Manhattan
Neighborhoods Turned
Into Corporate Logos
Dan Nosowitz
ONE DESIGNER SEES THE CITY THAT NEVER
SLEEPS TURNING INTO A 24-HOUR DUANE READE.
Designer James C. Taylor of Pennarello Design created these
great corporate logo versions of Manhattan neighborhoods,
from the Lower East Side to Harlem. The Lower East Side,
formerly home to dive bars, is recharacterized as the Gap
logo. SoHo, the classic industrial-zone-turned-artist’s-haunt,
is now given the logo of Japanese behemoth Uniqlo. Chelsea,
the theater district, is rebranded as a Chase Bank logo.
It’s a statement on, if not a protest of, the corporatization of
Manhattan, in which the formerly distinct neighborhoods are
taken over by enormous brands, thanks in part to the extralong, extra business-friendly Bloomberg administration. Says
Taylor:
The project itself was borne out
of my increasing frustration and
disillusionment with the deteriorating
state of Manhattan’s retail landscape. I’ve only
lived in New York for se