The Palace Pier Signs – a dream come true
I was so delighted in January 2017 to discover I was the winner of The Palace Pier Design Competition.
The Pier, in conjunction with The Argus newspaper ran a competition over the summer of 2016. As usual I was away and on return I had to get up at 5.00am on a couple of mornings to meet the deadline, but it was worth it!
It’s a real honour and a privilege to be chosen. As a child from the sticky plastic back seat of a Renault I used to look with wonder at the Brighton illuminations along the seafront- The Sputnik, The Fountain and The Peacock as well as the piers.The new signs are being commissioned because of a name change back to Brighton Palace Pier which I think the whole community has waited a long time for.
The Design
This is my design. The welcoming archway reflects the shape of the pier dome without obscuring it.
The flamboyant lettering is adapted from an 1820s French carnival font by Joseph Gillé called “Madame”. It has been tweeked to contain subtle references to the Pavilion onion roof-tops in the negative spaces. Whilst being ornate, it is still highly readable, and offers plenty of potential for lighting with sequenced bulbs. I tried to produce a design which both reflects Brighton’s Regency heritage and its present day culture.
The Palace Pier is also using the sign design as their logo- As with my Open Market Archways iconic signage can provide the backbone of brand.
Where are we now?
I am also delighted that, unlike my other projects I don’t have to build this one! This has to be one of the most exposed locations in the country. Brighton Palace Pier submitted detailed construction designs for planning consent- you can see them here. I am super pleased that the submitted details wholly reflect my original design.
The planning application was approved in late April and the installation work will be carried out through June by Technical Signs.
The original letters have now been removed and I am very excitedly awaiting the new sign
Here are some related Argus articles. I particularly like the comment “Much better than the Open Market Archways!”
Here are some Argus Articles”
Return of the Palace 3/4/2018
All hail the return of the Palace Pier to our Pier’s name 21/1/2017
“Its important to keep tradition” 5/4/2018
Winning design was a dream come true 21/1/2017
Thumbs up for return of Brighton Palace Pier 23/1/2017
Entries flood in for competition 26/7/2016
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