ISLAND VOICES
State now listening to sign complaints

Mary Steiner is the CEO of The Outdoor Circle.

Hardly a day passes without the daily papers running a letter to the editor slamming the signs at Honolulu Airport.

Complaints about the signs have ranged from their obnoxious size and color to the confusion that they cause for those attempting to drop off or pick up passengers at the terminals.

The Outdoor Circle was as surprised as the rest of the community when the signs were installed. Ordinarily, contractors and developers include us in the planning process when making such sweeping changes, but in this case we had no idea the signs were being altered.

As soon as the signs went up, The Outdoor Circle received complaints. One volunteer, an environmental graphic designer (a sign designer and way-finding consultant), explained to us that the signs are hard to understand because the "obnoxious impact of the background color overpowers the typographic message of the sign."

He offered to work with us and the representatives from Honolulu International Airport to develop some preliminary relatively low-cost solutions to what has become "the sign problem at the airport."

The Outdoor Circle's goal is to change the color scheme of the signs to a neutral compatible reflective vinyl color or to use the typical highway green with white reflective vinyl letters. Either of these would fit into Hawai'i's tropical landscape environment without compromising the legibility of the sign message.

Given that these signs are one of the first visual welcoming experiences a visitor encounters when arriving in Honolulu, the signs should convey the aloha spirit.

Outdoor Circle staff and volunteers met once with airport employees in November, and it was apparent to us that nothing could change until after the new administration took over in January. With a new governor, director of transportation and airport administrator in place, we got together again with the powers-that-be at the airport. What was surprising to us was how easily they agreed that the signs need to be replaced.

The Outdoor Circle promises that we will not give up until the signs have been changed. Should you feel similarly, please contact our office at 593-0300 and we will keep you updated on our progress.