Keeping Owens Honest About Colorado “Welcome” Signs

By Jenny Shank, 6-07-06

	Caption: Advancing Colorado's offending design.

Last winter a controversy brewed in Colorado over whether to replace the classic "Welcome to Colorful Colorado" signs at the state's borders with a new design that is, in my opinion, egregiously lame. (For the complete saga, see "Bad Design to Replace Historic 'Colorful Colorado' Signs," "Beating Back the New 'Welcome to Colorado' Sign," and "Governor Owens Pardons 'Colorful Colorado' Signs.") Today blogger Andy Bosselman points out that "Gov. Owens said he’d cancel plans for the new signs if the legislature gave him $19 million to be spent on advertising intended to lure tourists. The legislature complied and Monday Owens signed that law into effect." This should mean that the classic signs will be spared, but I noticed a disturbing photo in Tuesday's Rocky Mountain News that depicted a pro-tourism rally that took place at the 16th Street Mall Monday: In it, the banners behind the speakers are eerily like the Wal-Mart-esque design the artistic geniuses at Advancing Colorado developed to replace the "Welcome" signs.

Will the tasteless rapscallions at Advancing Colorado be content to use their lame design for banners and exciting clothing items, or will they once again mount a stealth campaign to replace the beloved vintage signs? They have apparently launched an elaborate "branding initiative" featuring the generic-looking logo with which they seem passionately in love. Stay tuned... [End of article]