Essay Plan (24.02.13)

Typography Essay Plan

Potential Essay Title: Discuss the meanings and implications of the typographical elements of the street signs and maps of London, and the extent to which they contributed to transforming it into the thriving city it is today.
The aim of this essay is to explore the signs found in and maps created of London through the 19th and 20th Centuries.  I will focus my discussion on the typographical elements of the maps such as layout, colour and font, including their meanings, popularity and success. However the main purpose of this project is to discuss and draw conclusions to what extent did these maps and signs of London help develop the city into what the thriving metropolis it is today.
Discussion Points
- The meanings and reasons behind the layout, colour code and style of Phyllis Pearsons A-Z map of London.
- The public response to Pearsons map, and its success rate.
- The different ways in which Pearsons map transformed living in London, which sectors benefited from it, i.e. tourism, businesses. Furthermore conclude if Pearsons map made a significant difference to these sectors, to what extent.
-Overview the tube maps of London before Harry Becks first design in 1931, discuss how they were different.
- Discuss the layout, colour, font and style of Becks first tube map, reasonings behind his initial design.
- The changes made to Becks initial design and the reasoning behind them, including the change of the station symbol shape and line colours. Furthermore discussing why Harold Hutchisons design failed in the eyes of the public.
- Opinions of Becks Underground map design, and discussion into the extent his designs helped transformed London as a city. i.e. enable citizens to travel around the city with more ease, improve tourism.
- Discuss the meanings of the colour coding and style of Charles Booths map of poverty stricken and wealthy areas of London.
-The responses he received regarding the map and the if it motivated the city to tackle such issues.
- Overview of the changes the creation of the map created and draw conclusion on how it helped develop London.
- Discuss the importance of John Snows cholera map, the aftermath of its publication and how it helped transform London, i.e creation of the first sewage system, helped save lives, advance medical history.
-Discuss the reasoning behind the font, layout and colour of the iconic London street signs created by Misha Black in the 1960s.
-To what extent have these signs improved the streets of London?
-Explore the way in which tourist souvenirs have adopted some of these typographical subjects discussed.
- Discuss how iconic the tube map and street signs have become to London as a city and what this addresses about their importance its transformation.
I also wish to touch upon the iconic London street signs, explore meanings behind their layout, colour and font, and also discuss their influence on the city.

Provisional Bibliography
Contemporary British art in print : the publications of Charles Booth-Clibborn and his imprint, the Paragon Press 1986-95.
Garland, K. Mr. Beck's Underground map : [a history]
Gibson, D. The wayfinding handbook : information design for public places
Hempel, S. The medical detective : John Snow and the mystery of cholera.
Pfautz, H.W. Charles Booth on the city : physical pattern and social structure
Piet, H.L. Route archoice : wayfinding in transport networks

Typography in relation to mapping and the city (19.02.13)

I found the topic of typography in the real world one I would like the explore in more depth. I found the focus on typographical objects of everyday life highly interesting. The use of everyday objects to explore aspects of modern society is common within my art studio practice, therefore I feel this topic relates to my other work in its subject matter. I think that a city is a great and wide source of examples of typography, and it where the importance of typography in the real world can be seen. Therefore focusing on a particular city and the typographical elements it holds would be a good topic in which to base my essay. I also found the part of the lecture based on the typography behind the road signs of Britain interesting. I had always overlooked road signs, as they are a fundamental part of everyday travel in this country, therefore exploring further into the reasons behind decisions made in relation to the colour, font etc would illuminate these everyday objects in a new way. Following the topic of road signs, the other topic which I wish to explore in further detail is typography's role in maps and street signs. I feel that focusing on London as a city and the different maps which have been created of it, both of its transport systems and streets would be a rather engaging topic. There are many different examples I could explore such as Phyllis Pearsalls A-Z of London and Harry Becks London Underground maps. I could explore not just the meanings behind their colours, fonts and layouts, but also the way in which London has prospered and advanced as a city because of them. Furthermore the reasons why the maps were initially created, and what areas of society they also advanced if any, i.e medicine. I think that focusing on London would be most intriguing as it is an industrial city which gradually expanded, and was not built in an orderly or neat fashion, therefore its maps will be more interesting. However if focusing on the typography of the city, I feel that the iconic red, black and white street signs should also be explored in terms of their effect on the city and the meanings behind their design.

Wolfgang Weingart and Swiss Punk (14.02.13)

Wolfgang Weingart was the first person to question the modernist 'Swiss Style' that had slowly emerged and evolved since the early 20th Century and peaked in the 1950s and 60s. I feel that using Weingart as a main topic within an essay would be interesting. I could focus on the modernist rules and standards that the generic typographer believed in and how Weingart ripped them apart. The chaotic new 'punk' style that he established was about exploration and enjoyment of creating the text, the typographer was no longer a slave to the text, but the other way around. I feel that the contemporary and disorganised style of the newly named 'Swiss Punk' is similar to the way in which text is used in art. In the 1980's the legibility of the text became less important that the aesthetics and styles behind the piece as a whole and typography appeared almost like an art form. I could compare typography projects within the 1980's and 90's with artwork concerning text, and perhaps explore if there is an overlap between the two. I also think that it would be interesting to research and investigate the changes which occurred in typography following the initial advancements within digital design in 1984. The digital switch revolutionised typography, the typeface no longer had to be cast and sculpted, allowing more freedom and creativity within the text. The comparison and exploration of certain times in which typography changed dramatically could also be an interesting topic, I could focus on the digital revolution and the industrial revolution. Furthermore I could show how although typography has changed dramatically throughout the 20th Century, roots from the early 1900's can still be found within texts of the early 21st Century.

Muller-Brockman and the Bauhaus (06.02.13)

I think that 20th century seems to show the real advancement of typography with the rapid industrialization and change of lifestyle that happened in the first two decades of it. I think that exploring this change could be an interesting topic in which the base my essay on. It appears that typography has turned in an almost full circle from the start to the end of the 20th century, from the highly simplistic and functional style to the extravagant  and then back again. I also find the opinions held by Muller-Brockman and the Bauhaus schools during the early 20th Century interesting. I could explore further the concept that typography should be invisible in a way, that it should not been noticed by the viewer yet subtly add more to what the text is trying to say, and how detrimental was it to the overall text if this was not achieved. I also found the focus on certain fonts and their popularity interesting, as I had not really thought of how common and widely used a font such as Helvetica was. This sparked off an idea of exploring typography which is found, accepted and overlooked in some cases within society. Furthermore the meanings which certain types of font hold, such as Helvetica is usually used to write instructions in, therefore is associated by society as serious.