The Typography Nest

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NAMER

[typographynest-blog]

the idea that graffiti expresses an identity - the tag, that only certain people can read

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An awesome set of vernacular typography polaroids from Doug Wilson!

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Another interesting journal article to help with my essay.

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This is a bold, eye-catching piece of visual graphics, but does it communicate clearly enough?

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A Law and Society Review, Volume 30, No. 3, 1996.

This article talks about regulations in everyday life and the role of typography as "graffiti" expressing rules, directions and commands. A good reference for my essay.

[typographynest-blog]

A preview ofa book about graffiti, vernacular words and typography in the city. Maybe I should buy it.

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A website about “lettering in the urban environment”, which systematically organises specimens of typography found in cities.

[typographynest-blog]

Essay Plan

THE VOICE OF TYPOGRAPHY WITHIN

URBAN LANDSCAPES

- Essay plan -

    INTRODUCTION

This essay will discuss different typographic tones of voice within the city, focusing on exploring two instances of typography as it manifests itself in these surroundings: strict, systematic official typography and informal, hand-rendered, emotional language. The first instance refers to wayfinding design, information design and signage design, while the second concerns matters such as graffiti, protest typography, everyday words, signs, post-its and conceptual manifestations of typography within the city. Thus, typography within the metropolitan environment will be investigated first from an exterior angle, looking at the objective discipline of information design, and then from the subjective point of view of the people living inside it and their everyday lives. I plan on tackling the historical, conceptual, economical, political and social impacts of these two instances of typography.

BODY

1.     Paragraph 1

1.1.  Wayfinding explained; the need to help people navigate increasingly complex cities.

1.2.  A historical overview of wayfinding design; how was typography first used to inform and orientate, and how it evolved during time. Examples from Ancient Egypt, Roman Empire and later the design of the Underground typeface, the A to Z London Atlas and British road sign design.

1.3.  Who needs wayfinding design? What do they need it for?

1.4.  Understanding how people navigate and what their needs are.

2.     Paragraph 2

2.1.  Different tones of voice within wayfinding language.

2.2.  Typography as a crucial part of wayfinding design; choice of typeface, colour, scale, materials to be carefully considered.

2.3.  Helvetica; Swiss style; why it is a prime choice for designers.

2.4.  Considering the different, unique personalities of typefaces; Case study of Chattanooga, a city in USA, creating its own typeface; the voice of a city as expressed by its wayfinding design; 2012 Legible London project.

2.5.  Striving for perfection: the ultimate wayfinding typeface designed by Herrmann.

3.     Paragraph 3

3.1.  The social, economical and political impacts of wayfinding design.

3.2.  Critical analysis of wayfinding: what if it holds information from us? Maps and signs offering a limited range of data. How do they know what’s important for us? Generalisations.

4.     Paragraph 4

4.1.  Hand-rendered, subjective wayfinding design: the friendly voice of small companies; the true typographic personality of a city as expressed by its inhabitants through everyday typography.

4.2.  DIY design: shifting from the need for a professional, specialised wayfinding designer to ordinary people creating design; economical and cultural aspects.

5.     Paragraph 5

Conceptual typography within the city: found objects, the city as language, hidden messages; Paul Elliman’s work; the impact of weather.

6.     Paragraph 6

6.1.  Graffiti and its political significance; political and social sarcasm; protests and their typographic manifestations.

6.2.  Philosophical, social, political messages as opposed to bland, conventional wayfinding typography.

CONCLUSION

Typography shaping the personality of the city; the two instances coming together to form one unified identity; diversity of typographic voices forming a unique musical background to our lives; what the future holds; augmented reality.

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Bibliography

This post is under continuous edit as I add the different sources for my Bibliography:

BOOKS

GiBSON, D. 2009. The Wayfinding Handbook: Information Design for Public Places. New York: Princeton Architectural Press.

PETTERSSON, R. 2002. Information Design: An Introduction. Amsterdam, Philadephia: John Benjamins Pub. Co.

NAAR, J. 2007. The Birth of Graffiti. Munich, London: Prestel.

WALKER, S. 2001. Typography and Language in Everyday Life: Prescriptions and Practices. Harlow, England, New York: Longman.

HOLLIS, R. 2006. Swiss Graphic Design: The Origins and Growth of an International Style 1920-1965. London: Laurence King.

BAINES, P., HASLAM, A. 2005. Type and Typography. London: Laurence King.

DUNCAN, J. , N. DUNCAN. 1988. (Re)reading the landscape. Environment and Planning D: Society and Space. 6, pp. 117-126.

ONLINE SOURCES:

Helvetica and the NY subway: http://www.aiga.org/the-mostly-true-story-of-helvetica-and-the-new-york-city-subway/

Handwriting is history: http://www.miller-mccune.com/culture-society/handwriting-is-history-6540/

What makes letters legible: http://opentype.info/blog/2011/08/01/what-makes-letters-legible/

The ultimate wayfinding typeface: http://opentype.info/blog/2009/09/02/designing-the-ultimate-wayfinding-typeface/

A typeface for the Underground: http://www.londonreconnections.com/2009/a-typeface-for-the-underground/

A to Z London Atlas: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/5371680.stm

DIY design: http://www.aiga.org/interior.aspx?pageid=3080&id=2578

A city typeface: http://www.smartplanet.com/blog/cities/can-a-new-typeface-inspire-greatness-in-a-city/2045

Excerpt from the Crystal Goblet: http://www.typographia.org/1999/graphion/crystal-goblet.html

Typography in the city (image): http://eb-typographyblog.tumblr.com/post/587188009

London new wayfinding system: http://www.tfl.gov.uk/microsites/legible-london/

Legible London: A wayfinding study: http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloads/businessandpartners/Legible_London_report.pdf

[typographynest-blog]

Legible London

A new intuitive wayfinding system for London designed to encourage people to walk by providing information useful to their mental maps: detailing the landmarks they'll pass on their journey and estimating the time it will take to reach their destination. It is based on a comprehensive research study that found that the system was faulty and people were rather using the Tube map to find their way not only underground, but also on the surface.

[typographynest-blog]

Smart balance between type and form, helping the visitor efficiently extract information in an instant.

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(via eb-typographyblog)

Type is everywhere.

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As well as recording the sounds around me, I also took some photographs of my journey from A-Z.

There are 26 letters in the alphabet and 26 images in my first outcome. Each image is a representation of a letter. I decided not to do it based on what the image looked like and whether it was...

[typographynest-blog]

Allison Barnes, Mapping Meaning

This project, undertaken on the MA Typo/Graphics course at LCC/UAL, established my interest in developing work of a geo/graphic nature. New Basford is an area north of Nottingham city centre that was established through the burgeoning lace industry. It is an area that is predominantly filled with two up, two down terraces, some light industrial units (built following a ‘slum clearance’ programme) and a few remaining Victorian factory buildings. It is a place that one tends to pass through, rather than being a destination in itself—on face value it is a typical inner city area suffering from the usual problems of unemployment, graffiti and general deprivation. I wanted to develop work that probed beneath the surface of New Basford, going beyond the seemingly identikit streets and houses, and attempting to represent a sense of place. My methodology was that of the anthropologist, seeking out signs and interventions of a low-tech, personal and vernacular nature. These were recorded and used to develop a series of maps charting non-traditional elements such as graffiti, decorative brick features and memories. 

The maps (approx 900mm square) were produced on translucent stock that enabled two different maps to be overlaid and further conclusions drawn. Discoveries included the paths and territories of a teenage bully and a foot fetishist, the greater prevalence of graffiti on the sunny side of the street, and the trees planted in the grounds of the long since disappeared church yard.

A series of visual books were also developed that charted the graffiti and brick decoration by street, in alphabetical order. These, in the case of the graffiti, revealed which street was the most 'loved up', and which were the most threatening.

A great project that combines very unique aspects of typography: everyday words, mapping and typography within the city.

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Paul Elliman's Found Fount or Bits. Exploring the human voice within the city, this work is an on-going collection of found objects, debris and junk that form letters, where no one specimen is the same as the other. A parallel can be drawn between the uniqueness of these letterforms and the individuality of humans.

[typographynest-blog]

A great article and video about a city in USA, Chatanooga, developing its own typeface to be used across all platforms in the city and reflect its personality. The video helps me further explore the idea of a city having a typographic and wayfinding tone of voice.

[typographynest-blog]

The Wayfinding Handbook

I have recently found a vital resource for my research in wayfinding and Information Design: David Gibson's "The Wayfinding Handbook: Information Design for Public Places". The book talks about wayfinding design as a an important discipline that helps organise our urban lives, about its history and its components. Some interesting quotes and ideas:

The heart of a civilisation throbs wherever people come together to work, play, shop, study, perform, worship, or just interact. [..] In these spaces people [...] become overwhelmed or disoriented if they physically lose their way. Wayfinding design provides guidance and the means to help people feel at ease in their surroundings.

//Over time, cities fill up with information, markers, signs and symbols. The wayfinding designer is responsible for enhancing how a space is experienced by finding order in chaos without destroying character.

//The origin of wayfinding lies in the 1960s, when there was an increasing need for humanising complex urban spaces.

//Wayfinding design - a profession dedicated to helping people navigate.

//Who hires a wayfinding designer?

Education and Culture (Colleges, universities, museums, zoos etc)

Hospitality (Hotels and resorts, planned communities)

Sports and Entertainment (Arenas, stadiums, sports complexes)

Commercial Real Estate

Corporations (private office interiors, corporate campuses etc)

Retail

Government (Urban spaces, streetscapes, downtowns, public parks etc)

Transportation (Airports, public transportation, ports etc)

Health Care

//They hire him for: individual signs, system signage, wayfinding for building complexes and campuses, network signage, open space signage.

//Understanding the wayfinding algorithm; when people try to navigate a place, there are a series of decisions they have to make as they follow their path to their destination. The wayfinding designer needs to anticipate these steps and facilitate a seamless visitor experience. The sequence of movements required to get from A to destination B should feel as effortless and simplified as possible.

//Typography plays a crucial role in wayfinding design. Almost all wayfinding sign, posts etc contain some form of text. It is of the utmost importance that the designer considers the choice of typeface, its interpretation, scale, colour, form and materials in order to produce an effective wayfinding sign.

//Letters and type were used since the Ancient Egyptian to commemorate important places or persons; in the Roman Empire, bold, strong Roman inscriptions were used to mark public buildings and monuments.

//Considering the different personalities of typefaces, scale and hierarchy.