri-panel wallscape on the Atlas Building. 

This was in the background of the photo attached to the Dispatch article.

 

 

 

This is previous Nationwide wallscape on the Atlas Building. 

Part of the "Life Comes At You Fast" campaign.

 

 

 

One block south on High Street was this Mini Cooper wallscape. 

One of the first Orange Barrel Media installed.  It featured a full-size

Mini car hanging off the side of the building.  It was up for over a year

and is no longer up at this location.

 

That's all for now.  I'll try to post some more later.  Enjoy.

I like these ads... they spruce up dead spots in downtown.  ODOT tried there damn best to rip them down... but thankfully they were unsuccessful. 

More downtown wallscapes...

 

 

Found an image of the original Nationwide "Life Comes At You Fast" tri-panel on the Atlas Building.  I still prefer the current "spilled paint" ads for ultimate cleverness.  But this one was fun for the non-folliclely challenged among us.   :mrgreen:  8-)

 

 

 

This was the Columbus Alive IPOD.  It was mounted on the side of this bank building that's located just south of the Dispatch building.  The IPOD featured working speakers that played music from the Alive website.

 

 

 

 

This is the Columbus Crew soccer ball ad on the side wall of the Brunson Building condos on N. High Street.  

 

 

 

 

And a closer view of the soccer ball

 

 

 

View of the Pabst Blue Ribbon panels near the corner of Third & Spring on the side wall of this new condo building.  The PBR ads have been popping up at different locations in the downtown lately.

 

 

 

 

Love it.

Here is the Charles Penzone wallscape that is on the side wall of a condo building at the corner of Third Street and Long Street.  Charles Penzone is a local chain of beauty salons.  Pretty high-end operation (i.e. expensive) from what I've been told.  To date there have been three "Penzone Girls" at this location.  Take your pick between redhead, blonde or brunette...

 

 

 

The redhead is definitely the sexiest. The face, upper body, legs, and tight top do it for me! But, thats not to say the blonde and brunette aren't hot either ;)

These are so cool!

The redhead is definitely the sexiest. The face, upper body, legs, and tight top do it for me! But, thats not to say the blonde and brunette aren't hot either ;)

 

Well put...the high heels are also a nice touch.  :-D

Another couple of wallscapes.  These are both on the blank side walls of parking garages.  They're located near the corner of Third & Long Streets.

 

 

Wallscape for the Columbus Museum of Art's Monet exhibit.

Has reproductions of two pieces of artwork in the exhibit.

 

 

 

Same Monet wallscape, different angle.

 

 

 

From high-brow to low-brow.  Pabst Blue Ribbon wallscape.

You can see a glimpse of it in the previous image above.

Artscape: Window treatments

By Melissa Starker, Columbus Alive

 

The giant, outdoor advertising screens that have sprung up in the city are all within walking distance of the Gay Street home to art spaces Skylab and The Shelf.  The newest, fanciest display of them all — wavy strips of scrolling text and graphics at Broad and High — is right around the corner, which got some artists involved with the spaces thinking, why should ads be the only moving images to get such a large, hard-to-ignore canvas?

 

On Saturday night, those artists will go live with an experiment on a similar scale, entitled 28 Windows.  Along with an installation and live sounds inside the building — created by Hugs & Kisses, Envelope, Jacoti Sommes and djtal — every window of 57 E. Gay will be filled with rear projections of short video works from eight different artists, running on a continuous loop.  Speakers mounted to the building facade will amplify a synched soundtrack by Chad Shepherd, who'll also perform live that evening.  The rest of the block will provide both an unsuspecting audience and an acoustical chamber.

 

Read more at http://www.columbusalive.com/?sec=arts&story=alive/2008/0529/ar-artscape.html

 

Project link at www.28windows.org

 

Sounds like a pretty clever downtown wallscape inspired event at 57 E. Gay Street tomorrow night.  Here's what the building itself and the area looks like.  The 57 E. Gay building is the five-story brown brick building in the middle.  If you're hungry, next door there's the italian restaurant Due Amici, the Tip Top Cafe and of course Subway.

 

 

"28 Windows"

When: 9 p.m. Saturday, May 31

Where: The Shelf and Skylab, Downtown, 57 E. Gay Street

Web: www.28windows.org

A new downtown wallscape to promote the upcoming Andy Warhol exhibition at the Wexner Center.  As reported by the Wexner Center blog at http://wexarts.org/wexblog/?p=489.

 

"It’s at the corner of State and 3rd, it’s caddycorner to Ohio’s venerable state capitol, and, at 13 stories high, it can be read by aircraft on approach to Port Columbus International.  It’s the first of several banners to be seen in the next week or so splashing Other Voices, Other Rooms around Columbus, thanks to our friends at Orange Barrel Media.  This was dropped this past Thursday night, right before the last Wex Drive-In on the Statehouse lawn (which was big fun with 500 of our closest friends), just across the way.  Short North, you’re next."

 

http://wexarts.org/wexblog/?p=489

 

 

Outdoor murals -- either faithful reproductions or eye-catching originals -- invite good, long looks

 

To chance upon one of Columbus' stunning outdoor murals is a surefire way to brighten the day.  Drive on N. High Street in the Short North, and you can't help but marvel at Cliff Dwellers, a reproduction of George Bellows' famous painting by Michelle Attias and Curtis Goldstein.  Do a double take when you realize that Eric Grohe's Dedication on one side of the Mount Carmel College of Nursing building on S. Davis Street is a painting and not a 3-D sculpture.  Or take in the bountiful colors of Aminah Robinson's A Street Called Home, faithfully reproduced by students of the Columbus College of Art & Design near the campus Downtown.

 

We asked a few art experts to nominate their favorites from the mural bounty in central Ohio.  We gave the list to Dispatch photographer Eric Albrecht, who in turn photographed the nominees and selected his favorite four.  Here they are. You'll find all of the nominees online (link is above).

 

Slide show of 10 of the city's best murals

 

Outdoor murals -- either faithful reproductions or eye-catching originals -- invite good, long looks

 

SHORT NORTH: Two views of a re-creation of "Cliff Dwellers", a 1913 painting by George Bellows.

 

 

SHORT NORTH: Two views of a Van Gogh painting re-created on two different side walls along N. High Street.

 

 

SHORT NORTH: Two views of the re-interepted "American Gothic", a 1930 painting by Grant Wood.

 

 

ITALIAN VILLAGE: The ironic and iconic sideways Mona Lisa on the side wall of the Mona Lisa Condos in the Italian Village part of the Short North

 

 

NORTH OF CAMPUS: Re-Creation of the painting "The Danube River" on the side wall of The Blue Danube restaurant

 

 

DOWNTOWN: Aminah Robinson’s "A Street Called Home" re-created on the side wall of a State Auto warehouse building by Columbus College of Art & Design students

Older article from The Other Paper. Am I reading this correctly; that the murals are responsible for new major development Downtown and/or more vibrancy, not the re-urbanization of those streets for peds, cyclists, and cars?

 

Sign of the times

By Steph Greegor

Published: Wednesday, July 22, 2009 9:27 PM EDT

 

Sure, they were novel and cool when they hit town some five years ago.Those giant wallscape ads, like Nationwide’s “Life comes at you fast” three-panel pieces on the AtlasBuilding or the massive soccer ball seemingly embedded into the side of the Brunson Building. But have you been Downtown lately? Suddenly they’re everywhere—paint spilling down into parking lots, beer pouring off of rooftops. Some think it makes the Downtown more vibrant. Some think Downtown’s starting to look like the inside of an Applebee’s.

 

The Ohio Department of Transportation tried mightily four years ago to get rid of the monstrous signs that dominate the Downtown urbanscape. It went so far as to say they even violated the Highway Beautification Act and told city leaders to rip them down. Eventually, ODOT sued Orange Barrel Media, the creator of the three questionable signs—a Mini Cooper slingshot ad, a “Life comes at you fast” ad and a Michelob ad— just to get its point across.

Older article from The Other Paper. Am I reading this correctly; that the murals are responsible for new major development Downtown and/or more vibrancy, not the re-urbanization of those streets for peds, cyclists, and cars?

 

I discount almost everything The Other Paper writes.  I find the TOP reporters value "snarkiness" over conveying useful and accurate information.  And this TOP article was so badly written that I can't tell if they're trying to talk about wallscapes inside downtown or outside downtown.  I don't know what linkage TOP was trying (or not trying) to make with any larger development issues.  Par for the course with TOP.

 

To me, its pretty simple.  Wallscapes don't create development.  Wallscapes do enhance the urban environment by covering up unattractive blank walls with attractive artwork.  And that is an improvement. 

I think the wallscapes are fantastic. I wish Cleveland would soon follow suit.

 

Screw ODOT.

Giant 3-D billboard to launch social networking effort from Nationwide Children's Hospital

Monday, February 14, 2011

By Jeffrey Sheban, THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

Downtown commuters and residents will be greeted today by a 12-story "miracle" on High.

 

The north side of the historic Atlas Building at High and Long streets - former site of large billboards depicting spilled paint and giant hail - has been transformed into a playground-in-the-sky showcasing seven children whose lives were saved or affected by Nationwide Children's Hospital.

 

The 14-ton, three-dimensional advertisement - featuring 4-story-tall children on swings, slides and a teeter-totter - is intended to draw attention to the pediatric hospital's new "Miracles at Play" campaign.

 

MORE: http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2011/02/14/the-childrens-connection.html?sid=101

 

 

Ian Sanchez, 5, left, of Washington Court House, watches as Rylan Bell, 2, of Reynoldsburg, right, laughs in the arms of his dad, Nathan Bell, as they wait to push a giant red button to light the red heart on the giant wallscape in the background. The boys are featured on the wallscape.

Here's the link to the website being promoted by the new downtown wallscape: http://miraclesatplay.org/

 

That site has a page devoted to the Miracles At Play wallscape:  The Wallscape Story

 

And they also posted a time-lapse video of the Miracles At Play wallscape construction:

 

14 tons! They probably had to do an engineering study on the building just to build the thing!

<b>Orange Barrel Media changing the landscape one mural at a time</b>

Business Profiles — By Melanie McIntyre on May 24, 2011 at 8:00 am

 

<img src="http://www.themetropreneur.com/columbus/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/orange-barrel-1.jpg">

 

Some of Columbus’s most memorable wallscapes have been executed by Orange Barrel Media since it opened for business seven years ago. For OBM’s founder and president, Pete Scantland, the work is a labor of love.

 

The Upper Arlington native claims he’s always had a fondness for signs− particularly creative, one-of-a-kind signs. Around the time Columbus Mayor Michael Coleman published his downtown business plan, Scantland decided wallscapes would be a great way to add color and a sense of vibrancy to the area and the rest, as they say, is history. In fact, OBM has successfully expanded into six other markets.

 

READ MORE: http://www.themetropreneur.com/columbus/orange-barrel-media-changing-landscape-mural-time/

<b>Orange Barrel Media changing the landscape one mural at a time</b>

Business Profiles By Melanie McIntyre on May 24, 2011 at 8:00 am

 

<img src="http://www.themetropreneur.com/columbus/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/orange-barrel-1.jpg">

 

Some of Columbus' most memorable wallscapes have been executed by Orange Barrel Media since it opened for business seven years ago.  For OBMs founder and president, Pete Scantland, the work is a labor of love.

 

The Upper Arlington native claims hes always had a fondness for signs− particularly creative, one-of-a-kind signs.  Around the time Columbus Mayor Michael Coleman published his downtown business plan, Scantland decided wallscapes would be a great way to add color and a sense of vibrancy to the area and the rest, as they say, is history.  In fact, OBM has successfully expanded into six other markets.

 

READ MORE: http://www.themetropreneur.com/columbus/orange-barrel-media-changing-landscape-mural-time/

Walker leads and the Dispatch followed again.  Big D featured a recent Sunday profile on Pete Scantland and his company - Orange Barrel Media - that created the majority of the wallscapes in downtown Columbus.  Actually, it was a pretty decent article by the Dispatch.  Article link is below:

 

Dispatch: Not just an ad, art - Pete Scantland defeated bureaucrats, skeptics and the laws of gravity to become a success

Downtown wallscapes (aka ad murals) have become a part of the downtown landscape since the Downtown Commission allowed them about a dozen years ago.  Now it appears that Downtown Commission may be modifying that approval process.

 

According to the Dispatch article below, the Downtown Commission will be considering a code change to allow administrative approval when changing an existing ad mural location, instead of going to a Downtown Commission for approval.  The city development director noted that the Downtown Commission primarily serves as an architectural review board for downtown development projects.  Further noting that routine approval of changes to previously approved ad mural locations was taking up meeting time and focus away from its primary purpose of design review of buildings and urban design projects.

 

It would appear that if a change to an existing ad mural meets the new criteria listed below, it would be administratively approved instead of going to the Downtown Commission for approval.  It didn't say so in the article, but one would assume that if it didn't meet this new criteria or if a new ad mural location was being proposed, then it would still be heard by the Downtown Commission:

 

---

---

Downtown group no longer may consider content in ad-mural approvals

By Marla Rose, The Columbus Dispatch

Updated:  February 14, 2017 - 5:52 AM

 

The oversized ad murals that adorn about two dozen Downtown buildings at any given time go through an approval process before they can be put up.  That process is about to undergo an overhaul that gives set design standards while making decisions content-neutral.  The new rules will apply to the Downtown Commission, which reviews such ads. ... "Our hope is that it's really just a process change," said Steve Schoeny, development director for the city of Columbus.

 

Criteria for ad murals to be approved include:

• The proposed location must have been previously been approved by the commission at some point since 2013.

• The dimensions must not be larger than what has previously been approved.

• The signs may not include electronic displays.

• No more than 15 percent of the mural may be "dedicated to text and trademarked logos."

 

In addition to providing a uniform standard, Schoeny said, these criteria are in keeping with the original intent of the murals: "to brighten Downtown walls that were never intended to be exposed."  As Downtown buildings were razed over the years, unfinished walls were exposed.  As development picks up, he noted, these walls will continue to be covered up.

( . . . )

Schoeny said the commission, which is made up of volunteers, spends "a lot of time, probably in some ways way too much time, on the graphics compared to their original purpose." ... The development department hopes to bring up the change at the City Council meeting on Feb. 27, after it is considered by the Downtown Commission this month.

 

MORE: http://www.dispatch.com/news/20170214/downtown-group-no-longer-may-consider-content-in-ad-mural-approvals

A bit more about the proposed code change for Downtown wallscapes (aka ad murals) from Business First:

 

Columbus may speed up approvals for giant ad murals:

 

http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2017/02/14/columbus-may-speed-up-approvals-for-giant-ad.html