H in the bathroom
Not sure what came to mind when you read the title, but it's likely not what I have in mind. So before I disappoint you, let me just say that H stands for Hiny. Okay, maybe that was what you thought. I was in college when I first encountered the H in question (not what you're thinking). It was a conservative Christian college where doing laundry on Sunday was forbidden, which is not such a bad idea considering how overly busy we all are, but our supposedly good morals should give you a reason why there wasn't much to look at in the bathroom stalls. As deplorable as bathroom graffiti can be, you must admit that it is often quite entertaining. Okay, maybe guys in particular must admit this - I don't know what ladies' stalls contain.
Nothing going on in these stalls, however. Except Hiny Hiders, the little etched logo on every aluminum hinge and support holding the structure together. It had no color and was barely noticeable (no pun intended), but it caught my attention long before I cared a professional inch about logos and brand names and the world of advertising because of its clever simplicity. Funny to think that this is one of my earliest brand memories. And, yet, it is.
I recently discovered that Hiny Hiders is now defunct. (Not the stalls, of course, but the brand, although we did have two incorrigible hall mates back then who had such a bad habit of shaking the stalls to scare dwellers that eventually you had to lean sideways to use them. Then one afternoon the janitor, after fixing them one too many times, simply removed all privacy and left four toilets standing there naked. Hiny Exposers if you will.)
The point here isn't any more than I liked the use of H in this logo and still do. Check out LogoDesignLove here and here for more visual creativity like this. Study the first group carefully to appreciate them.
6 comments:
Sam, I thought Hiny Hiders were the funniest things too! Actually, I had to say, my Dad introduced me to them through his work. No, not cleaning toilets...he works for a company that sells commercial level supplies for contractors...for projects such as schools, apartment buildings, hospitals, etc. Hiny Hiders were, and ARE, one of the products he has worked with (bought/sold). I checked with him about the brand being defunct and he said
"Well….it was an item sold by Santana Products which was purchased by Comtec and is now Scranton Products.
They DO still carry the Hiny Hiders."
So I breathed a sigh of relief. It's just such a fun name and logo to have it gone forever. =)
Yes...Santana Products. I saw that they had been affiliated. My thanks to your dad for the clarification. I didn't really want to see Hiny Hiders go away (in any manner).
What a pleasant chuckle I got out of reading this post!
This is a lovely vintage design. I find it uniquely classy, as well.
Sam, I am laughing. Keep your humor coming out in these posts! Seriously, when I saw the title I though it had something to do with removing the H from bathroom to make it "batroom" and you were going to do something about batman. I guess my mind wasn't low enough in the dorm gutter.
Once, on vacation in rural Maine, when my girls were tweens, we saw a big advertisement for a self-storage facility, called "Hidey Hole." The girls went all nuts, saying it was really a "Hiney Hole" and we laughed so hard. They get so fixated on potty humor at that age. That's all I think about any more when I hear the word "hiney".
Brad, those kid moments have a lasting effect.
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