This fifth edition of the popular sign design series includes the winners of recent Signs of the Times contests: electric and commercial signs for retail shops, restaurants and bars, residential ...
The Slash hits the heart of the Crossroads of the World.
Walgreens has a new prescription for Times Square, said Barry Winston, a sign consultant who specializes in Times Square signage. “And that includes a stunning LED display that is acknowledged as the largest, single, LED spectacular in Times Square,” Winston said.
Winston acquired both the LED manufacturer and the installer who mounted the displays around the “new” Walgreens’ location. The fact is, the nation’s largest drugstore chain has made an historic return to Times Square, in particular, One Times Square, the building it originally occupied from the 1930s through the 1970s.
The Walgreens location sits at the exact heart of the Crossroads of the World. To ensure passersby notice the store, the company has covered the building’s sides and back with 17,000 sq. ft. of LED videoscreens.
“With its very dominating visual presence on the south end of Times Square, this spectacular will have great impact in expanding the marketing awareness of the Walgreens brand in Manhattan,” Winston said.
Meet the Slash
The Walgreens spectacular was designed by Gilmore Group (NYC), a multi-disciplinary design and branding firm. Gilmore Group principal Arthur Gilmore said, “Times Square is all about being lit up – and doing that with a lot of excitement. The creation of this LED spectacular presented several technical challenges, but perhaps the biggest challenge was an aesthetic one of creating a cohesive sign design for Times Square that would withstand the test of time to function aesthetically, now and far into the future, as Times Square continues to evolve.”
One Times Square’s most visible north side, where New Year’s Eve audiences watch the Time Ball descend, was already covered with signage. Thus, for the other sides, Gilmore Group conceived a unique, spectacular package that would make it visually competitive with all the neighboring spectaculars and compelling enough to engage the attention of passersby, day or night.
