"Caffetteria"

signage | metal on wood | Uffizi in Florence

I love the dropped x-height on these letters, it gives it a funky feel but still readable. I also like the contrast of the silver on the wood, it's very legible and gives it a sharp, clean feeling. The bowl of the R is wonderfully fat. I like this lettering.

"Mossa"

signage | plastic | Florence

One of the projects I'm working on right now is a fitness club called Mossa, which is Italian for "move." This is Mossa gioiellieri, which is jewelers. I'm not really sure why they'd be called movement jewelers, but I also don't really like their choice of signage. It's very static and attempts to show elegance, but I think the strange curves in the letters doesn't convey exactly what they wanted. Also the A is completely connected at the bottom, which confuses me.

"Festival del Gelato"

signage | neon lights | Florence

I think this sign is wonderfully tacky and I would totally have bought something from here if it hadn't been 10 in the morning. It's so fun and weird and chunky, which I think is perfect for a gelateria. Love the neon, it's not very common in Italy. The A's are curvy and I like how the eye of it is pretty fat.

"Migone"

signage | metal | Florence

This signage is for a candy store in Florence. It's kind of weird to me that it's square block letters for a candy store, but it also makes sense because it was a pretty high-end place. The gold and white colors make it kind of elegant and the squareness of the letters is playful in a static way. Everything is very controlled, which makes the sign give off a "we are fancy" vibe. For me, there could be more personality in it and still portray high-end ideas.

"Luisa Spagnoli"

signage | metal | Florence

I like this sign because it is eyecatching but legible. The script isn't too distracting and is pretty. I like it how it is, my two criticisms are the weird connector bit of the p and the strange tall s. Otherwise, love!

"Caffè Fiorenza Gelateria"

signage | metallic paint on glass | Florence 

Let's get this straight: an apostrophe is NOT an accent! Caffè Fiorenza Gelateria would look a little more elegant and put together to me if they had used an accent instead of an apostrophe. Yuck. Otherwise, the embellished all-caps letters have an expensive feel. I love the strokes on the A's that are wavey, but I'm not so crazy about the serifs on the middle horizontal stroke of the E. Unnecessary, I think.

"Pusateri"

signage | metal and paint | Florence

Pusateri is a leather store that had a lot of gloves in the window, I didn't really get a good look at what they sell or the vibe of the store. It seems pretty funky and playful, it kind of reminds me of the Flintstones. That creates an image of stone age handmade things for me, but the script brings some form of formal into it.

"Italia"

art installation | metal | Pisa

This wall caught my group's attention because of the size and contrast of the colors. The letters create an interesting texture, and I like the typeface they chose for it. It's not loopy or extravagant but it doesn't have to be because of the amount of text. If it was a script or serif font, it wouldn't come across as modern and clean, it would be busy and hard to read.

"Hotel Benvenuti"

signage | plastic | Florence

Overall this sign is pretty unimpressive. The serif font with open tracking doesn't show any personality and the stretched "Firenze" at the bottom doesn't have any purpose. Also there is no real need for the two separate signs that say Hotel Benvenuti right next to each other. As I said: overall, meh.

"Vivoli"

signage | glass and paint | Florence

I like this playful, fat script. It's for a gelateria in Florence. I have a couple issues with the type however, it's not very smooth - look at the first i, I'm not sure why there's that dip indent in the bottom right side of the stroke. Then where the V and O connect, the top of the stroke kind of cuts into the V and I think it would be better if it was smoother. There's something strange going on over the top of the O as well, not sure why that's so inflated. Overall I love the idea of the fun, retro, fat script for a gelateria.

"La Spiza d'Oro"

signage | metal | Pisa

I like the body text but I think the p and the z of Spiza in the title are too open. Also I think the connecters of the letters are too extended, the beginning tail of d of d'Oro is too far out and the connecting stroke of the O is also too far out there. It's not connecting to anything so I don't see why it should be so far out there.

"Bar Roma"

signage | wood | Pisa

These scripty handwritten letters are nice, but I wish the R's leg was a further to the right. I like how the top left thickness of the B's stroke is the same as the tail of the A on Roma, and the slight variation of thickness on the end strokes. Overall I think it's successful because the script matches the feel of the homey/elegant restaurant.

"Alberto e Lina Gioielli"

signage | copper | Capri

The streets of Capri are lined with swanky stores, and this script sign caught my eye. I think the A has one too many swirls, the bottom right swirl could be eliminated. I like the rest of the script and I think it fits together well. The stark all caps of the Gioielli is a nice contrast against the swirly script of Alberto e Lina.

"Quisiana Capri Grand Hotel"

signage | ceramic tiles | Capri

The contrast of the thin and thick of "Quisiana" is nice, and they're skinny but not too skinny and crowded to read. Capri is the same thickness throughout and I think that's okay because it stands out from all the other letters. Grand Hotel is also nice because it's not as important as either Quisiana or Capri, and the visual hierarchy is clear.

"Café Café"

signage | metal | Celio

This lettering, like the Made in Sud sign, is handmade but isn't quite as playful. The é in café is too far from the F, and the eye of the e isn't connected, which I think it should be. The bottom part says "Tea Room Restaurant," and the t is too skinny compared to the rest of the letters and pushes the a too far away.

"Made in Sud"

signage | metal | Celio

The lettering on this sign demonstrates that the things the store sells are handcrafted and artsy. It definitely has a sense of humor, and the symbols that make the letters probably all mean something that makes the sign even more meaningful. I don't particularly like the lettering just because I wish it had more edges. The E kind of bothers me in how open it is, and the S in how the top of the stroke doesn't meet the bottom curve of the stroke.

"PompeiViva II"

signage | shadow | Pompei

The clever thing about the PompeiViva signs on the gates was that they allow the visitors to see through the gates, but also creates an interesting visual on the ground. I like how the cutouts allow shadows and show the words on the ground.

"PompeiViva"

gate | metal | Pompei

Pompeii had minimal signage and because of this, it was easy to get lost. One thing that they had often were these gates to tell visitors that we were not allowed to enter here. The O is really round and wide, but it makes for a nice eye-catching visual.