Organic* Lettering and Signage in Landscape and Environmental Design Andreas Pohancenik 2 3 Organic* Lettering and Signage in Landscape and Environmental Design

1 organic* lettering and signage in landscape and environmental design andreas pohancenik 2 3 organic* lettering and signage in landscape and environmental design

A proposal for subtle lettering and signage through the use of organic* and site-speciﬁ c materials as well as a critical view on the status-quo of lettering and signage in landscape and environmental design.

dissertation ma communication design central saint martins college of art and design

london, jan–feb 2004 andreas pohancenik 4 5 table of contents

abstract 7

introduction 11

chapter 1 an organic approach to public lettering 17

chapter 2 the material as message and the sensation of change 23

chapter 3 the importance of site-specificity and spatial identity 33

chapter 4 preserving clarity in the face of diversity 41

conclusion 49

references 54

bibliography 56

6 7 abstract

In this paper I intend to prove that the use of natural materials (natural light, sight speciﬁ c materials, etc.), and especially what I will call organic* materials, is the means to far more subtle, yet more meaningful signage and lettering in landscape and environmental design for the public space. I will postulate the process of organic lettering as an organic conceptual approach to public lettering: one which takes into account the informational content and communicative medium of the message without losing sight of the site-speciﬁ c features and its context to ensure a unique experience for the viewer. Additionally I will give examples of organic materials that due to their ability to change have the potential to engage the viewer. I attempt to prove that, together with a spatial identity and a contextual and aesthetical sense, these materials will generate a distinctive experience for the viewer, so that therefore the overall impact of the message will be improved. 8 9 10 11

introduction

The term organic will be used in this paper for its meaning of organized, systematic, coordinated 1, indicating an organic whole 2. By 1, 2 – The Concise Oxford Dictionary, saying ‘organic whole’, I mean the harmonic interaction between the 8th ed., Oxford, 1990 intended message's content, the message told by materials used for the display of the information, and the creation of an identity for the place where the 'information' is to be installed. These three aspects of visual communication will create a unique experience for the viewer. The other reason why I chose the term ‘organic’ in particular is that it indicates change; change during time (e.g. day and night) and environmental circumstances (e.g. the seasons, the weather). Change is the means by which human beings perceive or measure time 3 ; time 3 – Barratt, 1989 is, in fact, changes in space. I intend to prove in this paper that through the intelligent use of structured change, the creation of a narrative in lettering and signage for public spaces is achievable. Therefore I will propose ‘organic lettering’ as the ideal process for the creation of that ‘organic whole’. I intend to prove that ‘organic lettering’ is the solution for subtle and more meaningful public lettering and signage, especially for the purpose of ‘information installation’ and ‘poetic installation’. I agree with Nicolete Gray when she argues that socially public lettering should enrich our environment through creative variety of all appropriate letter styles 4; however, letter styles are not the only signiﬁ cant aspect. 4 – Gray, 1974 p. 247 The whole lettering-installation should be appealing in its appearance (Anmutung) and always interesting for the public eye.

In the ﬁ rst chapter I attempt to demonstrate the need for an organic conceptual approach to public lettering: one which takes into account the informational content and communicative medium of the message without losing sight of the site-speciﬁ c features that ensure a unique experience for the viewer. I shall consider various views on public lettering before putting forth what I consider the proper approach.

In the second chapter I attempt to prove that organic (natural and changeable) materials can be used for lettering and signage in landscape and environmental design. Additionally I intend to examine the intelligent use of natural inﬂ uences like daylight, weather, temperature and the seasons for the purpose of creating an experience. I will give an overview of the materials that are already used in other disciplines like sculpture and installation-art, and I will identify materials that could be applied in lettering and signage in landscape and environmental design. Artists, especially, may make good use of 12

materials that change their appearance during time, as well as taking into consideration the environmental inﬂ uences, which will generate a second stage of meaning. Materials can change or support the message of words, as well as the typeface chosen for any piece of visual communication. I do not intend to go too deeply into the environmental aspects of the use of certain sustainable materials which will be discussed in the ﬁ rst chapter mainly for their ability to change during time, light and weather or various other environmental circumstances and their usability for the matter of public lettering and signage.

In the third chapter I intend to show that site-specifi city and the use of site-specifi c materials are the keys to good environmental signage and public lettering. Environmental signage and lettering ought to be site-specifi c and subtle in its appearance, but evocative enough to capture and engage the visitor. I intend to prove that the creation of a site-specifi c identity is imperative to make the viewer aware of the unique story of a place. Yet there is more to successful lettering – a sense 5 – Baines and Dixon, 2003 p. 97 of place 5 or as I would call it ‘sense of space’; whereby I defi ne a ‘sense of space’ as the method of working poetically within a given space and a given time. The call to deal poetically with lettering-installations in the public space is not new, and Eugen Gomringer proposed poetry as a means for the structuring of a social environment in 1969. In his view the goal of poetry 6 – Gomringer, 1976 p. 227 involves (…) an awakening of aesthetic sensibility especially to the world of type6. I intend to prove that this aesthetic sensibility paired with a sense of space and a sense for the information itself is a means to subtle and more meaningful lettering and signage in environmental design.

The forth chapter will be dedicated to signage and wayfi nding systems. In this chapter I will focus on the impact of internationalization, worldwide travel and globalization on public wayfi nding and signage systems. I shall examine various approaches to signage design and wayfi nding systems, and their applications in the public space. Further I will show that clarity and readability of the message must be the fi rst goal whenever considering a signage or wayfi nding system. Finally I intend to prove when and in which context site-specifi city and the creation of a viewer experience are achievable and desirable for public signage projects.

Whereas the previous two chapters are dedicated to the materials and the possibility of their application for public lettering and signage purposes as well as information installations, the perception of the message itself will be my focus during the last chapter. In the conclusion I argue that the interaction of information, material and space, when imbued with the concept of ‘organic lettering’, will improve the overall impact of the intended message and create a more immediate experience for the viewer. I attempt to demonstrate that change has a natural appeal and that the use of change in environmental design and installation leads 13

to improved perception. Additionally I intend to prove that the use of site-speciﬁ c materials makes the viewer's experience unique, and therefore more memorable.

In the following paper I intend to prove that the interaction of information, material and space – in the best case – creates an experience of information for the viewer, whereby he is invited to explore the installation; the viewer has to experience the message. Good environmental lettering and signage has to be site-speciﬁ c, subtle in its appearance, but evocative enough to capture and persistently engage the visitor.

14 15 16 17 chapter 1 an organic approach to public lettering

Lettering is omnipresent our daily lives and takes a great variety of forms; it involves two diﬀ erent types of reading behaviour: private and voluntary, public and involuntary. 7 7 –Gray, 1974, p.247

As Nicolete Gray realized, our environment is full of information and messages: and it is not only advertising that strives to get our attention. A ﬂ ood of directional signage, architectural lettering, information installations and other forms of public lettering surrounds us. The mentioned forms of public lettering all induce a common reading behaviour: they are read in public, and as Gray argues, involuntarily. However I am not convinced that every piece of public lettering can or should be considered as involving an act of involuntary reading. Take, for example, a piece of lettering that was installed in the public for the purpose of giving further information about historical data, memorable events, or the displaying of a piece of literature concerning some certain place. If a viewer is interested, he might read this piece of information – just like he might open a book he is interested in. This kind of action, though involving public lettering, has the characteristics of what Gray calls an act of private and voluntary reading.

Nevertheless, Gray is right, when she argues that even book jackets and record sleeves are displayed in shops, and designed with this (the prior involuntary act of reading) in mind.8 Whether public or private reading 8 – Gray, 1974, p. 250 behavior is the goal, a message must be designed with the viewer in mind. Good public lettering must fi rst attract the viewer, if it is to be read – before it can encourage the viewer to cross the border from involuntary to voluntary reading. Just as a book jacket’s primarily task is to catch the potential reader’s attention, any lettering installation in the public space must be attractive enough in its appearance to catch the passer-by’s eye. However, what is it that attracts us? What makes a public lettering installation so interesting, that a viewer would choose to approach it – and read it? The answer, I believe, lies in an organic conceptual approach to public lettering: one which takes into account the informational content and communicative medium of the message without losing sight of the site-specifi c features that ensure a unique experience for the viewer. I shall examine what I consider the appropriate approach to public lettering, fi rst by showing what it is not.

Vilém Flusser in ‘The Shape of Things’ elaborated a highly interesting philosophical approach towards a deﬁ nition of information. He describes information as non-things by which we are increasingly surrounded. He continues: There has always been information, and, as for the meaning of the word in-formation, it has to do with ‘form in’ things.9 9 –Flusser, 1999, p. 86 18

For Flusser all things contain information, which can be read, or to use the terminology of communication science, ‘decoded’. In addition, Flusser believes that these non-things displace more and more everyday material things. Non-things are immaterial information, which is impossible 10 – Flusser, 1999, p. 86 to get hold of; it is only open to decoding.10 Taking Flusser’s philosophical view into account, I come to the conclusion that, in an environment full of immaterial information, we must remember that information can be found in every-thing; therefore immaterial information must be retransformed into material information – into a ‘thing’ which may be touched, directly experienced, as well as decoded. In a world increasingly dominated by non-things, the immediacy of material information brings a heightened level of awareness, attracting a viewer's attention by engaging all his senses.

When it comes to designing a lettering installation for a public space it is obligatory, as with any other matter of communication, to think carefully of the content and the purpose of the installation, especially in the preliminary stages. Regarding a lettering installation as a means of 11 – Lasswell’s formula: who says what in which (public) communication, following Harold D. Lasswell 11 there are some channel to whom with what eﬀ ect; quoted in questions that should be considered in order to elaborate a coherent Burkart, 1995, p. 464 concept: What kind of information is going to be displayed, in which context? Who is the potential reader or viewer? How can the message be told the most comprehensively?

Designers use speciﬁ c styles and arrangements of type in order to attract attention, 12 – Lupton, 1996, p.29 interpret content, or set a mood. 12

Regarding Ellen Lupton’s quote, a similar view on design is implied: designers interpret information and by doing so, transform the content into a message with the intention of setting a mood for the act of the message’s interpretation by the viewer. Lupton speaks of styles and arrangements of type: typography is by defi nition the mechanical notation 13 – Baines and Haslam, 2002, p. 7 and arrangement of language.13 This defi nition suggests that type needs a medium – books, magazines, etc. all serve as media. The diff erence between typography and lettering suggested by Phil Baines and Andrew Haslam is that lettering is unique, whereas typography means writing using 14 – Baines and Haslam, 2002, p. 10 repeatable units.14 Lettering is unique by virtue of its placement, which imbues it with a site-specifi c context not found in the traditional domains of typography. Here it may be helpful to draw a connection between Nicolete Gray’s view on public-involuntary and private-voluntary acts of reading: typography is traditionally concerned with private reading matter; lettering on the other hand deals primarily with public reading matter. Therefore, I draw the conclusion that typography can be considered physical when it is reproduced – it is in need of a medium; while lettering can be considered physical already when it is produced – it is a medium. Despite the physical diff erences the two have 19

one thing in common: a mental concept.15 This common mental concept 15 – Gray, 1974, p.251 makes it possible to compare public lettering and typography. The mental concept both have in common is, of course, the letter. Both typography and public lettering deal with the meaningful arrangement of letters, interpreted by a designer in order to communicate a message to a reader.

Jan White, an American graphic designer and editor, points towards the interpretative aspect of typography, when he defi nes type as: speech made visible, with all the nuance, infl ections, tonalities and even dialects of the human voice. 16 16 – Jan White quoted on www.graphic-design.com Nicolete Gray draws a similar analogy between the nuances of speech and the possibilities of lettering. When we listen to speech, we are concerned with the intended message – what the speaker is actually saying – but we also attend to tone of voice, volume, etc. In the same way the designer attends to the nuances of lettering: I see letters as a medium by which the designer transmits not just the meaning which the words spell out, but also his attitude towards those words.17 By focusing exclusively 17 – Gray, 1974, p.253 on the designer’s interpretation, though, Gray forgets about the reader's interpretive role. The most suitable model to explain interpretative action in communication is based on G H Mead’s model of ‘symbolic interactionism’. 18 This model is an approach to social relations that emphasizes 18 – Burkart, 1994, pp. 38 the importance of negotiated meanings associated with symbols exchanged in interaction between the self and others.19 19 – O’Sullivan, Hartley, Saunders According to the model of ‘symbolic interactionism’ communication and Fiske, 1983, p. 235 takes place between a sender and a receiver via a medium through the use of signs and symbols within an agreed social context. Both sender and receiver put in their personal stock of meanings and experiences in order to reach the goal of meaningful agreement. The German sociologist Niklas Luhmann describes communication as the updating of meaning (Sinn)20 between two ‘Kommunikationspartner’: that is the communicator 20 – Burkart, 1994, p. 49 or sender (Kommunikator), the one who intends to communicate; and the receiver (Rezipient), the one who wants to understand. This illustration demonstrates the process of communication as recognized by the model of ‘symbolic interaction’ (fi g. 1):

MEDIUM ABcommunicative actionsigns/symbols communicative action

A’s stock of meanings B’s stock of meanings

AGREEMENT

ﬁ g. 1 – The model of ‘symbolic interactionism’ 20

Certainly, design always has something to do with social communication, and it 21 – Karmasin, 1998, p.13 inherently has very important semiotic functions.21 Taking into account that public lettering is a means of communication, it follows that the reader’s part of decoding and interpreting a message has to be considered in the concept for a public lettering installation.

Usually a designer receives information in form of a written text; this is the content. The content is the basis of which a message is formed. A message, in communication terminology, is defi ned as the means by which 22 – Fiske et alt., 1983, p. 136 the sender aff ects the receiver 22; any message carries a meaning whereby 23 – Fiske et alt., 1983 , p. 132 meaning is the product or result of communication.23 It is the designer’s task to function as a mediator between the sender and the viewer. The designer has to be aware that he informs the message and infl uences the message through his choice of the medium, the arrangement and even the typeface. Any message should be meaningful for the viewer as a whole; the whole appearance should make ‘sense’. Regarding this thought German graphic designer Erik Spiekermann states:

Anyone looking at a printed message will be inﬂ uenced, within a split second of making eye contact, by everything on the page: the arrangement of various elements as well as the individual look of each one. In other words, an overall 24 – Spiekermann, 2003, p. 39 impression is created in our minds before we even read the ﬁ rst word.24

Dealing meaningfully with materials in an agreed context is as important as dealing meaninfully with text, the notation of language, to identify a coherent concept for the purpose of interpreting and communicating information comprehensively – to communicate a message eﬀ ectively.

In the following chapter I will demonstrate how materials are able to support or change the message; sometimes materials can, literally, embody the message.

21 22 23 chapter 2 the material as message and the sensation of change

It is the question of the materials which are (made) available in a culture for the purposes of representation. This applies to surfaces of inscription, to the materials which are applied to surfaces and the tools which are used in the process of representation.25 25 – Kress and Leeuwen, 1996, p.232

In this statement Gunther Kress and Theo van Leeuwen already suggest that materials imbed meaning. I agree with their idea of materials as meaningful 26 , and their explanation in the book ‘Reading Images: The 26 – Kress and Leeuwen, 1996, p.231 Grammar of Visual Design’ that every culture has systems of meanings coded in these materials, and in the means of processes of inscription. 27 27 – Kress and Leeuwen, 1996, p.232 When working with materials it is imperative to consider in which context they will be used, as well as to stock up a vocabulary of meanings in order to be able to articulate a message. If materials convey meaning, however, the ascription of such meanings to materials must be based on convention 28; furthermore, the message conveyed depends on the 28 – Weston, 2003, p. 172 interpretative act of viewing as well as on the viewer’s vocabulary of meanings. Here it is helpful to explain that we all hold such a vocabulary of meanings for materials; we use it in our everyday lives, mainly for its metaphorical element. For example when writing a piece of literature, an author applies materials as metaphors to outline the qualities of human character. Richard Weston gives an example: The ﬂ uidity of light in glass oﬀ ers itself readily as metaphor for a corresponding freedom of the spirit, just as the strength of iron or hardness of stone may become metaphors for similar qualities in human character.29 29 – Weston, 2003, p.172

Nevertheless materials can off er more than one meaning; they can be open for interpretation. Kress and van Leeuwen describe an example for the ambiguity of meaning to be found in materials: ‘glossy’ paper can serve as signifi er of value and yet in diff erent contexts, it can serve as the signifi er of the pretence of value.30 30 – Kress and Leeuwen, 1996, p.232

This ambiguity, however, if used deliberately, is a means to create multiple and simultaneous levels of meanings which can alter the message and therefore urge the viewer to think about the piece of work, reinterpreting it repeatedly. I will return to this thought.

Phil Baines and Catherine Dixon give an overview of materials that are already used for purposes of public lettering and signage in their book ‘Signs’. The list of the various materials discussed is long; however, as Phil Baines suggests in his article ‘Letterforms: History, Values, Possibilities’31, 31 – Baines, 1999–2000, pp. 5–13 it is necessary to look beyond the borders of graphic design to produce good and meaningful lettering and signage. Lettering in the public 24

space can and should be informed by other disciplines of public art that already regard materials and the context of their use as the means to communicate a message meaningfully.

32 – Frank Lloyd Wright, Each material has its own message and, to the creative artists, its own song.32 quoted in Weston, 2003, p. 172 Especially artists have been experimenting with materials as message. The reason for this is that artists work exclusively with materials. By this I mean that most artists’ works lack words that could communicate the message. As Frank Lloyd Wright’s statement already suggests, a good and critical look at the material reveals a huge variety of possibilities to create a deliberate meaning; that is what artists, particularly sculptors, do. The material chosen for the creation of a piece of public lettering is also able to juxtapose the original message carried by the words, creating a second stage of meaning; forcing the viewer to reﬂ ect on the installation involves the viewer in a process of critical examination of the message. An interesting example of an artist who experiments with both words and materials that convey a message is Hungarian sculptor Gyöngy Laky. Laky 33 – Laky in Triggs, 2003, p. 41 wants to experiment with the physical character of a letter and push and alter its meaning as it participates in a word. She is fascinated by the potential for multiple simultaneous meanings.33 Laky describes her approach to lettering, which I consider a perfect example for organic lettering, as follows: The visual physicality of the impact of my word sculptures is conveyed through their shape, material, scale, texture, structuring techniques, colour, etc. The ﬁ g. 2 – Laky's ‘Negative’ tangible nature of the letters becomes inextricably intertwined with its meaning as a recognized word. Then experimentation with form and meaning, their interplay, may continue in the mind of the viewer because my artistic choices have altered the usual reading of a word.33

Her sculpture ‘negative’ (fi g. 2) gives evidence for the materials’ ability to twist a message. The word spells ‘yes’, but the letters are formed fi g. 3 – Laky's ‘Impatience’ like cacti and spiked with nails. It is a diffi cult and scratchy ‘yes’ that is articulated. Laky discovered that she could make a second stage of 34 – Triggs, 2003 reading, interpreting even this negative ‘yes’ as a funny and fuzzy ‘yes’.34

As (…) natural materials have time inscribed in their very structure – from decades or centuries it takes to produce timber, to the untold millennia of 35 – Weston, 2003, p. 123 sedimentation, geological transformations and weathering locked in stone.35

Laky’s installation ‘impatience’ (ﬁ g. 3) plays with this thought, that time already is imbedded in natural materials. It is the sensation of change made obvious. She depicts the transition and change from natural to man- made during time quite literally: by changing the materials from almond prunings to peeled pine sticks across the word ‘time’. Richard Weston, who observed the like in Japan’s traditional architecture, describes a similar process of time-based transition. He discusses the architecture 25

of traditional Japanese tea-houses, where by peeling away layers of construction, the framework gets exposed; literally the whole building process is made visible. He concludes that (…) a signiﬁ cant measure of enjoyment comes from seeing a time-bound process revealed, the ephemeral made permanent.36 Regarding the idea of depicting a time-bound process in a 36 – Weston, 2003, p. 130 material form in the Western world, Weston continues that in the West, deliberately inscribing process in form, time in material, is a pervasively modern idea36; that can inform public lettering, as I would add.

From this can be concluded that natural materials imbed time – and change. Transition is a form of change, and change is how we perceive time 37; it forces the viewer to reﬂ ect on the message by engaging him 37 – Barratt, 1989 in space and time. If time is the basis for the creation of a narrative and materials imbed time, then I can argue that materials can be used to tell a story – due to their ability to change. Jakob Lothe gives a helpful deﬁ nition of a narrative: a narrative presents a chain of events which is situated in time and space.38

In the next paragraphs, I will discuss what I consider intelligent use ﬁ g. 4 – ‘Grass installation’ of structured change and its possible application for the creation of a narrative in lettering and signage for public spaces.

One category of materials is subject to change by its initial concept: biological-organic materials. By this I mean that organisms grow and die; their individual life is based on change across time. Based on the process of evolution, these organic materials developed as a response to changes ﬁ g. 5 – ‘Zurich’ in their environment, such as seasonal change or weather circumstances. Living materials like grass, moss and lichens can be used for public lettering. British artists Heather Ackroyd and Dan Harvey make good use out of growing grass’ ability to change by applying a process they call ‘Photographic Photosynthesis’. 39 This process is based on the plant’s ability to create chlorophyll through the process of photosynthesis, whereby a black and white photograph is projected onto the grass growing on a ﬁ g. 6 – ‘Tree’ surface made out of clay in the dark. As a result, the equivalent tonal range 38 – Lothe, 2000, p. 3 developed in a black and white photograph is created in the grass photograph in 39 – Worth, 2003 shades of yellow and green.40 40 – artists’ homepage

Obviously, due to the fact that most plants generally generate chlorophyll through the process of photosynthesis, Ackroyd’s and Harvey’s ‘Photographic Photosynthesis’ can be applied to almost every green plant; and as the artists’ work proves, almost everywhere. Ackroyd and Harvey grew grass installations in galleries (fi g.4), on a theatre in Zurich, Switzerland (fi g. 5), and on trees (fi g. 6). Instead of photographs or even better in addition to these images, letters too can be projected onto the growing grass. After projecting the image, the artists have to stop the growth of the grass by drying it. Otherwise light can corrupt the visible image. In a living state the grass photograph can exist in 26

subdued light for short periods. In time though the image inevitably fades taking on a quality akin to an old tapestry and, as the contrast lessens, there comes a point when the image disappears.40 In their 1998 photosynthesis installation ‘testament’ (fi g. 7) Ackroyd and Harvey worked with the ephemeral quality of these chlorophyll photographs. This installation was grown in-situ, that means, it was grown directly on site. They took the intimacy of the portrait of an old man and magnifi ed it to a monumental scale of eight metres per eight metres. This bears witness to the passing of time. Within the blades of growing grass, the face became a living landscape. The image emerged as the blades of grass matured and then slowly faded as the grass died over the course of the exhibition.40 fi g. 7 – ‘Testament’ by Ackroyd and Harvey

This transient, temporary quality has an evocative power; and it oﬀ ers, due to its substantial change, the possibility to create a narrative that can be experienced, sensed and interpreted by the viewer.

So far I have been concerned with examples for materials that change; Ackroyd and Harvey’s work proves that temporary change conveys a message. However, as those materials, especially biologically organic materials, change not only in growth and death but in response to environmental circumstances, my investigation has to be taken further. Ackroyd’s and Harvey’s grass changes its colour due to external circumstances: it gets brown when it runs out of water, and green if exposed to sunlight; yet it keeps the image if it is dried. This points to weather, seasonal change, and sunlight as inﬂ uential means to create a meaningful story for an enlivening public lettering installation. From something as ephemeral as the appearance of fog, to changes in light and 41 – Weston, 2003, p. 123 humidity, the materials (of building) are inescapably caught up in the play of time.41

Taking Weston’s thought a bit further, I assume that the weather has 27

always had a great inﬂ uence on the materials we use for either building or even the signs and lettering we produce. Materials age. Complaining about the condition of some of Le Corbusier’s villas, Nikolaus Pevsner described a certain fascination deriving from weathering:

what we are used to enjoy in decay, according to our upbringing, but perhaps also according to just laws of aesthetics, is weathered stone and lichens (…) 42 42 – Weston, 2003, p. 118

Weathering is the literal sign for the permanence of a message, as Roman inscriptions (ﬁ g. 8) on buildings and inscriptions on grave-stones verify. Those names were chiselled into stone a thousand years ago; however they are still readable. Weathering reveals that time passes by and holds an aesthetic fascination, which is able to capture and engage the viewer. Therefore weathering, if taken into consideration deliberately, can be used as a means to generate a meaningful time-based narrative in public lettering installations.

Another example for the playful use of weather for lettering purposes is the work of the Cuban-American Photographer Eduardo Morell, who fi g. 8 – weathering on created a water alphabet (fi g. 9) in 1998. He applied a water resistant Roman inscription substance on a wooden surface, with gaps for the letters. Then he waited for rain to come. Admittedly, Morell’s water alphabet is not the best example for good lettering; but screen-printing could refi ne his method.

American graphic designer Lucinda Hitchcock carried out a highly interesting experiment using the annual snowfall as a blank page (ﬁ g. 10). She spray painted philosopher Martin Heidegger’s words onto layer after layer of snow, which melted, froze and was snowed upon again. The ﬁ g. 9 – Morell's message literally changed due to the amount of snow that fell overnight. water alphabet The project was evidence of the passage of time and the will of the weather.43 43 – Triggs, 2003, p. 153 Moreover it demonstrates that semi-permanent public lettering can make good use of the weather and seasonal change.

Another factor next to weather and seasonal inﬂ uences needs to be discussed for its possibilities of application in meaningful public lettering: natural light. Light has a profound impact on our emotional being. Natural light can be divided into three categories: sunlight, and light emitted by materials (natural luminescence) or organisms (bioluminescence). All three categories share their ability to change a space or create a narrative. ﬁ g. 10 – Hitchcock’s snow experiment 28

In sunlight, certainly, every object casts a shadow. This, obviously, is also true for signs and letters and has been used since the times of the Roman Empire when carving inscriptions into stone.

The carving technique of the ‘v’-cut (fi g. 11) for example uses the contrast of light and shadow to defi ne the shapes of the letters. (Kindersely, fi g. 11 – ‘v’-cut Letters stone cut) Stone carving is a living tradition frequently used in monumental maisonery, as British lettering artist David Kindersley’s work for the British Library (fi g. 12) , and concrete poet and artist Ian Hamilton Finlay’s suculptures (fi g. 13) prove.

An interesting installation designed by architect Cameron McNall in Hollywood plays with shadows projected on the walls of the opposite fi g. 12 – Kindersley’s main-entrance buildings (fi g. 14). As the sun moved, the aluminium signs, shaped as for the British Library silhouettes featuring distinctive fi lm-icons, the images were animated. This project was an attempt to explore the subject of memory, and its connection with cultural products, such as movies. As the photographs demonstrate, 44 – Foges, 2002 this installation applied lettering as well as images.44 Shadow-casts are an interesting solution for animating lettering without applying fi lm, new media or animation technology that should be considered.

The other two light phenomena I mentioned earlier, natural luminescence and bioluminescence, have attracted people ever since their fi rst discovery. Alchemists were fascinated by the unexplainable ‘supernatural’ and ‘cold’ light these substances and organisms emit. Phosphorescent colors have an 45 – Menzi, 2001, p. 60 atmospheric eff ect that puts any gold-leaf halo in the shade.45 Luminous phenomena, if they only occur when stimulated by light or other rays, are called fl uorescent. The other form of luminescence is characterized by the fact that it leaves an afterglow; this phenomenon is known as phosphorescence. As Renate Menzi states in her article ‘In the cold Light’, luminous substances have been used since the Second World War for 46 – Menzi, 2001, p. 60 the purposes of signage.46

Recently luminescent colours have had a revival in the fashion industry. Designer Junya Watanabe even presented a whole clothes collection in the dark. Luminescent beings, as demonstrated in Robert Sharps ‘arch of bioluminescence’ (ﬁ g. 15) function much in the same way as the formerly described processes, apart from the fact that they produce their energy by means of metabolic processes. The project was composed with Petri dishes ﬁ g. 14 – McNall’s shadow-letters painted with bioluminescent bacteria. Its aim was to make people aware of the microscopic world around us.

Luminescent phenomena have a naturally ethereal eﬀ ect; unusual and interesting, they capture the viewer's imagination. The fact that these phenomena are naturally occurring, as opposed to man-made lighting, creates a second level of meaning. 29

In this chapter I have demonstrated that materials convey a message. Organic materials particularly convey several meanings by virtue of their ability to change over time. Furthermore I have given evidence that the creation of a narrative in public lettering by the choice and use of materials is possible, and the fi rst step to engage the viewer into experiencing, and refl ecting on, the message. fi g. 15 – The ‘Arch of In the next chapter my focus will be on the importance of site- bioluminescence’ specifi city and what I call a ‘sense of space’ in order to capture and engage the viewer.

ﬁ g. 13 – Ian Hamilton Finlay’s installation in the landscape 30 31 32 33 chapter 3 the importance of site-specificity and spatial identity

The loss of individuality and the sense of placelessness (…) can be extrapolated to a worldwide context. Mass media, internationalized markets, and tourism suggest a future ‘world-culture’ of stunning sameness.47 fi g. 16 – Richard Long’s red slate circle The same criticism of globalization as in this quote from an article 47 – Lupton and Miller in by Ellen Lupton and J Abbott Miller – discussing the global eff ect of Bierut, 1997, p. 210 internationalized brands and advertising campaigns – can be discovered in Phil Baines’ and Catherine Dixon’s book ‘Signs’. When speaking of the infl uence of the corporate world on public lettering, they emphasize that nothing eradicates a sense of locality more than the consistent promotion of an identity.48 I agree that the increasing internationalization and 48 – Baines and Dixon, 2003, p. 101 consequential trend to boost uniformity and standardization furthers the decline of local identity. This decline of site-specifi c uniqueness can still be observed in public lettering and signage projects, although Nicolete Gray, author of ‘Lettering on Buildings’, already emphasized as early as in the 1960s that it is the relative balance between these two essential elements of utility and personality which determines the scope of the fi eld.49 49 – Baines and Dixon, 2003, p.96

Nevertheless, when Gray talks about personality (she uses it here ambiguously as the personality of the letter-artist and the personality of a place), I have to argue that the term ‘personality’ is not determined enough to reveal the importance to be found in the surrounding environment of a lettering installation. Rather ‘identity’ is the term that best describes a place and its very unique character. Here it is helpful to look at the deﬁ nition of identity in corporate design:

Identity is the unique character of a group or brand – a combination of reputation, name, culture, manner and values. Identity design represents these qualities and in doing so adds something to them. (…).50 50 – www.pentagram.com

I regard this view on ‘identity’ as valid for the purpose of the creation of a site-identity, because a place has a story and a context in which the viewer sees it. For defi ning and activating a place for public lettering purposes it is imperative to fi nd the place’s unique qualities and characteristics; only then a spatial identity can be created. Defi ning such a site-identity at the outset helps a designer make decisions when working in a certain space in a certain time, as well as making the viewers’ experience of a place unique. Obviously a helpful tool to elaborate a site- specifi c identity is to identify and use site-specifi c materials within the public lettering installation.

Various landscape artists, like British artists Andy Goldsworthy, Richard Long (ﬁ g. 16) or Herman de Vries, make good use of found materials to 34

create installations on-site; moreover they use only site-specifi c materials in their work. Andy Goldsworthy’s example (fi g. 17) shows an on-site installation of Sumach leaves placed around a hole. Goldsworthy, like the other two mentioned artists, works in the nature and with it. His work is sympathetic to the environment and is not intended to last forever. Herman de Vries’ ‘from scottish earth’ (fi g. 18) is a collection of clay fi g. 17 – Andy Goldswothy’s and earth taken from 140 areas in Scotland and rubbed on canvas, an Sumach leaves placed around a hole impressive example of natural colour coding. All these examples prove that every place has its individual and unique composition of materials and colours, which can – and hence should – be utilized for public lettering installations.

ﬁ g. 18 –Herman de Vries’ collection of Scottish earth

Nevertheless, I agree with Phil Baines and Catherine Dixon who already emphasized in their book ‘Signs’ that standardization is legitimate and especially important for purposes of regulatory signs – road signs, for example, which must convey information as effi ciently and clearly as possible. However the designers of design consultancy Pentagram give a defi nition of the diff erent purposes of signs in their approach to signage design: Signage design is as much about identity as context and clarity. Direction or wayfi nding signs tell you where to go (…) Identifi cation signs tell you what and where. (…) And information signs just tell you.50

Yet I argue that there is more to information signs than plain ‘telling’. Good information installations can make the viewer experience the information – they can evoke emotions and associations in the viewer’s mind. Hence, the creation of a unique experience for the viewer must be the goal of any public lettering installation, especially those dealing with additional information. I will discuss the role of signage and wayﬁ nding systems for the creation of this experience in the next chapter. 35

An example of a designer who works mainly in the fi eld of signage design is Swiss graphic designer Ruedi Baur. Together with his company Intégral-Ruedi Baur et associées he realized signage systems and interdisciplinary projects which demonstrate both good use of site- specifi c materials and the relevance of spatial-contextual considerations in a concept. fi g. 19 – Ruedi Baurs signage For his project at Puy de Dôme (fi g. 19) in France, Ruedi Baur designed system for Puy de Dôme a touristic signage system for the area. He used site-specifi c materials for display purposes. Basalt and volcanic stones are a reference to the area which was formed mainly by its volcano that became extinct. The use of site-specifi c materials created and emphasized the local and spatial identity of Puy de Dôme; it emphasized the aerial and historical uniqueness of this part of France. In his design for the museum and archaeological park Kalkriese in Germany, he had to deal with the history of a place where thousand years ago the ancient Germans defeated the numerically and technically superior Roman army; that could have resulted in a thoroughly national message to glorify the German victory. This interpretation had to be avoided. So the concept had to be approached with particular sensibility to the historical context. Therefore the decision was made to incorporate the course of the battle critically in three pavilions that dealt with three topics: seeing, hearing, understanding. Throughout the archaeological park the visitors are confronted with three points of view: the Germanic, the Roman, and the archaeological interpretation of the events. A hundred of enormous metal-plates (fi g. 20) form the pavement of the pathway leading the viewer from pavilion to pavilion. These metal-plates can be interpreted as a reminder of the armours and arms which were used during the battle; furthermore the inscriptions on these plates tell the visitor about the events. It was Ruedi Baur’s initial concept to make the viewer experience the story of this place; moreover, by referencing the armours and arms with his use of the metal-plates, he generated a site- specifi c context and environment for the viewer.51 51 – Höger, 2003

Ruedi Baur's work for the museum Kalkriese demonstrates a sense for information, context and history; moreover it shows a sense of space. I will discuss what I call a ‘sense of space’ and why I consider it as vital to deal aesthetically and poetically with public lettering installations within the following paragraphs. ﬁ g. 20 – Museum and park Kalkriese, Germany 36

Certainly, spaces have a context. Their context might be intellectual, associative or historical. Any location of a piece of information installation or public lettering has the ability to alter its meaning, or support it; just as the installation and its message has the potential to alter the way that the surrounding environment is interpreted.52

As Michel Foucault said: Space itself (…) has a history, and one cannot fail to take note of this inevitable interlocking of time with space.53

Therefore when working on a lettering installation with conceptual intentions, it is imperative to reﬂ ect on the whole of a place: social context of a place in space and time. By that I mean that for successful public lettering projects it is imperative to look beyond the actual brief and see the people for whom it is planned, as well as to include the history of the place in the concept, and to evaluate what feelings, experiences and messages places and context trigger.

‘smashed to pieces (in the still of the night)’ (fi g. 21), a lettering piece by artist Lawrence Weiner installed in Vienna in 1991, takes into account the history of the space where it was displayed. The work was essentially concerned with the idea that things heard in the day sound diff erent in the night; but by placing the letters on a derelict wwii Flakturm (anti-aircraft tower) the viewer cannot resist interpreting the message as metaphor fi g. 21 – ‘Smashed to pieces’, for the falling bombs. If I put it in another context (…) it has a totally diff erent Vienna, Austria metaphor, the artist states. You put that piece in the South Pacifi c and all night 52, 54 – Foges, 2002, p. 78 you will hear coconuts falling, all day you hear coconuts falling. 54 53 – Faubion, 1994, p. 176 This example is truly site-specifi c and cannot be interpreted the same way anywhere else. It demonstrates that the context – time and space – must be taken into consideration to achieve a good, site-specifi c public lettering installation; through its use of a metaphor that works diff erently in diff erent contexts, Weiner’s installation reveals a sense of space.

A sense of space, in my deﬁ nition, is the ability to work within a certain space, a certain context and a certain time, conceptually with aesthetic, poetic sensibility.

I think we could all be aware of the civility of design, of how we design fosters meaning, interest and beauty. How design can be purposefully constructive in a 55 – Miller in Walters, 2002, p. 56 poetic sense, not just like a sneeze of capitalist excess. 55

J Abbott Miller’s statement mirrors quite well the previously mentioned thought by Erich Grominger to establish poetry in the ﬁ eld 56 – Grominger, 1976 of the creative arts as a means for structuring the social environment.56 Grominger argues that the way poets, especially concrete poets, aesthetically visualize the structure of language could and should inform the way graphic designers deal with texts; or generally, as I would add, information. Nevertheless he believes that there are poets who are poor 37

graphic designers and typographers, and typographers and graphic designers who are poor poets in the sense that they cannot order material in the spirit of a synthesizing experience.57 57 – Grominger, 1974, p. 235

If given the chance a poet is able to activate spaces poetically, meaningfully, and aesthetically. The best example of a poet who, as an artist, had the possibility to create word-installations in his hometown Barcelona is Joan Brossa. In his article ‘Sculptured letters and public poetry’ Phil Baines describes Brossa as a visual poet aware of his cultural identity. This cultural identity becomes most obvious when looking at his installation ‘lletres fugitives’ (fi g. 22). In the offi ces of Circulo de Lectores in Barcelona, Spain, Brossa's lettering installation, which means in English ‘fugitive letters’, has been installed as a homage to his native language, Catalan. His favourite letter ‘a’ as well as the Catalan letter ‘c’ and ‘x’ are abstracted from the installed alphabet and projected on to the fl oor. His message of letters that are fugitive in the common language can be experienced in a metaphorical way. Brossa’s public lettering fi g. 22 – ‘Llettres Fugitives’, installation is an example for how poetic sense, merged into a sense by poet Joan Brossa. of space, can engage the viewer; in this case, by experiencing Brossa’s feelings of misplaced identity.

Morecambe, a British seaside town, best known as one of the most important wildlife sites in Europe, is the location for Why Not associates’ and artist Gordon Young’s typographic walk (they are currently working in collaboration with poet Roger Mc Gough to shape one of his poems in steel and stone around a new fountain in Liverpool). I consider this public lettering installation as an example of eff ectively using the whole story of a site, as well as for the creation of a unique, site-specifi c experience. ‘a fl ock of words’ (fi g. 23 and fi g. 24) is a path of poems, traditional sayings and song lyrics that all relate to birds. It begins with the book of Genesis and stretches from Shakespeare to Spike Milligan. The pavement is constructed from granite, concrete, steel, brass, bronze and glass. The combination of technology – the type on the pavement was generated on a computer – and sculptural materials used to create the pathway is interesting. When it came to choosing the typefaces, the decision to use typefaces by type-designer Eric Gill was infl uenced to a degree by the fi g. 23 – ‘A fl ock of words’, fact that the path leads directly to an art deco hotel that boasts a logo and Morecambe, Britain murals by Gill.

The aim of this project was to enliven the public space in Morecambe; to make the viewers think by reading and interpreting the poems. Due to its monumental scale – the path has a length of 300 metres – and due to the way the poems are arranged, this public lettering installation creates an emotional experience for the viewers. In an interview with Creative ﬁ g. 24 – ‘A ﬂ ock of words’, Review’s Paula Carson, Andy Altman, designer at Why Not Associates, typographic walk 38

tells a story about one of the builders he worked with on the path: He and I were stood on a piece of Siegfried Sassoon poetry one day and I was telling him that Sassoon was a First World War poet, Altman recalls. The next day he told me that he’d checked him out on the internet, and he told me a few facts about 58 – Creative Review, him. I just thought, ‘well, it’s worked then.’58 www.mad.co.uk, 2002 With this public lettering installation the designers have created an emotional experience for the viewer that, together with the message, lives on in his memory. I come to this conclusion applying the following thought: The experience of being in place occurs in time, is far more than visual, 59 – Bloomer and Moore, 1977, pp. 106 and is generally as complex as the image of it which stays in our memory.59 Bloomer and Moore conclude in their book ‘Body, Memory, and Architecture’ that at least to some extent every place can be remembered; partly because every place is unique, aﬀ ecting our bodies as well as our minds, and thereby generating associations to hold it in our personal world. I consider their conclusion likewise valid for public lettering installations, for lettering installations as well as architecture are constructed in the public space; they are the environment.

In this chapter I have demonstrated that good public lettering, especially for purposes of giving additional information and enlivening public spaces, must take into account the historical, spatial and social context of the place at which it will be displayed. From this context, the site-identity can be extracted. Furthermore I have given examples for the good use of site-speciﬁ c materials in order to emphasize spatial identity. Additionally I have deﬁ ned what I call a ‘sense of space’ as the ability to work within a certain space, a certain context and a certain time, conceptually with aesthetic and poetic sensibility. In the last paragraphs my emphasis lay on the potential of poetic walks to generate a meaningful emotional experience for the viewer. As I have shown, by the means of an experience a place is more likely to be remembered; the message that has been displayed at that place will be connected with this memory.

In the next chapter I will focus on the impact of internationalization, worldwide travel and globalization on public wayfi nding and signage systems. First I shall examine various approaches to signage design and wayfi nding systems, and their applications in the public space. I will consider that clarity and readability of the message must be the fi rst goal whenever considering a signage or wayfi nding system. In the last paragraphs I will elaborate when and in which context site-specifi city and the creation of a viewer experience are achievable and desirable for public signage projects.

39 40 41 chapter 4 preserving clarity in the face of diversity

Signs should contain only essential information and their signifi cance should be clear at a glance so that the driver’s attention is not distracted from the task of driving. 61 60 – Worboys quoted in Baines and Dixon, 2003, p.12 As Walter Worboys’ statement taken from a 1963 report of the committee on traffi c signs for all-purpose roads implies, clarity and readability of a sign’s message are imperative, particularly when aimed at a person whose attention should be primarily drawn to a task diff erent from navigation. A helpful example for such an action could be driving a car, where the driver’s full attention should be drawn to the street, and not looking for the next sign to tell him where he is. J A Prince, Professor of Ophthalmology at Ohio State University, discussed the importance of speed in conveying messages to high speed traffi c in the early 1960s. He gave a formula for calculating the number of seconds available for comprehension of a message at given rates of speed. He came to the conclusion that the permissible times for drivers travelling at diff erent rates of speed vary, particularly when considering how much viewing time is safe: Travelling at 40 mph, the driver has about 8.5 seconds at his disposal. At 60 mph, the safe viewing time is about 2.5 seconds, and at 70 mph, the driver can only aff ord to spend 1 second looking at anything other than the highway. 61 61 – Prince in Karen and R James Claus, As Dr Prince’s example proves, signs must enable a traveller or visitor 1974, p. 1 to make decisions within seconds. If anyone gets confused, this can be in the worst cases fatal, as when driving a car. Additionally, a confusing and unclear signage system can cause stress or the impression that the facility does not care about its users, as in the case of a passenger who arrives at an airport in another country with a diff erent language worrying if he still might be able to get to the gate of his fl ight connection on time. When we travel we normally want to arrive at our destination as quickly as possible by taking the fastest route. The traveller is dependent on signs and maps, especially when he has to fi nd his way in or through an unfamiliar place. Given this one might come to the conclusion that people who travel need to be guided; furthermore, people usually want to be guided. As I will show later, a successful wayfi nding system must give a sense of order to its user.62 62 – Gregory, 2000, p. 116

Generally, signs function as directional, informational or regulatory devices63. Though traﬃ c signs are what we are most familiar with, signage 63 – Baines and Dixon, 2003, p.12 is essential wherever people must ﬁ nd their way through (…) types of complex environments: museums, hospitals, multi-building companies or institutions, airports, shopping centres, campuses, hotels.64 Signs that guide us when going 64 – Adrianne Gregory in Trulove, somewhere date back to the Roman empire and can be found all over 2000, p.116 the world – although the style of representation varies from country to country, the principles are generally the same.65 Certainly, those principles are 65 – Baines and Dixon, 2003, p. 12 based on considerations about an appropriate design to achieve fast and 42

easy perception and comprehension of the sign’s message. Hence the issue of such basic design principles must be – as well as visibility and legibility – readability, which in this context is the readers’ ability to correctly perceive and comprehend the informational content of a sign and the 66 – Karen and R James Claus, 1974, pp. 1 clarity of its message.66

Adrianne Gregory explains in James G Trulove’s book ‘This Way’ that good nomenclature is as vital for the conception of a successful signage system as its consistency and design. I agree with her view that standardizing of words, syntax, grammar, spellings, and symbols used to communicate information for public use ensures that the information will be presented consistently and the content of the messages will appear clear to the viewer. Standardization and the consistent use of the nomenclature are essential for successful signage design. Taking this thought further Chris Foges comes to the conclusion that consistency is important – not just a consistent use of typography, naming and symbols between individual signs, but between signs and all of the other elements of the wayﬁ nding system. Furthermore he concludes that consistency of placement is also 67 – Foges, 2002, p. 45 important.67

When we travel or enter an unfamiliar area, we get agitated and we instinctively want to read signs if only to reassure us that we have made the correct 68 –Foges, 2002, p. 40 decision about which way to go.68 As Foges’ statement implies, people like to be guided in order to feel more comfortable in an unfamiliar space, or to be reassured in their choice of direction. Considering the positive, reassuring, psychological eff ects of signage systems, it is imperative to strictly follow the principles of standardization as well as to use the previously agreed and tested signs and words in a consistent and logical manner. Unexpectedly diff ering signs can cause confusion. In order to avoid confusion, a sign system 69 – Gregory in Truelove, 2000, p.116 must communicate critical information quickly, clearly, and memorably69 – 70 – Foges, 2002, p. 40 one might say that a sign system should be almost redundant 70 – but neither unimaginative nor artifi cial.

According to Carol Jerome, an American signage and exhibition designer, by balancing a fl uidity of design and motion, successful signage enables people to move intuitively through and within a space. Intuitive wayfi nding generates positive perceptions of a space, helps visitors to feel familiar and at home, and cultivates the ease associated with welcoming 71 – Jerome in Trulove, 2000, p. 84 environments.71 Nevertheless I argue that, considering the previously discussed principles of clarity and readability, any signage system can only give the appearance of intuitive sense; a signage system must guide the viewer unambiguously, leaving, apparently, no space for the viewer’s own interpretation. A viewer’s intuition, his ‘stomach-feelings’, cannot be an appropriate tool for wayfi nding in public spaces. Therefore signage systems should be based on logical analysis and reason, as the following example verifi es: Romedi Passini, an architect 43

with a doctorate in environmental psychology, undertook studies of wayfi nding problems in urban Montreal in the 1970s, which led to a conceptualisation of wayfi nding as a two-stage activity that includes decision-making and decision executing. 72 Taking into account Passini’s 72 – Foges, 2002, p. 45 fi ndings and applying them to wayfi nding and signage systems hence means that signs should be placed at all decision-making areas. Those areas include, certainly, the entrances of a space and all the places where visitors must decide whether to turn right or left and so on. 73 73 – Foges, 2002, p. 45 For consistency of placement, a distinct hierarchy of information that includes primary and secondary directional signs for major destinations is the means to a clear and user-friendly signage system. Such a hierarchy of information not only establishes a system of visual cues that a user can cognitively understand, but saves money as well. 74 According to Adrianne Gregory, any 74 – Gregory in Trulove, 2000, p.117 signage system based on hierarchy of information should consist of wayfi nding, identifi cation for arrival at destinations, regulatory signage to manage behaviour, instructional to educate, and informational signs to inform and to build interest. As I already discussed earlier in this paper, I consider the latter as a potential application for the method of organic lettering.

In the next paragraphs I shall discuss the standardization of signs as a means to easy-made worldwide travel as well as the eﬀ ects of globalization on the design of signage systems for public spaces. I will show that if information is presented in a common form, it enables people to move around the world more easily; but standardization bears the danger of homogeneity of design, as well as misunderstanding if diﬀ erent cultural readings of a sign are possible.

If this standardization across large parts of the world makes it easy for the international traveller to feel at home, its downside is the tendency for everywhere to look the same. 75 75 – Baines and Dixon, 2003, p. 14

Standardization of signs is a phenomenon that gained importance by the increasing amount of international travel after the end of WWII and since has been evolving as a signiﬁ cant part of a world that moves faster year by year; a world which worldwide travel and globalized communications turned into McLuhan’s said ‘global village’.

One of the fi rst attempts to create an international standard for signs was ratifi ed by the Geneva convention on the unifi cation of road signals in 1931, which in 1949 was revised as a protocol. As Phil Baines and Catherine Dixon explain in their book ‘Signs’, the protocol describes three kinds of traffi c signs: signs to warn, signs to prohibit and signs to instruct. The Geneva protocol gives general standards for the contents, colours and the form of the signs, but does not go into specifi c requirements for their appearance. Due to the lack of specifi city, the drawings on the signs vary from country to country, as well as the treatment of border widths 44

and the actual methods on how to mount a sign. As the examples (ﬁ g. 25) show, it is still possible for the driver to identify the meaning of the signs; nevertheless, even more standardized pictograms and their consistent use for traﬃ c signs, as well as a regular method for the placement of these signs would be helpful, as they enable the driver to decode the sign’s message without interpretation.

The ideal of an universally comprehensible picture language dates back to the modernist thinking of the 1920, when Otto Neurath, a Viennese philosopher and social scientist, invented isotype, the international fi g. 25 – Traffi c signs system of typographic picture education, in the 1920s and 1930s as a 76 – Lupton and Miller, 1996,, pp. 41 means of public, cross-cultural education. 76 isotype has now become the basis for the ubiquitous signage found in train stations, airports, and art museums, although he used them to display social statistics in a visually 77 – Lupton and Millerin Bierut, 1997, p. 211 accessible way. 77 78 – Lupton and Miller in Bierut, 1997, p. 206 Reduced icons collapse a verbal message into a visual mark 78, and, seemingly, make it possible to communicate comprehensibly to a broad international audience in a simple and eff ective way.

What many instances of internationalization show, however, is a hegemonic relationship between the oﬃ cially sanctioned ‘language of internationalism’ and 79 – Lupton and Miller in Bierut, 1997, p. 210 the speciﬁ c cultural contexts they inhabit. 79

Pictograms, like all symbolic systems, rely on a common cultural 80 – Baines and Haslam, 2002, p.19 context of the author and the reader. 80 Considering international communication, certainly, the stock of meanings diﬀ ers from country to country, from culture to culture as the two following examples described by Ellen Lupton and J Abbott Miller reveal: the sign for ‘women’s toilet’ in s Saudi Arabian university had to be modiﬁ ed by the addition of the 81, 82 – Lupton and Miller in Bierut, 1997, p. 210 silhouette of a veil, since the long dress depicted could just as easily 83 – Foges, 2002, p. 41 signify the traditional robes worn by Muslim men. 81 In the second example Lupton and Miller describe the poorly conceived sign that has been used on San Diego freeways to alert drivers to Mexican immigrants who run across the freeway to avoid the customs checkpoints. The image of the family in that sign was interpreted by Spanish-speaking people as a directive to ‘cross here’. 82

fi g. 26 – French information sign Considering this danger of misinterpretation of pictograms, signage systems at airports, in train stations or any public transport system, display, additionally, multilingual information. However it seems that in these examples from France (fi g. 26) and Korea (fi g. 27) not even readability is of paramount importance; with wayfi nding overriding aesthetic considerations, 83 too much information displayed without any hierarchy can destroy the intended clarity of the message. An example of a signage system where the priority lay on clarity and fi g. 27 – Korean information sign readability was Ottl Aicher’s design for the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich. For this signage system he developed simple and universally 45

ﬁ g. 28 – Ottl Aicher’s design for the Olympics at Munich

comprehensible pictograms (fi g. 28), but for the display of information Aicher relied on Swiss typographer Adrian Frutiger’s typeface Univers. This sans serif typeface (fi g. 29), as its name implies, is based on the concept of a universally applicable typeface. For the design Frutiger lay his emphasize on best possible readability and clarity, as well as multiple languages, which made the consideration of special characters for diff erent languages necessary. Due to its readability Univers, alongside Helvetica and some lesser known sans serif typefaces, has become one of the most commonly used typefaces for the display of information and signage systems. 84 84 – Friedrich Friedl, 1998

Unlike lettering (…) signs do not need to be site-speciﬁ c, they need to be clearly identiﬁ ed for what they are and stand out from their surroundings. 85 85 – Baines and Dixon, 2003, p. 12

Regarding this quote by Phil Baines and Catherine Dixon, I argue that, certainly, signs need to stand out from their surroundings, and the prior task of signs is to clearly, eff ectively and consistently guide people through unfamiliar places. But globalized signage led to a tendency to homogenize places all over the world. In order to counter this homogenization, local diff erences must be maintained. fi g. 29 – Frutiger’s typeface Eff ective signage takes into account the aesthetics of a space and provides Univers in an early stage a hierarchy of information to eliminate confusion and ease orientation in an unfamiliar environment. 86 86 – Carol Jerome in Trulove, 2000, p. 83

As Ruedi Baur’s signage system for the Cité Internationale proves, the creation of an outstanding site-speciﬁ c signage system, one that takes into account the cultural, spatial and historical context of a place in an not only aesthetical and welcoming, but also clear and consistent manner, is possible – and, therefore, should be considered more often. For this signage and identity project at the campus of the University of Paris, 46

France, Ruedi Baur devised a consistent colour coding system for the various destinations, which he applied within the campus in an aesthetic way. With the design of a unique typeface based on the diff erent alphabets of the students’ home countries (fi g. 30), he referenced the tradition of the university to enable foreign students to study in its premises, which reaches back to medieval times, as well as mirrored the mixed origin of the students. He created a unique signage system for and within a certain environment that helps generate site-specifi city aesthetically.

I agree when Ellen Lupton and J Abbott Miller state in their article ‘Critical Wayﬁ nding’ that signs, arrows, instructions, ‘you-are-here’-maps, advertisements, and other kind of information set up the conditions in which 87 – Lupton and Miller in Bierut, 1997p. 206 experience takes place. 87 As I elaborated in the previous chapter, travellers, visitors, drivers – or more generally, people – rely on directional, informational and regulatory devices due to their agitated state of mind when moving through an unfamiliar space; they need and want to be guided.

An eﬀ ective signage system has the ability to guide the visitors to a unique experience – furthermore, it is part of it – yet without losing sight of a signage system’s main purpose: to communicate critical information as quickly, clearly, and memorably as possible. Unlike lettering, signage should not leave any space for the viewer’s own interpretation.

ﬁ g. 30 – Ruedi Baur’s typeface for the Cité Internationale, Paris 47 48 49 conclusion

(…) lettering cannot be reduced to function in the sense of legibility. Its function is to convey an impression, as well as to spell out words; also it is part of a whole, and must be related to the function and design of that whole.88 88 – Gray, 1960, p.39

In the previous chapters I have shown that public lettering is a mixture between private voluntary and public involuntary reading: public lettering can be considered as an act of private voluntary reading after having caught the attention of the potential reader. Furthermore I have introduced the importance of a structured concept behind any public lettering plans that includes the viewer’s interpretative act regarding the message.

Additionally, I have proven that the choice of the material used for any lettering installation, as well as the intelligent use of structured change, has the ability to support the message to be communicated. I have demonstrated that the creation of a site-speciﬁ c identity is able to create a unique experience for the viewer; and I have shown that a sense of space paired with a poetical approach to public lettering has the potential to make the viewer’s experience even more exciting.

In this last chapter I defi ne a successful public lettering installation as one that is remembered. Like Altman’s construction worker, the viewer will refl ect on the message from a good public lettering installation long after he has stopped looking at it; the experience, if it is a signifi cant one, remains with him and subtly infl uences his future actions. I will outline the process by which this aim is reached, drawing upon the conclusions from my previous chapters. Organic lettering, which includes the contextual approach to public lettering and the use of organic or site-specifi c materials, creates the kind of unique experience that enhances a viewer’s perception of the message and ensures that it will be remembered.

The three stages of the viewing process I describe as attention, perception, and reﬂ ection. To attract the viewer’s attention by means of public lettering is, as I have previously stated, to encourage him to cross the border from public to private reading. This is achieved by use of visually appealing, unusual or evocative materials – by the use of organic materials – creating the story of a place. Once the viewer’s attention is caught, the installation must be captivating enough to engage him for some length of time. We perceive time as change in space; materials which are capable of change have the potential to greatly impact our perception of a message. Like Lucinda Hitchcock’s Heidegger quotation imprinted and reprinted on the melting snow, such materials make us aware of the passage of time and add a second level of meaning to the written word. This is the stage of 50

interpretation, and hence of experience: 89 – Walter Bauer-Wabnegg, 1997, p. 99 For all forms of experiencing reality always result from interpretive perception.89 Experience is the interpretation of perception, which is in turn the sum of all our sensations. In a social world driven by entertainment which engages more and more of the senses at once – virtual reality being the ultimate, perhaps – experience is the key word, the means to success: ‘homo ludens’, the new human being does not wish to do or to have but to 90 – Flusser, 1999, p. 89 experience.90 While this example has a rather negative connotation, the designer must anticipate in the conception of a project the intended viewer’s expectations and possible reactions – the organic approach – even if the aim of the installation is educational or informational. If a public lettering installation is to be a signiﬁ cant experience, then, it must engage all the senses. The sensible quality, far from being coextensive 91 – Merleau-Ponty, 1945, p. 261 with perception, is the peculiar product of an attitude of curiosity or observation.91 It is this attitude of curiosity that the use of organic materials, particularly those that change, produces in the viewer. When we observe something changing, we are aware of its location in space and time; by consciously directing this awareness, a good use of the materials can also make us aware of our own position in space and time. This dynamic relation is what I would like to call the experience of a place. The story of a place is told by the materials and the experience of a place is the story of the viewer. While any public lettering installation can, theoretically, tell a story, the creation of a narrative for a place is most literal when the installation is of a poetic nature. Here it is necessary to identify a metaphor in words, materials or structure that captures the poetry of a space: For it involves bringing about a veritable awakening of poetic creation, even in the soul of the reader, through reverberations of a single poetic image. (…) The poetic image places us at the 92 – Bachelard, 1964, p. xxiii origin of the speaking being.92 Here, as in the case of Laky’s prickly ‘yes’, the relation between material and message alters the viewer’s perception and therefore experience. While the materials do not speak in words, when they are consciously used as metaphor the eﬀ ect is as if they could – so closely are imagery and language intertwined. A meaningful interpretation is, in turn, active and creative. It adds something to perception and is partly subjective. It connects the thing seen to other things in a 93 – Vihma, 1997, p. 39 reference relation, to things that have been seen before.93 Furthermore, it is this aspect of memory-stored referential interpretation, that enables us to identify, classify and evaluate places, messages – our whole environment. However you can only recognize what you have perceived once before: This (…) makes for continuity in our perception of the environment, and also facilitates the utilization of memories of past experiences and the application of reasoning and judgment in evaluating 94 – Vernon, 1970, p. 5 events before reacting or deciding how to react.94 Past experiences build our stock of meanings that we use for referencing and evaluation of events; within this stock of experiences 51

unique events or experiences are more likely to be remembered. To generate unique experiences within a certain context, within a certain time, in a certain space is therefore the goal to be achieved by a good public lettering installation.

Perhaps as a ﬁ rst step in this direction designers must learn to be good storytellers. Because just as images construct visual realities, stories construct lived and thus social reality.95 95 – Walter Bauer-Wabnegg, 1997, p. 107

No matter what we do, we perceive, interpret and make experiences. These experiences are stored in our memory and form our stock of references that we use to evaluate and interpret new experiences. Therefore design has to be experienced. Designers are regarded as the mediators between a sender and a viewer. If they consider the organic whole, the message, the exceptional features of the medium, the contextual facts and possibilities, without losing sight of the viewer’s interpretative act, the overall perception of the message will be improved.

This improvement of perception is the ultimate purpose of organic lettering as I have deﬁ ned it. 52

We’re involved in redeﬁ ning where design stops and art starts. It’s shifting perceptions of what an artist can do and what a designer can do. 68 – Burnstone, Eye, 2002, p. 3 – Gordon Young 68 53 54

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