What Does “GdB” Stand For?

The thing is, you don’t get the right answer from signs affixed in mid-June to a series of second-story windows at Sixth Street and Second Avenue South in downtown Minneapolis. “Gyrating discount Barbers?” “Guitar dueling Banditos?” They swaddle the mystery in a layer of impish enigma. For the real answer, you have to visit the URL on the final panels: always-thinking.com.

Four years ago, when (spoiler alert!) advertising agency Gabriel deGrood Bendt moved in, a small light-up sign appeared on the building reading “GdB”—that’s it. CEO Tom Gabriel says ever since, passersby ask, “What does ‘GdB’ stand for?” The new signs answer, but only indirectly, and raise awareness of the small agency, whose clients include Summit Brewing and Oklahoma fishing-gear maker Zebco. (The signs are also in banner ads on Minnesota Public Radio’s Web site.)

GdB began noodling the project a couple years back, starting in earnest nine months ago. Why’d it take so long? The paint and adhesive needed three rain-free days for curing.

Also, “GdB was a pretty terrible client,” Gabriel says. “They not only demanded perfection, but wanted it delivered on a tight budget.”