Graphics and Street Art in San Francisco
During a trip to San Francisco, Sally Lohan, content editor of the Worth Global Style Network, the Britan-based online forecaster at www.wgsn.com, checked out some of the more interesting street art and posters as well as shop and street signs dotting the often fog-shrouded city with its own sense of style and art.
FACT FILE
San Francisco is an excellent city to explore for interesting, inspiring graphics.
For the best in graffiti and street art, head to Haight Street. This famous youth hot spot is full of urban boutiques and is a great place to find new street art. It’s also an excellent place to scout new San Francisco artists because many of the stores hold small exhibitions of up-and-coming designers while selling local books and ’zines. When WGSN was in town, this area was also holding an outdoor exhibition of street posters, many done by local artists.
For more graphics inspiration, head to the downtown area around Union Square. San Francisco is full of old buildings, many of which include fab original signage with traditional American typography.
KEY TRENDS
Promotional graphics
bull; Strong cartoon characters.bull; Large-scale cutouts, sometimes standing 3-D style in the street, advertising stores and products.bull; Huge scenes that wrap around boutiques, giving stores identity and enhancing brand recognition. Sam Flores’ cityscape on the walls around the Upper Playground gallery store is a case in point.Retro future
bull; A retro future urban theme was key for many pieces of street art.bull; Robotic future beings, part machine, part animal/human.bull; Future world characters in old-fashioned, familiar cityscapes.bull; “Normal” touches in unfamiliar situations, such as pigeons sitting on robotic characters, which is in line with WGSN’s Spring/Summer 2009 extraORDINARY trend direction.bull; Organic, fluid shapes that mix mechanical-looking repeats with reptilian tendrils.bull; Mixing media in a very obvious way, such as old photographs with “new” elements drawn in.Future Nouveau
bull; Overtones of Art Nouveau style: sweeping, organic border-type effects, with modern touches, such as skulls.bull; Wood-cut looks, in the vein of Czech-born artist Alphonse Mucha.bull; Simple color schemes and long, languid female forms.bull; Bold female subjects.Sassy females with a feminine, yet slightly aggressive outlook.bull; Cheeky and sexy, but with a definite edge.Comic book
bull; Comic book styles, from madcap, abstract characters to noirish underworld subjects or monsters and gremlins.Wallpaper repeats
bull; Rounded shapes and swirls creating largely abstract creatures.bull; Patterns that reference nature: birds, leaves and fish.bull; Multiple pattern repeats.Childlike
bull; Madcap, all-over color.bull; Childlike, sweet floral/forest scenes.bull; Naive styles.bull; Nursery-rhyme subjects.bull; Cartoon characters.Impressionist
bull; Painterly, Impressionist-style images.bull; Nature themes: trees, mountains and landscapes.bull; Vibrant colors.Burlesque
bull; Stencils and posters with a burlesque style.bull; Sexy women and feline characters.bull; 1950s styles.Traditional graffiti
bull; Traditional, wild-style-lettering graffiti.bull; Abstract patterns that reference traditional street-art styles.Street and store signage
bull; ’50s typography.bull; Traditional Americana.bull; Old West typography.bull; Turn-of-the-century New World looks.bull; ’20s and ’30s styles.More images of San Francisco street art can be seen at www.wgsn.com.
