• PUBLICITY BY DECORATED VAN PANELS,
Page 9
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A Very Distinctive Vehicle on Which the Body Panels Have Been Attractively Painted by a Well-known Artist.
rilHE clever and fascinating illumin ated advertisement signs in Piccadilly Circus, London, are known to most Londoners, and to those who visit the Metropolis they are now introduced as one of the sights that must be seen. Probably, out of the maze of coloured lights which are blazoned forth every evening, there is no more delicate tone and colour combination than that which has been adopted to grace the facade and the windows of the Dolcis Shoe Co.'s attractive establishment located on the south-east side of the Circus between the Criterion Restaurant and the Underground station.
The lighting scheme is one that is exceediugly effective and the tones of colour have been so thoughtfully blended that even the most artistic eye is not offended. The shop has become a centre of attraction and a familiar landmark, the publicity merit of which it would be hard to measure. That its value is well recognized by the Dolcis Shoe Co. is dearly indicated -by the fact that its outstanding features have been interpreted by the artist's brush and palette and figure on the panels of a 2-ton Leyland van which the company have recently put into service.
Ordinary photography is quite inadequate to convey anything like an effective idea of the beauty and charm of the original oil paintings executed by Mr. George Harrington on the panels of the body, for the effect created by colour is missing, but a general. impression of the paintings can be obtained from our illustrations.
There is an atmosphere of reality about the pictures on the side panels (one is a replica of the other) and the .figures are so accurately drawn and lacking in that hard, set appearance (which always destroys a sense of animation) that . they instinctively remind you of the original, and any doubt that may exist on this point is
dispelled, the introduction of a representtion of the frontage of Picea-dilly Circus-Underground station.
In contrast to the detail at one side of each panel_the paintings of two types of Dolcis shoe appear in bold relief, but they merge into the general colour scheme and certainly do not detract from the softness and fine detail of the picture proper.
The paintings were carried out on aluminium sheets, two of which were welded to form each of the aide panels. The whole of the pictures were carried out in Parson's paints and some of the shades possess a richness which is beautiful in the extreme. Each side panel measures 11 ft. 9 ins. by 6 ft. 1 in. and the pictures cover the whole of the area from the driver's cab to the rear
pillars. The actual artist's work inVolved an expenditure of £130 and the total cost of the body was slightly over £300.
The actual paintings took seven weeks to complete and, in order to preserve their colouring and maintain their freshness, it is the company's intention to have the panels re-varnished every six months. The general colouring of the body is in royal blue, with the mouldings in a lighter tone of the same primary, and these shades lend a distinctive note to the tout-ensemble.
The roar of the body is divided about its centre into two panels, one of which forms a tailboard and the other a canopy for protecting goods deposited on it. The former bears an inscription carried out in a delightful shade of green, whilst the latter is 'embellished with a faithful reproduction of the company's trade mark, which is also carried out in colour.
The body itself was constructed by Bayley's, Ltd., of 42, Newington Causeway, London, S.E.1, and the interior ean accommodate 3,500 boxes of boots or shoes. The Dolcis Shoe Co., attach so much importance to the value of the motor vehicle as a publicity medium that they have a similar vehicle to that which we have briefly described under construction, although the paintings on the panels will, we are told, be composed of a somewhat different subject.
The vehicle has only just been put into service but, in a short period, it has been the cynosure of all eyes and widely commented upon. In this way will it serve its purpose of bringing the name of "Dolcis" to the fare, not in a blatant manner, but by subtle suggestion through the medium of a tasteful, decorative scheme of advertising.