New Walking Tour Brochure Features Adolph Block

Back in May 2010 folks released the first iteration of the Historic Downtown Walking Tour. We criticized the choice of cover image and hoped that a second printing would choose something more lively and inviting.

Success! We were at the library recently and a flash of color below a gaudy LED display actually got our attention. It was the polychromed facade of the Adolph Block, and it turned out to be the cover of the Walking Tour.

That's a big serving of win!

Here's the old one and our complaint:

It's interesting that the first-floor storefronts, the sidewalk zone, are all dark and obscured, and that the cars are more visible than the pedestrian amenities. For something premised on the wonders of walking, its cover image doesn't sell those wonders very strongly.

And why not pick a more iconic downtown building rather than a pair of lesser buildings? (We suppose that two of the more iconic ones are owned by the same person, and that a politics of even-handedness might have played a role in this.) We aren't a fan of the canvas and watercolor treatment, either. History is way more interesting and exciting than this gauzy view! Is this a pamphlet that will stand out among all the others in Travel Salem? It just doesn't have shelf appeal in our opinion.

In the new one? First-floor storefronts and sidewalk zone are front and center. Iconic building. Historic business. Colorful shelf-presence (not that you can see this in bw, sadly). All check!

The backside shows a restaurant. It's, well, appetizing.

Nicely done.

(For more notes on the Adolph Block go here!)