Street Graphics and the Law was first published in 1971 and launched an attack on U.S. retailing. The sign industry joined together and, with the aid of Dr. Claus, we fought back. Industry members conducted seminars for planners on the importance of signage and the fallacies of Street Graphics. By 1980 the industry was hopeful that reasonableness was returning to our world.

Concurrently, in 1975 and 1976 the U.S. Supreme Court issued rulings which clearly declared that the First Amendment’s civil right to free speech applied to commercial speech such as signs. In 1980, the Supreme Court issued their ruling on the Central Hudson case that strengthened these rights and established rules governments must follow to prove their case for censorship.

The industry’s hope was relatively short lived. Most communities ignored the U.S. Supreme Court. The planning community launched a round of more restrictive sign ordinances. Retailing in the U.S. suffered.

In the mid ‘90s, APA began presenting seminars at their annual conferences that promoted banning pylon signs and only permitting small monument signs. The APA supported the restrictive work of Scenic America. APA members wrote booklets published by the APA that contained anti-sign proposals.

Throughout this period and continuing today APA members working as consultants wrote restrictive sign ordinances. Some of these consultants even assist municipalities in writing “Request for Proposals” which require that any bidder prove that they’ve written restrictive sign ordinances in the past.

In the mid ‘90s the industry began fighting back again. The Signage Foundation for Communications Excellence, Inc. supported by a small group of industry members, attempted to work with the APA’s research department to produce a fair report on signage. Ultimately that effort failed, because of the APA’s refusal to accept much of the groundwork established by court precedent.

In 1997, Safety and Human Factors Design Considerations For On-Premise Signs, by Richard N. Schwab was published. This book built on the work and writings of Dr. Claus which were published by Signs of the Times magazine in the ‘70s

Beginning in 2000 the sign industry began to work extensively with Dr. Claus. Three significant books have been published: The Value of Signs, Unmasking the Myths about Signs, and most significantly the joint U.S. Small Business Administration/Signage Foundation publication, the Signage Sourcebook.

Another product is the recurring publication of Signline, which discusses specific issues of importance to signage and is distributed to 7,000 community planners on a quarterly basis. These are available to the public at www.plannersresource.org.

Today the U.S. visual environment looks nothing like it did prior to 1971. Restrictive sign ordinances actually impair traffic safety. Signs are hidden by vehicles, landscaping is planted in right-of-ways, and landscaping is required by municipal ordinance. U.S. businesses are blocked from communicating their messages to passing motorists.

Most often, the sign industry is prohibited from serving our customers and meeting their communications needs. Small businesses are particularly harmed as they cannot supplement their meager signage with expensive magazine, newspaper and television advertising.

Some communities have started to realize the contradiction between over-regulation and creative control . Signs of the past that creatively and properly communicated, where they still exist, are starting to be treated as historic landmarks and are being preserved by communities.

Street Graphics and the Law is bad for anyone who wants to exercise his rights to commercial free speech. It is simply the wrong approach to the regulation of signs.

Note to Readers: A number of Dr. Claus’ early publications will shortly be available to the public at www.plannersrsource.org. Please bookmark this site and check back for updated information.