They have always played a role in my life. As a child, my family would drive through the streets of Kalamazoo and I would look out the window at the many signs that dotted the streets. There was something magical about the neon glow of the liquor store’s crown on the shady side of town and the yellow arches on the early McDonald’s signs. You know… when Mickey D’s counted how many hamburgers they sold by the thousands, not by the millions. The Mona Lisa was nothing like the warm glow of neon, which radiated from everything from laundry room rugs to used car dealerships.

I appreciated good sign then and still do. Advertising is one of the most important art forms in American pop culture. Andy Warhol knew it, and I knew it… at eight years old.

Still, some people don’t get the beauty of advertising and that’s the only explanation I have for the old signs some city retailers insist on keeping just because they haven’t fallen down yet. If only the business owner with the plastic sign, as faded as a worn pair of jeans, understood that his sign is often his strongest form of advertising. Because what does a sign that screams “1968” say about the products or services inside the store?

I liken these expired signs to being too close to the situation. Kind of like when you’re cleaning out the microwave in your kitchen and you suddenly notice the splattered wall behind the oven, which contains remnants of past dinners. Because you live with it every day, you didn’t pay attention to the slow build-up of spaghetti sauce and a host of other grease stains. Don’t these owners realize that their signs are long dead and are now fossils in today’s digital and neon world?

Fortunately we have the other end of the spectrum, and savvy business owners who understand that a signal noticed is a signal read. Eye-catching digital signs that not only tell me which smart store it belongs to, but also give me the temperature and time. Ask any digital sign owner if he is satisfied with the investment he made in his sign. They will probably tell you the exorbitant amount of money the sign cost and then inform you that it was worth every penny. Smart owners, if you ask me… and great artists!