Design in a small town part 2

I have to admit that, while I am frustrated at metrocentrism in general, I find myself practicing it often. I get frustrated by the lack of thought that not only goes into the city planning but also the design of little displays, public spaces, signage, and other artifacts which make up the backdrop of our lives.

Take, for instance, the image above. This wine bar is actually quite nice and popular gathering place. Housed in an old Post Office building there is a certain charm to it, I suppose. But the signage is so awful. To add insult to injury, the recent addition of the reader board does nothing to remedy the overall design. It makes me cringe and laugh at the same time when I have to pass it on my way to work.

Did the owners not think that a reader board has come to signify something quite different from the atmosphere of a wine bar!?!

At the same time, the tackiness becomes part of the, well, mystique of small towns. The town appears, for a lack of a better word, authentic. Cities often, on fresh visit, appear to be confused conglomerations of the hyperdesigned and the utter corroded