Signs, Signs, Everywhere a Sign
Blockin' out the scenery, breakin' my mind.
by Nick Coston
If there’s one thing I’ve learned in my 25 years in OOH is that I’m old. Really old. Static billboard old. Older than tri-vision old.
The second thing I learned was to always be prepared to take photos of anything and everything OOH, no matter where I am and no matter what I’m doing. Yea, it’s nice to have pics of your colleagues, your office, Scruffy the dog and the fab meals we eat while on the road or being entertained. But there’s something about OOH displays, be it classic static units, transit, digitals, Times Square, Sunset Strip, retail media, blah blah blah, you know all products I speak of, to capture it on film.
Or your phone.
Last night while staring at my aging desktop (also classic) Mac struggling to find something to write about for Thursday, I came across some photos from 2018 on a market ride in Sturgis, South Dakota that I posted on Wednesday morning. It got me thinking.
How many billboard pics do I have? Well, two things you need to know about my bizarre OOH photo fetish: I’ve been doing this since 2004 when digital cameras and eventually smart phones made it easier and secondly how many darn duplicates I have.
To answer the first ridiculous question, I counted. And counted. This includes old smart phones, DVD’s and my main hard drive/iCloud and desk drawers. In all, I’ve amassed just over 2000 photos. All of OOH displays. Many of them I either bought or sold myself. Forget all the food and peeps pics from conferences, market rides, work parties and that would add another 1000 shots into the mix.
Sadly, I got ‘em all. Some people have a ton of vacation photos. Cruises, beaches, lakes, hiking through the woods. Leisure pics we call them. All these billboard photos that you see? Those are my vacation photos. Spending close to half my life in a car or strolling on the streets or sitting in back of a ride-share, these pics reflect the majority of everything I do when I’m not in an office.
Parents and grandparents all love to show off photos of the kids. I like seeing them too. But when I’m sitting on the bus bench like Forest Gump chatting it up with the person next to me, I’m showing them pics of the latest “Superman” extensions or those brand-spankin’ new mobile 3D displays or even that flying digital billboards that just hit the U.S skies. I mean, my kids are cute but…
I’ve bought or sold it all. I have more pics of these suckers than pics of my own wedding.
Both weddings if you must know.
I’m still taking them. A lot of them. And if you’re in the industry you should too. This is a lost art, shooting pics of one the best visual mediums out there. It’s what sells, it’s what pays our salaries, pays the bills. It’s also good for the industry to show off what it is we do. It doesn’t cost anything too, no film to develop, no visits to FotoMat, just line it up and snap away. Someone standing in the shot? So what, without people being around OOH displays, who’s gonna see them? Where will those impressions come from? How do we know what to charge? Passerby’s, be it humans, cars, buses or laying on the beach, that’s our crowd, that’s who we are selling to. Don’t shoe them away. I’ve shot plenty of transit shelters and bus interiors, and never once did I ask anyone to move. Doing that alters the shot, it becomes manufactured. And you’ll make enemies.
People love to have their picture taken, heck, taking that picture may even make you a new friend or at the least serve as positive PR for OOH. They may even smile for the camara.
That’s the money shot.
For the sake of this week’s ramble, I did my best to choose shots hopefully I haven’t posted in the past. I also did my best to post shots that I took, after all, that’s the fun of it. I mean you don’t show off pictures of other people’s kids, do you? You show your own family, not from a Google search.
That’s creepy.
If you’re in our industry, which most of you are, then embrace it. Be all in. Take lots of shots, show them off, post them on your Facebook page, spread the word just how doggone beautiful a medium we are.
Just like the tune says,
Sign, sign
Everywhere a sign
Blockin' out the scenery
Breakin' my mind
Do this, don't do that
Can't you read the sign?
Take the damn shot.
