Traveling often brings to the fore with one a movie quote by Welsh actor Anthony Hopkins sighting and playing Welsh writer Gywn Thomas (Selected Exits, 1993) — I’ve inherited my father’s belief that there is much beauty in walking, in gazing upon the ghosts of our lost martyrs, in dreaming about the big house in the next valley where we will be accorded a warm and silver welcome and ushered into a heaven of affection. But the beauty is in the walking. We are betrayed by destinations.

I often think about this quote sitting in an aircraft. In a fast paced world I like the idea of slower forms of cross country travel — by train, bus or car, because air travel effectively gets one from A to B without appreciating the significant experience in between. An extended journey allows time to be left to ones thoughts, it brings to life a changing landscape, it emits far less carbon than air travel, it helps one to gain a sense of the occasion of travel and the opportunity of frequent surprises.

Many long trips over the years have built up a log stories and experiences — like this sign on the northern outskirts of Gundagai in southern New South Wales. The artist who made this structure is anonymous. The sign’s namesake — the Sheahan family are locals of note in politics and enterprise dating back from the 1840s to present times in the district. In fact the prominent 1100 metre bridge that crosses that Murrumbidgee River (which runs by the township of Gundagai) is named the Sheahan bridge.

The sign stands at approximately 7 1/2 metres wide by 10 metres high. It is made of crudely cut steel and is free standing on discretely set concrete footings. The scale and position perfectly takes advantage of an ever changing backdrop that is a unique contrast to the crude form. The work is a grand yet not an ostentatious tribute to the Sheahan family, and leaves the viewer wanting to find out more about this curious and solitary gesture.

In terms of typographic and signing design it is extraordinary to discover this unique graphic expression in a place far from the concerns and potterings of the design condescenti generally based in city and regional centres.

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