FONTS IN PARADISE
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"FONTS IN PARADISE:
SIGNS OF MID-CENTURY HAWAII" (2019) by Mark Jonathan Davis A photography book by Mark Jonathan Davis, featuring 250 color photographs of vintage mid-century modern motel & apartment building signs in Honolulu! See photo gallery below! Ebook available in the iTunes iBooks store. More info: www.fontsinparadise.com |
Follow @FontsInParadise on social media.
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During a Hawaiian vacation in 2011, I began photographing 1960s apartment building signs in Waikiki. Many of these mid-century buildings had once been motels, with idyllic names and leisurely fonts designed to entice vacationing tourists.
Oceanside Manor. The Tradewinds. Tropic Surf. These swanky typefaces were also used around Honolulu for restaurants, businesses, and local attractions. Some were torn down, some were painted over, but many of these signs still endure and beckon beneath palm trees and tropical sky. Today, more than 50 years later, they recall for us the breezy optimism of post-war Hawaii. Their weathered letters linger on as loyal, noble monuments to the idea of paradise. --MJD |
“I spent the first eight years of my life in Waikiki — this book reminds me of all
the things from childhood that inspired my own art!”
— SHAG, artist & author
“Behold the glory of these spectacular space age signs!”
— Charles Phoenix, author & cultural historian
“Often overlooked as something utilitarian, signs and fonts on buildings are a
specific ‘sign’ of the times. They easily fall victim to the modernization and
‘updating’ of a place, robbing it of its character and making it generic. Who
knows how many of them might be gone by the time you hold this book? So it
is a comfort to find them documented here for good, and in such a visually
meditative manner. Thank You Mark Jonathan Davis!”
— Sven Kirsten, urban archaeologist & author of “The Book Of Tiki”
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"A heartfelt celebration of historic island art."
— Honolulu Star-Advertiser, August 18. 2019 |
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The "Fonts In Paradise" book is on sale at these stores in Hawaii:
MORI, Honolulu https://morihawaii.com/collections/books/products/fonts-in-paradise?variant=31063382065233 Tin Can Mailman, downtown Honolulu Book Ends, Kailua, Oahu Basically Books, Hilo And these stores on the mainland: Valley Relics Museum, Los Angeles American Sign Museum, Cincinnati The book is also available at Hawaii State Public Libraries. |
"FONTS IN PARADISE: SIGNS OF MID-CENTURY HAWAII"
by Mark Jonathan Davis (2019)
Published June 17, 2019 by World Art Supply
PREVIEW THE BOOK HERE:
by Mark Jonathan Davis (2019)
Published June 17, 2019 by World Art Supply
PREVIEW THE BOOK HERE:
