JAGUARS for DERMATOLOGISTS

In our travels is it seldom that we pass up colorful and exotic murals along the way. Cruising down the stretch of Rivers Avenue in North Charleston, SC, which has not yet been regentrified we spotted a candidate.

It is an advertising challenge to graphically depict that which a business offers the passing public in an effective manner. By the time we absorb the contents of one billboard, here comes another. An eye catching on site display seems a better bet. In South Carolina the big red dot on every liquor store is perhaps the best logo around, but what graphic design might an alcoholic treatment clinic use? The stores which sell the ultra high output automobile sound systems probably don't want you to see the clever display on Ashley River Road in which a life sized audiologist has climbed halfway into a larger than life ear. They, of course, sell hearing aids.

What if you're a dermatologist? Now that tattooing has become legal in the Palmetto State, you just wait. Make sure that you're listed in the phonebook and on line and just stand by.

To the extent that zoning or the absence of zoning will allow, tattoo parlors will show the public the color of their ink on as large a canvas as possible. Our photos show one such place which caught our eye this weekend in North Charleston. We were taken by the fantastic mural on this parlor's wall which suggests that highly imaginative body art is available within. What we didn't recognize were the two round metal objects hanging in front of the parlor. They remind us of hula-hoops or two-thirds of a pawn shop logo.

The NCPD now has a police Mustang in deep cover, white with two big racing stripes from hood to trunk. We wondered briefly whether we should consider having the GT tattooed with a similar stripe set. We then realized that Ford would cancel their warranty on our paint so we gave up the idea on the spot. Perhaps a rag with some acetone, xylene or methyl ethyl ketone could relieve the car of an unwise decoration, but human models require a lot more time, effort and money. We tend to think of tattoo parlors as Jaguars for Dermatologists or college tuition for their children.