I don’t know what Mr. Tobacconist was smoking while he made these signs, but the results are startling.
There’s a gleeful awkwardness in the strips of neon-coloured paper and freeform lettering, a feverish devil-may-care attitude. (I love the tiny “nist” underneath “Tobacco.”)
There’s also likely some thriftiness at play. Why bother commissioning entirely new signs when you can modify existing ones?
These signs are no doubt successful in attracting attention… but is it the right kind of attention?
TORONTO TYPE 
February 21, 2010 at 11:22 am
HAHAHA! Your comments made me laugh! It’s the sign over the sign that fascinates me. What’s behind the strips?
February 23, 2010 at 4:55 pm
It looks like the sign in the foreground used to say “ATM INSIDE.” The sign behind it has a list, beginning with “Drinks, Candy, T-Shirts.” I’ll have to take another look in person to decipher the rest. Maybe the store inventory changed?