New York City’s increasing gentrification has been a fiercely-debated topic for years and it looks set to heat up even further. Hot on the heels of Brooklyn-based artist Justin Blinder’s project using Google Street View GIFs to visualize its changing landscape, comes British graphic designer James Campbell Taylor’s reimagination of its neighborhoods as corporate logos.
Noticing the abundance of the same big-name chain stores, Taylor decided to mash up familiar brands like McDonald’s and GAP with the names of Manhattan neighhorhoods for his ‘City in Chains’ series.
The Upper West Side has been given a Dunkin’ Donuts-style makeover while Greenwich Village has been rebranded as the Starbucks logo, serving as an unsettling reminder of the increasing presence of these national chain stores.
In an interview with The Huffington Post, Taylor said “The project itself was born out of my increasing frustration and disillusionment with the deteriorating state of Manhattan’s retail landscape. I’ve only lived in New York for seven years, but in that relatively short time I’ve seen this aspect of the city change dramatically, often at the expense of variety, diversity and quality.”
Check out his logos below and view the entire series here.
[via Huffington Post, images via PENNARELLO]