Nostalgia Alley by Sam Markle: The Brown Derby Tavern

In the spring of 1969 the landmark corner of Yonge and Dundas was transformed by the largest and most exciting facade renovation in downtown Toronto up until that time. The brothers installed 11 back-lit sign boxes at the iconic Brown Derby building. The signs contained 254 fluorescent lamps and over a ton of plastic.

The concept was created by the architectural firm of Sheldon D. Rosen and the designer on the project was Lawrie Raskin, who became a long-time friend and colleague of the Markles. The Derby owners retained the architects to design a new building facade, expecting the usual architectural solution (aluminum modular panels, etc) but instead got more than 2200 square feet of super graphic. Five of the 15' square panels had images of Laurel & Hardy, Fatty Arbuckle, Toulouse Lautrec, Ben Turpin and Charlie Chaplin, each wearing a brown derby.

Up until that time architects were somewhat hostile to signmakers (believing that signs ruined their beautiful buildings.) This collaboration between the Rosen office and the Markles began a new era of co-operation with architects that continues to this day.

At a recent "Lunch-N-Learn" at an architects office (where the combined age of the 10 attendees was perhaps 140), Jack showed the group a photo of the project and asked if any of them had ever heard of the Brown Derby. None of them had.

'The Brothers' now known as 'good sports' in Clarington (and Bowmanville)

Pylon signage drawings for Clarington

Late last year, The Corporation of the Municipality of Clarington issued an RFP for the design and implementation of illuminated exterior signs for two of their recreational facilities. The town gave the parameters and budget. While we normally do not do speculative design (unlike most of our competitors), this time we had a good feeling and submitted a proposal.

The designs we submitted were created by our long-time colleague Bill Chapman, and they won us the contract. The project consists of two illuminated double-sided aluminum pylons with pierced and in-filled graphics.

We worked with George Acorn, Facilities Manager of Clarington and Sandra McKee, Senior Buyer for the Municipality. The main pylon sign also contains a four line red LED electronic display (supplied by our partner on this project Nu Media Display Systems Inc.)

Out-of-this-world Branding: The Brothers Markle and DanSign

DanSign ad insert in the architectural magazine AZURE, September issue

The Brothers Markle Inc have, for several years, been exclusive Ontario distributors for DanSign A/S of Copenhagen, Denmark (DanSign A/S has been providing successful, award-winning wayfinding solutions worldwide for over 26 years.

Truly a designer's signage system, the DanSign product line features a patented, magnetic locking system, allowing for maximum flexibility in function, while remaining incredibly simple to design and specify).

Our current DanSign branding initiative (an 'out-of-this-world' theme designed by Bill Chapman, with scenic art by Inga Nielsen and art direction from Sam Markle), extends to our upcoming corporate brochure, a series of ads in the high-style design & architectural magazine AZURE, a DanSign/Brothers Markle audio-visual presentation, and was the theme for our booth at this year's HeathAchieve Show at Toronto's Metro Convention Centre.