New Downtown Signage brings personality to Downtown Kent

As citizens of Kent make their way downtown, signs telling them to smile, or high-five a stranger may greet them.

The new signs are part of a project done by the City of Kent. The creative process that went into creating the signs involved input from many area businesses in the downtown area, from figuring out what needed to be done to deciding what messages were wanted to be reflected in downtown Kent. One of those businesses was Main Street Kent.

“There were about fifteen people in the room […] we spent a couple of hours saying words that come to mind when we think of our town, and really gave them as much information as we could to try to depict our personality,” said Heather Malarcik, Executive Director of Main Street Kent.

Studio Graphique, a design company in Cleveland, played a hand in designing the signage. Main Street Kent picked from three different designs provided by the company.

“We were really trying to come up with a program that is something you wouldn’t see anywhere around here,” Malarcik said.

A few key signs in downtown Kent feature phrases such as “smile, you’re beautiful,” “high five a stranger,” and “if you’re looking for a sign, this is it.”

With the signage adding a pop of personality to downtown Kent, good feedback has come to the area.

Off the Wagon employee Austin Powell thinks the new signage and other downtown projects have brought in more business, as well.

“Traffic flow has increased dramatically downtown. Our store has done exponentially well,” said Powell. “I think [the signs] really bring everything together […] it makes everything feel like one unit.”

Senior business management major Michael Rosengarten thinks the signs were a good idea and have added to the atmosphere in downtown Kent.

“[The signs] make it a lot more fun. I feel like it brings people together and shows that there’s a community atmosphere downtown.”