what are we looking at?

What are we looking at?

text [ or visual communication ]in our ubiquitous contemporary urban landscape

Progress?

communication in the landscape The earliest European cave paintings are 32,000 years old. Some theories hold that they

may have been a way of communicating with others, while other theories ascribe them a

religious or ceremonial purpose.

Cave paintings from Lascaux, France 15000BC

petroglyphs are images incised in rock, usually by prehistoric, especially

Neolithic, peoples. They were an important form of pre-writing symbols, used

in communication from approximately 10,000 B.C.E. to modern times, depend-

ing on culture and location.

Early written symbols were based on pictographs (pictures which resemble

what they signify) and ideograms (symbols which represent ideas). They were

used by the ancient Chinese culture since around 5000 BC and began to develop

into logographic writing systems around 2000 BC. Pictographs are still in use

as the main medium of written communication in some non-literate cultures in

Africa, the Americas, and Oceania.

pictographs are pictures representing a word or idea, such as a hieroglyph. It is meant to convey an idea or part of speech through visual communication. They are found many times in cave dwellings and are now used in modern society as symbols to convey common places, directions or warnings.

A look at ancient pictograph writing shows how the same symbols are found throughout the world and many are still in use today.

The earliest verifiable form of communication through advertising was the “crier” or “barker”, who would announce

his masters wares for sale in the market square or at the gates of the city. When fixed locations for trade became more

common, the displaying of symbols or trade signs to draw the consumer began to be more commonplace. Examples

of carvings in stone and brick have been found in Greek, Roman and Egyptian cities dating from about 3000 BC onward.

This wall painting shows a baker distribut-ing his loaves of bread; clearly indicating what type of product could be purchased from the shop inside the building.

Graffiti has been found outside various temples of Pompeii before Mount Vesuvius erupted in A.D. 79 and buried their city

Trajan’s Column

C 113 BC

The square capitals in the inscription at the base of this monument are considered by many to embody the ulti-

mate resolution of Latin letterform evolution. The letters are perfect in function, conveying a sense of power per-

fectly. They evolved with the architecture of the time, the connection between these rounded letters and the arched

vaults and cupolas of their buildings are obvious. They have been studied by numerous type designers for almost

20 centuries—the prototype for many derivative typefaces including the famous Edward Johnston, Eric Gill and

Carol Twombly reinterpretations.

After the Dark Ages, the increase in trade, commerce and wealth encouraged

increasingly elaborate and artistic forms of trade signs. The use of carvings,

bright paint, ornamental iron and even gilding encouraged competition between

merchants to see who could create the most elaborate signs. In the early 1700’s

the very first sign regulations were put in place to protect the public from large

signs hanging too far into the narrow streets.

pub signs get the most attention from a historical perspective became a method of

advertising after King Richard II passed an Act in 1393 that required all alehouses to

post a sign. This was to identify themselves to the official ale tasters rather than to

promote their establishments to the public, but the practice caught on. The result was

signs that were highly creative and unusual, even by today’s standards.

The production of newspapers, flyers and catalogues

occurred during the mid 1800’s. This coincided with the

invention of gas lighting and electric bulbs creating a

new technology.

Mid-1800s New York City. Carpenters, printers, sign

painters, jobbers—the kind of workers who kept grow-

ing in the city at that time

Mishkin’s in New York has been around since 1890.

In 1929 an American car salesman ordered the first neon sign. This was made with the

newly invented neon tube, which could bend into countless shapes and came in many co-

lours. The success of neon lights soon spread across the continent and the rest of the world.

Almost immediately after its creation, neon lights were used by artists. The

first artist to use neon was Sonia Delauney in the 1920’s. The above picture is a

work by Bruce Nauman from 1984, One Hundred Live and Die. His neon fu-

sion with text emphasizes the limitations of words and the expressive qualities

of light and color.

The improvement of plastics before and after World War II expanded its

usage for advertising signs, making it easy to create both unique and

mass-produced products. Changable copy signs were another useful

advertising and marketing creation that has expanded into the use of

LED’s and programmable messages used widely today.

Channel Letters : Standard Reverse Open

Signage + Wayfinding

signage + wayfinding : Wood Carved

signage + wayfinding : Neon

signage + wayfinding : Ghost Type

signage + wayfinding : Steel with Paint

signage + wayfinding : Hand Generated Paint

signage + wayfinding : Vinyl over paint + Graffiti!

signage + wayfinding : 3D

signage + wayfinding : Wood

signage + wayfinding : paint

Text in the LandscapeUnofficial

unofficial : Street Posters

unofficial : Graffiti

Text in the LandscapeArchitectural Function

enlivening spaces : amsterdam

Text in the Landscape :Engaging Spaces

enlivening spaces : : Sheila DeBretteville

enlivening spaces : : Allen’s Landing Houston

enlivening spaces

enlivening spaces : : Brossa, Barcelona

enlivening spaces : : Marc Ruykrok

enlivening spaces :

enlivening spaces : peter downsborough

enlivening spaces : jim sanborn

enlivening spaces : lawrence weiner

enlivening spaces : maya lin

Text in the LandscapeMemorials

memorializing

Text in the Landscapevarious signs : proj 1

signage + wayfinding : Various

Text in the Landscapesignage/vernacular derivative

Typographic Windows

Experimental Text 3D constructions

Experimental Text from + in the environment

what are we looking at?

Documents