March 28, 2008
Missin' the Bussin
There's been much debate in recent days over whether or not the TTC should remodel its crumbling, 50s-era "bathroom tile" subway stations (since now they can). A vocal proponent of the renovation plan has been TTC Commissioner and Councillor Sandra Bussin, who thinks that the common masses aren't design-savvy enough to hold an opinion of much weight.
"I come from an art background," she says, justifying her critical authority on the currently "boring" subway station design. "You know how they say that artists are usually fifteen years ahead of the public? Well, we as commissioners should be at least fifteen years ahead."
That may be so, but we're a little disappointed that someone with an art background and claiming a functional aesthetic sensibility has such an underwhelming and dysfunctional website design. Aside from noting Joomla's default (and amusing) placeholder boilerplate, we wonder if Times New Roman and drop shadow effects will be le dernier cri of the design world fifteen years from now.
Because anyone who reads Toronto blogs will tell ya: typefaces and tile motifs are serious business.
Tip o' the hat to Duncan Clark for making us look.
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I remember Sandra Bussin's comments about incinerators starting up again in my east end area "over her dead body." Guess what, Sandra? It looks like they're cookin' again.
Could be worse... she could've built an all-flash "site", used frames, or all-graphics titles. Some of those out-of-the-box content management systems aren't the easiest to re-skin.
But seriously, I can't think of a better redesign of the TTC than something that sticks with its classic typefaces and echoes its unique colour schemes. That is, I'd rather see a clean-up rather than a redesign. Saying you've got foresight to design something 15 years ahead of its time is a bit of a tall claim for any designer.
I'm pretty sure Content Management Systems aren't exciting at all, let alone the most exciting way to do business.
I saw this too! "...the need better RAM was due to some fool increasing the front-side bus speed.."
Some transit systems think design is worth preserving - not ours though coz we're WORLD CLASS!
Clean, uncluttered, functional in all respects - that's how I like my TTC.
Save the decorative aspects for the user's fashions, must say Bussin is an attractive addition to our council.
That's not true, especially in the case of Joomla or Drupal.
You have no idea what you're talking about, most of the internet is built on CMS's and you'd never know it.
It's only not exciting if the development team and/or designers are idiots.
Most of the internet is powered by some sort of CMS tool. CMS tools have very little to do with design (hence the name, CONTENT management systems).
TTC stations (and much of other design, including the logo) ARE boring.
Ha ha! That really is an ugly website from someone with an "art background".
The debate over subway tiles as a pleasing aesthetic seems a little bizarre. Pick up a copy of House and Home or watch a little Divine Design. Subway tiles are in fashion... so why damn the stations as ugly?
I agree with Spacejack; I'd like to see the stations cleaned up and repaired rather than redesigned.
rek - and yet, here you are on Torontoist.
15 years ahead of the times.. meaning she had to have designed her website circa 1980?
thesaucer: I agree that the logo is dated, and though I love the red shield thing, I've always hated the unimaginative overlapping letters (Hamilton's HSR does the same ugly thing). Two Ts and a C just don't go together well as a wordmark.
I'd like to see the logo get a slight update, perhaps shortening the crossbar and losing the overlapping letters. I just quickly whipped up a version of how I'd like do it—simpler, bolder, but still iconic and rooted in the old version. Imagine that on the side of subway cars, on T-shirts, decalled to glass doors, inlaid into terrazzo...
That was one of the most biting and fierce posts I've seen on torontoist; her heinous website was a great find.
Marc: this logo is much better (AND resembles a smile :) Actually, it's a sound idea that the transit authority may be known as just "T", very catchy, promising.
Subway stations in Moscow are marked with a humongous "M" (for "metro"), can't miss one :)
Hmm... Shall I maybe experiment tonight in this area as well?..
And because I'm feelin' feisty and couldn't help myself, the Bussin version of a new TTC logo.
Why so obsessed with fonts?
I'm with thesaucer. What's so great about the Bloor-Danforth station designs? Not much, that's what. You know what's great about College Station? All the Maple Leafs artwork. I was at the TTC meeting the other day. Bussin was talking about adding actual art and graphic design elements (above and beyond the existing tile scheme) to the truly boring stations along the Bloor-Danforth line. I don't like staring at the ads when I'm waiting for a train and I don't like staring at coloured tiles either. Is there nothing more we can do?
Interesting... Bussin's bio says "Councillor Bussin secured $11 million for the landscape and active sport field plan in Ashbridges Bay area." Is anything happening with that pile 'o mud that's supposed to be a skateboard park? It's been nothing but dirt and unusable baseball diamonds for almost three years now!
Good work on the logos, Marc. But shouldn't the Bussin version say "Default name" and "Your business" instead of "Ttc" and "Subway"?
I think we could probably come up with something better than (in the words of former TT chair Howard Moscoe) "early Canadian bathroom architecture".
The reno'ed Museum station, for instance, is going to look great. Granted it will only last for about 15 minutes before someone tags the hell out of it.
> And because I'm feelin' feisty and couldn't help myself, the Bussin version of a new TTC logo
OMFG that just made my day :)
"And because I'm feelin' feisty and couldn't help myself, the Bussin version of a new TTC logo."
NIcely done Marc ..... LMFAO ....
Tuds
I think the hockey artwork at College makes it the ugliest station.
The awful graphics at Queen done at the same time is the second worst.
Marc, the Bussin version of a new TTC logo is hilarious!
One of the problems with the hockey artwork is that it gets tagged with graffiti (save the broken record Vandalist arguments, please) and then that patch gets painted over with fresh paint—so a hockey player's face might have blotches of fresh white on it covering over where someone drew a mustache or glasses with magic marker.
I had a hard time trying not to laugh once in Queen Station where I overheard one girl asked her friend why one of the historical figure's heads on the John Boyle mural was supposed to look like it was carved from a block of cheese. They had this big discussion about whether it was cheese or supposed to be that colour for artistic reasons, and neither side was budging. The cheese girl thought he may have had something important to do with cheese history in Toronto, and the other girl was saying that it's obvious it was just an artistic choice because the woman next to him looked like a zombie with a rotting face.
I was trying so hard not to laugh that I was tearing. I almost lost it in hysterics when neither could figure out what this was in the bushes. Cheese girl thought it was a dog (?!).
Now every single time I'm on the Queen platform, all I can see are Cheesehead Simpson and Zombie McClung. And now you all will too.
Are you people slow or something? I didn't say CMS are garbage and nobody should ever use them because they're no good and I wouldn't be caught dead anywhere near the stuff. I said they aren't exciting, and certainly aren't the "most exciting way to do business". If you'd care to prove the contrary, please waste your time and do so.
Stop and think before you try scoring points.
Marc: Don't give them ideas!
Rek: I don't think people realized that you were quoting from the boilerplate on her page.
BTW, I voted "I had no idea and got my friend to do it" in her poll because that's what looks like happened to her site.
no one said you did, stop being so melodramatic.
I didn't know there was a scorekeeper either.
For the record, art ≠ design.
Interesting, long-ish piece on Bussin, and it's recent: http://www.travelandtransitions.com/interviews/sandra_bussin.htm