COMD1127 Type & Media, Sp2019

My neighborhood is a boulevard/parkway in the west portion in Brooklyn, NY. The neighborhood is called Bay Parkway. Majority of the population is multicultural, but the most common ethnicity who live are Asians. The picture that represents my neighborhood is an Asian Market. It says “Dong Sheng Food.” The font looks like a san serif, Arial Bold font.

   I picked this picture because it represents how crowded and tight my neighborhood is. The location of that market is 1 block away from the train station and a bus stop that students take to Midwood High School. The market street is always packed with shoppers and people passing through. The market is usually crowded and I tend to avoid that block when I have to go to school. There are other stores on the same block that are popular. One of them is a liquor store and another one is a bubble tea. Ironically, there are two other Asian markets from a 1-2 block radius from each other. I never understood on why are there 3 markets. But, one of them closed recently. I picked this market because I find their products with more quality and people tend to come to this one more than the other one.

 

 

These City Streets

I usually don’t get the chance to sit and observe the little things.  If I’m not up and out the house rushing to school, I can be found frantically maneuvering through commuter traffic on my way to work.  As a result, I don’t get to notice all the unique signs from businesses fighting for my attention. While attempting to capture fonts in the neighborhood I work in.  I found that most businesses and city signs carried a similar font. Now, I can understand the reasoning behind this. The font is definitely more legible and can be seen from a distance so those who are reading it can get the pertinent information they need regarding where they are allowed or are prohibited from parking.  Bold addresses that were clear enough for me to know that I have arrived at the destination that was traveling too. However this Helvetica-esque, Sans Serif font became boring and lifeless. It wasn’t until I stumbled on a building on 27th and 11th ave that locked my gaze and wouldn’t let me go.

The Terminal Warehouse gives a bit of historical insight into what New York City could have been like in its early developmental years.  You are almost transported to a time where the area could have been only warehouses and factories in that area. The hustle and bustle of today’s city slows down as you imagine old style cars and sharply dressed men and women coming in and out of this pre-war building.  Now this can be completely incorrect and this building could have been erected in more recent times but what makes it interesting is the way the typeface seems to be a hybrid of Egyptian and Sans Serif. This particular font speaks to the notion that the area was moving in a more modern and industrial direction even for its time.

 

I live in Great Kills on Staten Island. I can neither defend nor deny the opinions many New Yorkers have about my borough, but I do have to say I enjoy living in the most rural part of the city. My neighborhood is full of many competing businesses trying to win over the different members of the community. We have a main road that runs through the center of town called Amboy Road. This is where most people find themselves if they need something to eat, have to go grocery shopping or just need to grab something from the liquor store. 

The entire town is filled with tons of delis, pizzerias and basic services like optometrists and financial assistants. My neighborhood seems to have everything one could possibly need, and I feel that shows in the photos I was able to take. Most stores have neon lights that compliment one another rather than clutter or outshine the ones around it. I selected the picture above specifically for this reason. I feel that it best represents the wide variety of services my neighborhood has to offer. It truly showcases that my community is very well rounded. 

Some of the other photos in my journal showcase the sometimes lack of diversity within my neighborhood. The abundance of pizzerias and Italian restaurants constantly remind you of how rich of a history Italian-Americans have in my neighborhood. Working in the area and walking around town constantly reminds me that there just aren’t as many people of color in my neighborhood as there are at the schools I’ve gone to or the internships I’ve been a part of. The lack of diversity is one of the reasons I plan on leaving the borough eventually. 

(I also included this photo of my dog peeing on the welcome sign to my neighborhood because it sums up how most teenagers feel about Great Kills growing up.)