AARoads Forum

Regional Boards => Central States => Topic started by: US71 on February 14, 2020, 12:29:14 PM

Title: OKDOT Introduces new Welcome Signs
Post by: US71 on February 14, 2020, 12:29:14 PM
Oklahoma DOT has introduced a new Welcome Sign design.

(https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/enidnews.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/9/91/9913b9aa-4de7-11ea-a292-4bcddf01f989/5e447d519ea17.image.jpg?resize=1200%2C857)

Looks like Discover the Excellence didn't work anymore
Title: Re: OKDOT Introduces new Welcome Signs
Post by: texaskdog on February 14, 2020, 03:17:04 PM
They glorify their native history whereas the Sooners were the ones who rushed in and stole all of the last of the indian lands.  can't have it both ways.
Title: Re: OKDOT Introduces new Welcome Signs
Post by: -- US 175 -- on February 14, 2020, 03:21:00 PM
Will they still have those short stone monument-style signs also, or are they getting rid of those?
Title: Re: OKDOT Introduces new Welcome Signs
Post by: kphoger on February 14, 2020, 04:33:20 PM
Quote from: texaskdog on February 14, 2020, 03:17:04 PM
They glorify their native history whereas the Sooners were the ones who rushed in and stole all of the last of the indian lands.  can't have it both ways.

Why not?  Why can't they celebrate native history despite the fact that bad things were done in the past?
Title: Re: OKDOT Introduces new Welcome Signs
Post by: CtrlAltDel on February 14, 2020, 04:56:09 PM
It bothers me that two of the "lobes" on that star thing are blue. They should have mixed things up a bit.
Title: Re: OKDOT Introduces new Welcome Signs
Post by: US71 on February 14, 2020, 06:07:42 PM
Quote from: kphoger on February 14, 2020, 04:33:20 PM
Quote from: texaskdog on February 14, 2020, 03:17:04 PM
They glorify their native history whereas the Sooners were the ones who rushed in and stole all of the last of the indian lands.  can't have it both ways.

Why not?  Why can't they celebrate native history despite the fact that bad things were done in the past?

Like Columbus Day ? ;)
Title: Re: OKDOT Introduces new Welcome Signs
Post by: Scott5114 on February 15, 2020, 01:55:19 AM
Quote from: -- US 175 -- on February 14, 2020, 03:21:00 PM
Will they still have those short stone monument-style signs also, or are they getting rid of those?

Those have been there through several designs of welcome sign, so I'm guessing they'll stay put. Usually welcome-sign redesigns only affect the locations that aren't busy enough to justify the stone signs.
Title: Re: OKDOT Introduces new Welcome Signs
Post by: hotdogPi on February 15, 2020, 05:58:23 AM
Quote from: CtrlAltDel on February 14, 2020, 04:56:09 PM
It bothers me that two of the "lobes" on that star thing are blue. They should have mixed things up a bit.

They're two different blues.

We really should have two different commonly used words for blue, like Russian does. We do have cyan, but it isn't a basic color word.
Title: Re: OKDOT Introduces new Welcome Signs
Post by: amroad17 on February 15, 2020, 07:41:40 AM
Quote from: US71 on February 14, 2020, 12:29:14 PM
Oklahoma DOT has introduced a new Welcome Sign design.

(https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/enidnews.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/9/91/9913b9aa-4de7-11ea-a292-4bcddf01f989/5e447d519ea17.image.jpg?resize=1200%2C857)

Looks like Discover the Excellence didn't work anymore
OKDOT had to change from "Discover the Excellence" after the grilling we on the AARoads Forum have given them about their signage.  :-P
Title: Re: OKDOT Introduces new Welcome Signs
Post by: Scott5114 on February 15, 2020, 01:47:12 PM
That's bizarre. Most of them were in good repair and wouldn't need to be replaced as often as these will (sheeting has a finite service life, stone doesn't).
Title: Re: OKDOT Introduces new Welcome Signs
Post by: CtrlAltDel on February 15, 2020, 04:13:15 PM
Quote from: 1 on February 15, 2020, 05:58:23 AM
Quote from: CtrlAltDel on February 14, 2020, 04:56:09 PM
It bothers me that two of the "lobes" on that star thing are blue. They should have mixed things up a bit.

They're two different blues.

We really should have two different commonly used words for blue, like Russian does. We do have cyan, but it isn't a basic color word.

Whether the colors in question have the same name or not, they are nonetheless very close to one another, and so the design is too unbalanced for me.

(https://i.imgur.com/U7m6nP6.png)

The darker hues are even closer.
Title: Re: OKDOT Introduces new Welcome Signs
Post by: TXtoNJ on February 15, 2020, 05:24:13 PM
They're the blue sky. Brown plains west, red dirt country in the center, Green Country to the east.
Title: Re: OKDOT Introduces new Welcome Signs
Post by: Bobby5280 on February 15, 2020, 11:03:54 PM
I'm not digging this new design. The star motif is obviously an attempt to tie into American flag-waving "patriotism." It's not very original either. I think someone looked at the 1976 American Revolution Bicentennial logo and used that as a starting point. There's really nothing in the star design that invokes the state's tribal heritage. If the "Oklahoma" letters weren't slightly wacky looking the whole thing would have a pretty cold, corporate feel. The near rainbow sweep of colors comes close to looking like a statement about gay pride.

I really hate the "imagine that" tag line. Thankfully they're (probably) not sticking that on these border signs. The phrase "imagine that" is an open invitation to all kinds of jokes about Oklahoma:
"Meth lab explosion visible from satellite. Imagine that."

Also, I think it's blatantly stupid to get rid of the stone monument signs.
Title: Re: OKDOT Introduces new Welcome Signs
Post by: dfwmapper on February 17, 2020, 03:29:29 AM
Let's just call this what is is, a serious case of Texas envy. "Welcome to Oklahoma, the 'please don't leave us for Texas like all our teachers did' state. We have a star and everything!"
Title: Re: OKDOT Introduces new Welcome Signs
Post by: rte66man on February 17, 2020, 01:48:20 PM
As mentioned upthread, it's part of a "rebranding":

https://www.ok.gov/
Title: Re: OKDOT Introduces new Welcome Signs
Post by: MikieTimT on February 17, 2020, 09:59:13 PM
The old signs definitely gave me chuckles when I saw them, but the one that took the cake was this one:

https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=25435.msg2435013#msg2435013 (https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=25435.msg2435013#msg2435013)
Title: Re: OKDOT Introduces new Welcome Signs
Post by: TheArkansasRoadgeek on February 17, 2020, 11:07:13 PM
I'd say it's OK, just ok.
Title: Re: OKDOT Introduces new Welcome Signs
Post by: Bobby5280 on February 19, 2020, 04:11:06 PM
In the end, our state's cheap, flat "welcome" signs will have a big star on them, just like Texas, only our star will look more gay.
Title: Re: OKDOT Introduces new Welcome Signs
Post by: Scott5114 on February 19, 2020, 11:59:07 PM
Branding designers react to the logo: https://www.underconsideration.com/brandnew/archives/new_logo_for_the_state_of_oklahoma.php
Title: Re: OKDOT Introduces new Welcome Signs
Post by: Bobby5280 on February 20, 2020, 05:31:23 PM
I'm surprised a thread didn't pop up on the Brand New site earlier.