Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Will CivicSD approve Trump-like sign for old Sempra HQ?

Manchester Financial Group seeks vanity sign

Proposed Manchester sign design, facing east
Proposed Manchester sign design, facing east

Manchester Financial Group now owns 49 percent of the downtown building that formerly housed Sempra Energy, at 101 Ash Street. It bought the minority share in the property for $20 million, reported the San Diego Business Journal.

Sponsored
Sponsored
Manchester building before new signage

On July 24, Civic San Diego issued a “notice of future decision” to “approve, conditionally approve or deny an application for a Process Two Neighborhood Use Permit” from Manchester Financial Group for a “comprehensive sign plan” including high-rise signage at the 19-story property. A decision by CivicSD's staff is expected no less than 11 business days from the date of notice.

The design by Jones Sign Co., as submitted to CivicSD, shows the words Manchester Financial Group in 5-foot-high, all-capital letters extending 147 feet in width. The “M” logo above the words is 14-feet wide, and 7-feet high. The aluminum letters, on the building's east and west sides, will be illuminated at night with white LED lighting.

Portland, Oregon-based “Engineer of Creative Identity” Jeff Fisher has created award-winning logos for almost 30 years. I asked him to evaluate the logo and sign. Fisher said, “In over-inflating the size of the Manchester Financial Group text on the building, the “M” icon is greatly reduced in proportion – making it seem somewhat insignificant. The building treatment comes across as vanity branding, rather than effective signage.”

The design is similar to Trump building signage: large and bold but not especially creative. Allen Industries of Greensboro, NC, is one of the nation’s largest sign manufacturing companies. The Reader asked that company to comment on Manchester's signage design, but did not get any response.

The signage decision by staff can be appealed to the CivicSD board of directors. Appeal applications are available downtown at 401 B Street, Suite 400, during regular business hours.

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

NORTH COUNTY’S BEST PERSONAL TRAINER: NICOLE HANSULT HELPING YOU FEEL STRONG, CONFIDENT, AND VIBRANT AT ANY AGE

Next Article

Live Five: Sitting On Stacy, Matte Blvck, Think X, Hendrix Celebration, Coriander

Alt-ska, dark electro-pop, tributes, and coastal rock in Solana Beach, Little Italy, Pacific Beach
Proposed Manchester sign design, facing east
Proposed Manchester sign design, facing east

Manchester Financial Group now owns 49 percent of the downtown building that formerly housed Sempra Energy, at 101 Ash Street. It bought the minority share in the property for $20 million, reported the San Diego Business Journal.

Sponsored
Sponsored
Manchester building before new signage

On July 24, Civic San Diego issued a “notice of future decision” to “approve, conditionally approve or deny an application for a Process Two Neighborhood Use Permit” from Manchester Financial Group for a “comprehensive sign plan” including high-rise signage at the 19-story property. A decision by CivicSD's staff is expected no less than 11 business days from the date of notice.

The design by Jones Sign Co., as submitted to CivicSD, shows the words Manchester Financial Group in 5-foot-high, all-capital letters extending 147 feet in width. The “M” logo above the words is 14-feet wide, and 7-feet high. The aluminum letters, on the building's east and west sides, will be illuminated at night with white LED lighting.

Portland, Oregon-based “Engineer of Creative Identity” Jeff Fisher has created award-winning logos for almost 30 years. I asked him to evaluate the logo and sign. Fisher said, “In over-inflating the size of the Manchester Financial Group text on the building, the “M” icon is greatly reduced in proportion – making it seem somewhat insignificant. The building treatment comes across as vanity branding, rather than effective signage.”

The design is similar to Trump building signage: large and bold but not especially creative. Allen Industries of Greensboro, NC, is one of the nation’s largest sign manufacturing companies. The Reader asked that company to comment on Manchester's signage design, but did not get any response.

The signage decision by staff can be appealed to the CivicSD board of directors. Appeal applications are available downtown at 401 B Street, Suite 400, during regular business hours.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Gonzo Report: Eating dinner while little kids mock-mosh at Golden Island

“The tot absorbs the punk rock shot with the skill of experience”
Next Article

San Diego Dim Sum Tour, Warwick’s Holiday Open House

Events November 24-November 27, 2024
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader