I posted some of my discoveries and research on Corbin Park the other day. I thought today I could post some interesting things I found about the Garland neighborhood.
Garland is really just a district within the North Hill neighborhood (not playing by the rules once again) but when I asked friends that lived around the area they all said I should go with “Garland” as the neighborhood name. Because that’s what they call it. And this is a project for the people who live in The Hoods, not the people who named them.
Garland boasts some pretty fantastic land marks of Spokane. The Garland Theater opened in 1945 and was a hotspot for Hollywood films in the northwest. It still operates to this day under the same name and original style it was fashioned in, making it a great piece of history in the community. As a kid raised in a lower income family, it was where we often went to see movies. After it was reopened as a discount theater, it was only $1 per ticket and I remember sometimes my mom would even sneak in our own popcorn in a huge purse. Classy, right? The owner when I was a kid used to come out on the stage before each movie started and give a little speech, thank people for coming and ask us to not put our feet on the chairs in front of us. At that time all the seats were original. It definitely gave a community feel to the place and I always loved going there.
Garland also carries on that 1950’s feel through some of it’s other shops including The Milk Bottle and Ferguson’s. Here’s some neat archive photos I found of the area.
Again, in my sketching I went back and forth between incorporating some of the history of the area with the 1950’s vibe and representing what the neighborhood is today. Today it’s a little bit quirky, a little janky but mostly pretty unique. There’s bars, art galleries, an improv theater, several music shops (including the best guitar shop in Spokane), a coffee shop, restaurants, thrift stores, a book store, a couple print shops, and a bunch of other random things. It seems like younger families and couples are being drawn to the area because of the cheaper housing and the unique business district.
Here’s some of my early lettering ideas, playing around with some mid-century styled script.
Similar to my Corbin logo I ended up moving a bit away from the past and more toward the future. I see Garland as an area with great potential to be a progressive hub for the arts and I wanted my pieces to reflect that. Often I find Spokane being a little afraid of progress. It’s easier to preserve the past and enjoy looking back on things we’ve done well in our history. I guess with this project, I felt the need to push the boundaries a bit more and bring some modern youth culture vibes along with me. Here’s a little snippet of what the final product turned out to be.
for more info on The Hoods read here, go here or check out our facebook event for the opening night.