Soho is known for its unique & creative area where locals and tourists come together to explore the diversity and innovations. I chose to do a linguistic landscape in Soho because I work on Broadway in a small popular retail store named Edikted. Averaging around forty hours a week I’ve gotten familiar with the area itself almost as if it’s my second home. The area itself is completely different compared to the other areas I surround myself with everyday like where I live in Queens. This made me want to further delve into the background and surroundings of SoHo and why its appearance is the way it is.
Figure 1: map of SoHo and its surrounding areas from,“SoHo.” CityNeighborhoods.NYC, www.cityneighborhoods.nyc/soho.
Small history of SoHo
While looking for articles on the reasoning for Soho’s distinct landscape I found articles on the history of this landmark. SoHo is the shortened word for South Houston and was always famously known for their art. Since the 1960’s, aspiring artists were drawn to the space and transformed it into an artistic hub. With the cast iron architecture and the art galleries all over, it’s no surprise that SoHo still remains artistically inclined.
Creativity
The theme that is presented throughout my analysis was creativity in advertising their craft. SoHo is a creative community where many teenagers and young adults come together to show off their creativity skill
SoHo is a must see tourist attraction, grabbing the attention from children to adults in their thirties.. SoHo is popularly known for their hotspot fashion center and their wide variety of luxurious food options. I often commute from Baruch to SoHo everyday via the 6 train. When arriving at Spring street and walking from the station to my area of work, I often encounter many signs and posters advertising different creative works of art.
This led to the curiosity of why is the theme so commonly used in this area and why is it so heavily popular with this demographic? Do these artists or inspiring business creators get ant tractions with these advertisements? Looking through the area comes the wonders of why?
Cryptic & Provocative Styles in Creative Posters
First thing I noticed was the advertisement posters displaying creative use fonts. Each font gave a tone to the certain message they were trying to portray. With specific colors and bolded words alongside creative use fonts, it makes each poster different but also fit into the theme of soho. For example, all the colors and fonts are different but since they aren’t generic signage it creates a theme of bright colors.
In the figure above, we see posters with distinct creative fonts, however the posters don’t have much details of what is going on. This grabs the audience’s attention and draws them more into what’s going on. Along with the cryptic style advertisement the signage is very provocative. “ glow job, ARE YOU A SLUT, and BRAT” all described as something inappropriate and dirty but the message behind the signage isn’t. For example, the posters displaying “BRAT” and ” ARE YOU A SLUT?” are very misleading at first, however after scanning the QR code I came to the conclusion it was a form of advertisement. It’s interesting to see this form of creative advertisement because both signs advertise completely different items. The BRAT poster advertised health and wellness while the “ ARE YOU A SLUT” poster advertised clothing.
The posters displaying “BRAT” and ” ARE YOU A SLUT?” are very misleading at first, however after scanning the QR code I came to the conclusion it was a form of advertisement. It’s interesting to see this form of creative advertisement because both signs advertise completely different items. The BRAT poster advertised health and wellness while the “ ARE YOU A SLUT” poster advertised clothing.
These posters have completely different products or messages to spread but have the same demographic. The lack of information and use of only creative slogans and fonts grabs the audience’s attention. This technique is often seen all over SoHo making lack of information one of the sub parts of the area’s creativity.
Art
We see a bunch of art throughout SoHo, ranging from graffiti to works of literature. While many tourists think Soho is just a place to shop trendy clothes, this area is filled with personality and character. According to cityneighborhoods.nyc SoHo is characterized as “ a vibrant and artistic enclave nestled in lower Manhattan”
One trend with the graffiti around this area is the appearance the artist makes. In the figures above we see a green creature imitating a person doing graffiti but writing the words “ New York I Love You!” This adds to the creativity aspect but also leaves a positive connotation, while it’s still graffiti, it’s attracting tourists and can be seen on a person’s instagram. SoHo is filled with tons of murals and artistic pieces like the one in the figures. This adds to the background of being an artistic area. While it’s not an artistic hotspot for many anymore, there is still craft through the neighborhood. For example, clothing brands selling their artistic clothing pieces and cafes selling their sweets and drinks. Art is plastered all over Soho and it’s so beautiful to see all different forms of art.
Emotion, Comedy, & Realism in Different Forms of Creative Expression
Living in New York City can be exhausting. With the stigma of Manhattan being the city that never sleeps, it can get mentally taxing toward people trying to catch up. With that in mind as I walk through SoHo I notice these topics being brought up. While the signage is not directly writing about the struggles being in New York, small slogans are plastered all over the streets. The creative expression varies from motivational speeches to forms of literature for example poetry. With the creative expression in writing, most writers also provide a QR code to allow readers who are interested in their muse to read more into other topics.
The signage gives New Yorkers a minute to take a break and appreciate the small things in life. With that being said there is also a form of realism in art plastered around this area. For example in figure 9 the character thinks “what should I worry about today?” This shows realism because when a person looks at this they might think of how relatable it is.
When further analyzing the trends in all the signage, SoHo seems to have a bunch of comedians around. A huge chunk of all the posters around the area have comedic references, for example a poster I saw that said “ looking for a dog walker for my 15 pugs” and “ best friend for hire” alongside memes to draw the audience in. While a walker to walk 15 pugs may not be a realistic advertisement, it catches a person’s attention to want to learn more about what the sign says. This goes hand in hand with the idea mentioned above, provocative and cryptic signage, and how individuals use this to grab an audience’s attention. This use of comedic relief not only brings laughter but adds to the area’s personality and again gives New Yorkers a minute to breathe and laugh.
Community
Lastly SoHo is relatively close to the famous New York University making this area a perfect place for networking.
The area feels like a huge get to know each other. There are posters for community based events like a group of people trying to start an organic farm, a best friend for hire, and posters of boys trying to find the “perfect women”
Going back to New York University being relatively close to SoHo, it somewhat shows why this specific area is so big on meeting new people. When you think about it, millions of people dream of living and going to school in New York City, and many drop everything in their life to chase this dream. With New York being so big, and Soho being a popular creative hotspot, the urge of building a community and networking makes sense. And since Soho is so diverse in culture, it’s nice to see individuals make use of the space and cultures.
Final thoughts
SoHos is a diverse community with a ton of creative minds. From the posters to the little boutiques, there’s many to browse in this area. The themes of creativity in specific aspects like community, realism, art, and comedy add personality to the area itself. SoHo has a unique style and has been known historically for its creativity which is why it makes sense for this area to be the way it is. As the years go on, and trends start to change, SoHo remains a hub for creative works in any passion and will always be an iconic place for people to meet. And while Soho nowadays has become filled with transplants and tourists, it’s nice to know other cultures and homes feel welcomed in a neighborhood filled with creative.