The anonymous sign is a mode of interpersonal discourse that gets less attention than it deserves. Some people make bad decisions about their anonymous signs, and the long-term effectiveness of the sign suffers because of this.

Let’s take an example the sign that someone in a neighboring building affixed to their dumpster in our alley.

Dear neighbors please don't leave trash around the dumpster thanks

Serious signs are never written on notebook paper. This is not a style of handwriting that people take seriously. Tape? Affixed with tape!? This is just not a serious sign.

We had a package stolen the other day from the mailbox area that is inside the gates to our building. My neighbors tend to leave the back gate open. So I made an anonymous sign.

please keep gate closed and locked stuff is being stolen

Now this is a serious sign. Typeset in Akzidenz Grotesk Black (the same typeface used on the album cover for Nine Inch Nails Broken), trimmed to 5” x 8” on my nice papercutter and laminated. Attached to the gate with zip ties. This is a serious sign. I don’t have a corner-rounder, so the corners are sharp, but that is a minor detail. The next sign will have rounded corners. And once this sign starts to show its age, there will be a new sign. With a slightly different message. Possibly in both English and Spanish. My signs want everyone to read them.