The loss of Studio City Camera, after 62 years in business, means that this fine section of Los Angeles will be missing a knowlegeable, intelligent and family owned shop.

The sign that has hung on this building since 1944 is unique. It defines the center of Studio City in a way that immediately communicates both the character and history of the area and the store itself. Here is a place where those who live and work in a “Studio” can also buy that machine which gave birth to the movie industry itself: the camera.

The typefaces used in the sign are both curvaceous and linear. A mix of the feminine and the masculine, the creative and the technical. The green background, shaped like a painter’s palette, flatters the customer with artistic suggestion. Studio City Camera was also an art store. The electronic flashbulb is eye catching and witty.

If this store’s closing means that the sign will be taken down, the entire area will lose its public face. This is a historic piece of art that must be preserved. The rest of Ventura Boulevard is a sea of plastic junk signs.

Across Ventura Boulevard, Mexicali and Lucky Brand have discreet neon signage that would have been appropriate in the 1940’s. But they lack the geographic specificity and creative eccentricity that so defined “Studio City Camera” and its magnificent sign.