Bastions of Creativity Disparaged (Part II)

Last month I was castigating D&AD for multiple typographical howlers in the latest Annual. This time, the Bastion of Creativity under scrutiny is no lesser institution than London's famous Groucho Club.

I spent a long, and increasingly cheerful, lunchtime there recently, ostensibly to take a brief from photographer Matt Stuart. As well as being a member of the Groucho, Matt's one of In-Public, a group of brilliant 'street photographers', and he's asked me to help with the words on their website.

Anyway, answering a call of nature brought me face-to-face with the sign above. What's going on with all those capitals?

A lot of business writing is afflicted with a sort of capitalisation Tourette's, with inappropriate Caps appearing Randomly all over the Place.

But I never expected to encounter such a basic gaffe within the hallowed walls of the Groucho. The club was, after all, established by publishers, and is now synonymous with London's literary and artistic set.

Perhaps I'm missing the point, however. Perhaps the sign is attempting to transform base information into golden poetry. Perhaps one can expect an anthology in due course, including such gems as:

These toilets are cleaned
Twice a day.
If you have a complaint
Please
Contact the management.

And the classic:

Now
Please
Wash your hands.