“Hey, Dad, there’s one of your signs.”

October 29, 2017 9:02 AM

Robert Blakeley, who unwittingly became one of the most ubiquitous graphic designers of the 20th century, has died at 95. In 1961, he created the orange-yellow and black fallout shelter sign.
posted by How the runs scored (19 comments total)

☢️
posted by Halloween Jack at 9:19 AM on October 29, 2017 [2 favorites]

I have two of those Fallout Shelter signs in the windows of my apartment. Originals in brand new condition. Given the current political conditions I hope my neighbors don't mob my apartment when the shit hits the fan. I remember seeing these here and there when I was a kid. Thanks Mr Blakeley for impregnating my brain with that simple yet nightmarish image.

.
posted by njohnson23 at 9:24 AM on October 29, 2017

I have one in my computer room. Classic.
posted by Splunge at 9:42 AM on October 29, 2017

☢️

Stark and functional but also weirdly attractive. It's one of those things that's become so iconic that it's easy to forget it was designed by a human being rather than simply springing fully-formed from the head of Zeus.
posted by tobascodagama at 9:47 AM on October 29, 2017 [5 favorites]

Maybe everyone already knew this, but the symbols of radiation (source of/shelter from) are inverse of another.
posted by lazycomputerkids at 9:51 AM on October 29, 2017 [11 favorites]

Maybe everyone already knew this, but the symbols of radiation (source of/shelter from) are inverse of another.

I did not know that and it's cool.

There are still several signs in my neighborhood and of course there were many more when I was growing up. It's a little comforting that the ones I see today are mostly faded and rusted because nobody has deemed it necessary to replace or repaint them, though maybe that's false hope. I've seen these all my life and never wondered where they came from - extra surprising because 3M made the first ones and I've read many histories of and gone on tours of 3M over the years. The story is pretty interesting and I'm glad he lived to 95 seeing his signs rust away instead of being necessary.
posted by Clinging to the Wreckage at 10:12 AM on October 29, 2017 [1 favorite]

.
posted by lapolla at 10:12 AM on October 29, 2017

Previously.
posted by How the runs scored at 10:23 AM on October 29, 2017 [1 favorite]

Great read! Thanks for posting.
posted by Don.Kinsayder at 10:35 AM on October 29, 2017

...it's easy to forget it was designed by a human being rather than simply springing fully-formed from the head of Zeus.

This reminds me of the time I got curious about who designed the KOA logo. Because of its minimal, mid-century design and national reach I assumed it must have been a done by a big Madison Avenue firm or a Saul Bass type (it looks pretty Bassian, right?)

Nope. Turns out it was designed by a guy named Karlo Dean Fujiwara who lived in Billings, Montana, and was best known in his community as a martial arts master. The KOA sign is just one line in his obit, almost an aside. I don't think he did much else, design-wise, and certainly nothing as far reaching.

I just think it's so remarkable that a thing I've seen all over the country was made by this one, basically anonymous person. Just like Mr. Blakeley's sign.
posted by Hey Dean Yeager! at 11:28 AM on October 29, 2017 [6 favorites]

Yellow, Black and Rectangular
posted by ardgedee at 11:44 AM on October 29, 2017 [7 favorites]

So it’s not three triangles arranged pointing towards the center of the circle, but it’s three triangles pointing down? Are they not equilateral triangles? Do some people see it one way and some people see it the other?
posted by Grandysaur at 11:53 AM on October 29, 2017 [1 favorite]

Maybe everyone already knew this, but the symbols of radiation (source of/shelter from) are inverse of another.

Well, the general radiation trefoil (which I'm not sure he designed?) has the circular cutout in the middle and rounded edges on the blades. But obviously inverting the general pattern while keeping a couple features distinct is a better symbol than just inverting the colors...
posted by atoxyl at 12:32 PM on October 29, 2017 [1 favorite]

As somewhat of a sidenote, the blog entry made me think of the frailty of information. That's some pretty intense research recorded, from sources that are now deceased, and going from how heavily the obit drew from it, it's probably the main source of the info on the internet. Yet it's a blog and associated site that have not been much active for some years now, and it's only there as long as they bother to keep it up. Beyond that, it's only there as long as blogspot is around. Sure it's at least archived at Internet Archive, but if someone robots.txt's the domain, that's also gone.
posted by tavella at 2:27 PM on October 29, 2017 [7 favorites]

It's a little comforting that the ones I see today are mostly faded and rusted ...

I went on a behind-the-scenes tour of the Supreme Court a few weeks ago, and there is a pristine 60s vintage fallout shelter sign bolted to the wall of a corridor immediately adjacent to the Court Chamber. It has been inside and protected from natural light for decades, and looks much as it must have when it first went up.

Meanwhile, across town, a decayed but largely untouched actual fallout shelter has come to light.
posted by ryanshepard at 6:25 PM on October 29, 2017 [4 favorites]

And I have one hanging on my balcony, a gift from my late wife who knew I'd always been intrigued by the signs. There was one that hung in the stairwell of the apartment building in NYC where I grew up. Needless to say, there was no actual shelter in the basement, nor, of course, would it have mattered.
posted by Conrad Cornelius o'Donald o'Dell at 6:49 PM on October 29, 2017

☢️

I got a surplus fallout shelter sign for my last birthday. No fallout shelter to go with it, though.
posted by Gelatin at 2:24 AM on October 30, 2017

.
posted by filtergik at 4:26 AM on October 30, 2017

Not mentioned by the government attorneys in their memo is that an endnote in the 1946 edition of Hornung’s book explains that the triangular shape arrangement seen in “Fig. 349” is a representation of “an ancient symbol for the Godhead.”

Fitting.
posted by clawsoon at 7:47 AM on October 30, 2017