"Antica Salumeria Pane-Pizza"

signage | rusty metal | Piazza della Rotunda

This sign is wonderful and I love it. The rust on it makes it look worn and reminds me of pizza ovens, fire, and fall. The colors of the burn effect are really nice and stand out well against the cream stone where the letters are set. One thing I don't really understand are why the little tags on top of the A's are different widths. The first A in Salumeria has a thick tag but the last A is fairly thin in comparison. Antica at the top should have a tag on it, and the bottom A in "pizza" is missing its top left tag. The letters could have been thought out more thoroughly to decide on which embellishments would be used where, but overall I still love this sign.

"Zona Militare"

warning sign | metal on stone | rione XIX Celio

This sign means "military zone, impassable limit." Basically, stay out! The letters are thin and tall, which is a visual contrast from the usual public warning signs that are bulky and bold. It's nice that the background is white and the stone that it is set on is dark grey, it makes the sign stand out well. The letters on the bottom are too closely tracked, since they are so tall and thin it's hard to read. The varying x-height seems to take away from the readability as well, since the A has a lower x-height than the E it attracts more attention to itself than other letters. I'm not sure if it's just a really old sign (the wearing on the edges give hints at the age) or if the designer of the sign chose a more retro typeface, but it caught my eye.

"Far Too Loud", et cetera

poster | paper | via Trastevere

This is a poster that was put up by our apartments. I like looking at these as we walk to class, and I liked the red one in particular because it played with the shape of a stereo. The block of white on red makes it stand out from the rest of the poster and gives the poster an overall sense of simplicity but is still cool.

On the other hand, I hate the text on the black poster that says "start 2300 | big stage indoor," it's way too close together and hard to read. The line straight above it has varying tracking and is maddening. "Kreuzberg" has a weird space between the E, U, and Z. "CLUB" is too close between the CL and the U is too far away from everything again. It seems like that typeface has troubles with U's.

"Hotel *** Roma"

signage | metal | Assisi

I wanted to document this signage because of the shadow that it produces. I like that the sign is still very readable and is made more interesting by the shadows. Without the sun, the letters are pretty plain but stand out because of the contrasting black against the pale stone. I thought it was funny that each hotel in Assisi proudly boasted how many stars it was, even if it was only rated one star. The stars could be in a different place so the text would line up, the sign could be a little more interesting and better aligned. 

"SPQR"

gate | iron | door in Testaccio

A quick google search will tell you that SPQR stands for Senatus Populus Que Romanus, or the Roman Senate and People. SPQR signs are littered throughout the city, but this one caught my eye because it is arranged differently and the bright colors. Normally the letters are dark brown or black and in cast iron on drainpipe covers or manholes in the street. This door stood out to me because of the presentation of the letters, like it was something to be proud of instead of a dead acronym that is on the streets and things that people don't notice regularly. I also like how big and fat the bowls of the letters are, especially the Q.

"BeRock"

graffiti | chalk | dumpster on Trastevere

I liked the contrast of the color from the gray metal and how the word stuck out from the other white letters. Love the leg of the K and the general curve of the word, would have been a little better if the B was a little bit lower. The bowl of the R is nice and I like how the letters are all the same cap height as well.