These boards jumped out at me through the constant hustle that is Piccadilly Gardens in Manchester City Centre. The very un-gardeny Gardens (it's a historical name) has a reputation for being fairly grey despite the best efforts to keep the grass verdant and there being some real trees, not just metal ones. But these adverts, even with their restricted colour palette, cut through the people, the trams, the ads, and the concrete and made me whip out the phone to capture them.
I have not been able to find the wonderful person or agency that has created these boards, but hopefully I will be able to get hold of this information and update. If you do know (or are yourself behind them) please do get in touch.
Now I am aware that there is a strong theme to the bits and pieces of visual ephemera I pick up on here and elsewhere. If there's some retro, mixed typography, I'm all over it like a rash. It's definitely not new or groundbreaking and is very much the trend now, but hey, it makes me smile and I find it very attractive. I can't be the only one and after all these things are there for the very purpose of attracting our eyes and brains away from all the other distractions we are bombarded with day to day.
And of course, it's promoting the markets which tap into my love of all things independent and DIY- the Manchester Markets put on a huge range of markets from your standard town and suburban markets to specialist craft and vintage and the gorgeous street food (the extreme salivation the cooking meat smells in Piccadilly Gardens causes is almost anti-social).
I do wonder whether we'll look back in 10-20 years time and see these designs as terribly dated, but as they are already 'of another time' to begin with, perhaps not. The 50s typography and illustration influence that is around fairly prevalently (my own work included), sometimes just being a visual inspiration, sometimes looking as it could have been lifted verbatim from the pages of a magazine of the time.
For now, just enjoy the streets being liven up, by some light-hearted, smile inducing graphics... and go and get yourself a tasty locally produced sausage or cake at weekend!