January 2006 Archives
Last year, three guys in NYC transformed a vacant storefront into F Line Bagels, using props, color scheme, and icons familiar to any subway rider as a draw to passing traffic. They put their heads together (and their money and sweat) and made their store look like a clean, modern subway car with hanging straps, straddle poles and Euro-style signage. They used the almost generic symbols of a single san serif character in an orange circle--the same signs subway riders use to pinpoint stops. They added 2 neon signs for a heads-up to transit seekers too preoccupied to notice they were entering a space clearly not on tracks and incapable of moving them to any destination short of the nearest bagel. If you've ever been in a NYC bagel shop, there are big clues everywhere that you are not in a subway car; the aroma of hot baked goods, big bins of fresh baked bagels, and the flurry of activity as the paper bags are whacked open in the air. Try to get a bagel for a token--can't be done.
