Week 1: Complex Simplicity

Tramaine Berry
Jan 22, 2021
16 min read

Updated: Sep 27, 2023

Hello and welcome to my second module ' History & Future'! This module examines the relationship between design and storytelling.

What have I been up to?

For Christmas, I received a coding book called 'HTML and CSS: Design and Build Websites', which I talked about wanting to learn in the last module. On Chapter 7 so I have a while to go.
I entered a logo competition for a marketing consultancy (wish me luck). I did have trouble coming up with a price but team Underdog was kind enough to come up with a suggestion.
I'm in the process of setting up a 2 week internship with SelfStead. Assessing their social media presence and looking forward to working with them!
Workshop Festival: CV and LinkedIn Upgrade. Animation through Photoshop, AfterEffects and Premiere Pro. Hopefully I will be able to use these new skills in my module because I limited myself to Photoshop, InDesign and Illustrator in the last one.
I created new card designs and set-up my first Etsy store. I've only printed a small batch to test how well they sell though.

RESEARCH //

Lecture

(Video)

I liked how typography was being referred to as clothing, which helps visually externalise your identity to the world. Could you wear the type form without it being associated to a brand? Maybe clothing that isn't just Helvetica but describes who you are as a person (Helvetica is adaptive – starting to sound like a CV – yes, a CV that you can wear). This brings me back to a weird university interview question, ‘if you were a typeface, what would you be?’ - I think my answer was Garamond. I would class myself as Ariel now, something that is better than Comic Sans, often overlooked and hasn’t amounted up to being as adaptable and clean looking as Helvetica (I refer to my role as a designer). For some reason, this comparison of type has reminded me of an old comedy video I saw during secondary school, so here is a video that socially classifies typography.

List of Designers I might use of future reference: Typeface Designers-Look at Jonathan Hoefler & Tobias Frere-Jones. Paula Scher (Beautiful illustrative work). Eddie Opara (Texture and type is very interesting, Ive lately been interested in how to go about combining texture with the digital world). Julia Vakser & Deroy Peraza (visual data- good magazine). Wired is referenced as a good infographic resource.

Mid 19th Century

Social landscape changed in the western world as people moved from the countryside to urban locations in search of employment, which resonates with me because this pandemic feels like the depression; I am going to move back to Weston-super-mare to improve my job prospects. Maybe I should do a comparison between Falmouth and Weston-super-mare identity or intertwine Falmouth and Weston type to symbolise the migration.

Increase in population created a demand in type through signs, posters, newspapers, periodicals and advertisements. New type styles were developed and became larger and catchier, with bolder lettering and shading. Represents the era of mass production. I always thought that mass production only had technology as a factor, so it is interesting to seeing how problematic events speed-up the pace of identity. It makes me wonder what Falmouth's identity will be like after the pandemic. So far the student community that Falmouth is famous for is completely different - bars are no longer packed, lack of noise from house parties, no more speaking to strangers in a cafe.

Post-pandemic identity of Falmouth:

Quieter / caution. Or maybe some individuals will be rushing to go on dating sites and pubs.
Less physically interactive - Digital
Print industry goes out of business, but maybe students will do small print businesses with the university's facilities (like a blackmarket print industry) - more expensive due to high demand and varied in quality.
More advertising for jobs.
Disposing of masks - landfill
Cheap (material) - still in financial crisis

Growth of population encouraged transportation and therefore influenced a typographic identity to represent the railway stations. Stations use to be different in typographic identity but Paris unified them and caused less confusion.

Hector Guimard is an architect that took took inspiration from the theory of Viollet-le-Duc, but takes away the medieval forms, which pioneered Art Nouveau movement in the 1890s. His work took an interest in nature, curved lines and asymmetrical forms, which is why the entrance looks the wings of a dragonfly. I liked the entrance before, but knowing what the design was inspired by suddenly increases my admiration for it, which is interesting; it reminds me of a magazine workshop I did with ICBQ, which showed the artwork first and then the description hidden on the next page and allowed the viewer to not only interpret the artwork for themselves but to appreciate it more when they find out what it actually is. I think there is a similarity between my illustrative type (a side project) and this movement because it uses the idea of re-purposing an object - my objects are not natural, but I would like to inspire my work from Falmouth's natural-side.

The lecture mentioned that the identity influenced the architecture, which doesn't make sense because my research suggests that the artist produced a beautiful iron entrance for the station with its typeface. So the inspiration behind the building's architecture were the entrances installed all over Paris between 1900-1912.

(TedTalk by Matt Cohen: Hiding in plain sight)

Average consumers exposed to 5,000 messages a day
Princess street ghost sign. Tells a story. I find it interesting how businesses have become less permanent; it's gone from painting on stone to billboards or signage that can be easily unattached. Is it because businesses are no longer passed down to descendants? It does remind me of the ghost sign from Falmouth Marine.
Changed from a name on a wall to messages around their products.

(Video: Johnson)

105 years since the Johnson design was introduced (monotype)
Edward Johnson, type designer
Diamond dots for full stops and I's
Make’s me want to overlap all the old typefaces with the updated ones
New Johnson type influenced London underground and city identity

(Video: London)

Underground map. Uncluttered and functional. Presented out of the blue (non-commissioned). Harry beck (engineer) created the first version- turned down due to being too strange and revolutionary. Ken Garlond (designer) was given the map. Versions of the map were literal representations of distance between stations, which became too complexed. Mid 20s was the most modern version – colour coded with details of the city dropped (clearer) but line layout was still set to true geography.
Beck's map changed the layout (dropped geography and scale) to clearly show how the stations were connected. Became the industrial standard for transport systems around the world. I find it interesting how something created for a specific location can influence others: New York subway signage by Massimo Vigneli.

(Video: New York subway system)

Inconsistent signage. Confused narrative/ direction
Unimark had to analyse how people use the subway and design a system

In conclusion, these designers improved the urban landscape by improving navigation as population grew rapidly.

Edward Fella: Letters on America

An illustrator and designer. He finds interesting: irregular spacing, the curious freedoms of hand lettering, a strange distressed effect, some obscuring of characters, the fall of shadow. Favoured Art deco / Depression era.

His type is across different surfaces. Looks for order in disorder. Doesn't take more than one shot of each subject...even if it is distorted in some way, which is interesting. Contrasts to Instagram and how people stop living in the moment by trying to take the perfect shot. These subjects don’t need to be historical but inspirational for reuse and recycling (they act as notes) – this is what this module is about...creating a new purpose through narrative.

He looks with fascination at the adjacent general store, which sports a window full of signs. He says: 'You see, they're everywhere, it's a very American kind of clutter.'

This supports my previous statement regarding American culture. America isn’t like Europe because it’s urban space isn’t made up from the accretion of building forms over many centuries – its layering comes from the industrial age. My view of American culture has changed slightly. I don’t particularly like their style due to how ‘in your face it is’, however, it is the only form of historical context they have that has been passed down to them; at the time their only viewpoint was to be practical and draw attention to business during financial hardship. With this in mind, I do think we are yet to see the visual development of America. (Maybe look at the latest graphics)

What’s the typical British design? Sweden has Helvetica, America has loud lettering. What about England?

Baines, Phil (2003) Signs, Lettering and Environment, (London: Laurence King)

' American signs are literal whilst Europe signs are symbolised '

I am interested to see how each country have individualised the same signs (Geneva Protocol) because it would allow me to see what makes them unique.

' More recent research has suggested that pictograms are most effective when they depict the actual thing, but far less so when they represent an idea or concept: the symbols of a man and woman doesn’t represent a restroom in other countries.'

The text was very vague – I would like to know what countries don’t use this signage for the restroom and what their version is.

Things I should be aware of when doing my workshop

Be aware of location context
Lettering and materials also create a sense of place: painted signs in Venice, carved marble signs in Rome, sandstone in bath. Are there any old signs in Britain (cast iron)? Why do signs get replaced? Have their personality changed? Standardisation? Are Falmouth's craft traditions seen in the signs?
Britain: architectural lettering is diminished, no longer seeing material letters. Look into the history of Falmouth's lettering. Does that mean Britain no longer has a sense of place? Because our country was once famous for cast iron signs.
Look at old 19th century gravestones...interested to see what the lettering is like.
Ghost signage
Pavement signage

' The architectural presence of the name of a business also offers a certain sense of robustness and implies something about the longer-term ambitions of the owner.'

Reminds me of the ‘OXO’ building, which has changed function.

' Lettering can exist as art to improve the quality of space. There is a bigger budget of public space projects in the Netherlands '

Reminds me of Anthony Burril’s work being painted onto a building.

I find these top images interesting. It’s like the pieces are revolving around the type due to how the pieces have been broken apart to make the type undisturbed. It’s creating order in a chaotic situation. Reminds me of the Japanese tradition of reassembling pottery with gold, except this image doesn’t tell a story about the beauty of a second life, it tells a story of something elegant amongst all that chaos.

Chapter 2: 'Change is not Norman'

I need to look into Falmouth’s history to see if there are any signs of cultures left over from the past. For example, Roman Britain played dice and board games or a tablet invitation for a birthday celebration.

I think the purpose of this chapter was to show how little has changed overtime; we inherit things from past cultures and only alter them slightly (cultural transmission and genetic transmission).

Are there any typefaces that did not transfer onto future generations?

Interview with Massimo Vignelli

He mentions that a map is very inexpensive compared to signage, which is why maps have progressed more throughout the ages. I think this shows that more thought needs to be placed within the type because it is the entire identity, but I think it also explains why some transport systems feel old-fashioned – it's not a bad thing, I think that’s where the charm comes in.

He also explains how the space between type makes the music, which is very relevant in today’s industry. Take Helvetica for example, some may say it is over-used and makes everything look the same, but the main difference is the spacing

I like the idea of design being a form of medicine against design pollution and disease. America is a good example of design pollution due to the nature of their culture – everything has to be big and over-saturated.

Logo designer Paul Rand for ABC programme...American (contradictory). Milton Glaser – poster designer
He doesn’t think typography should be expressive (the word ‘dog’ shouldn’t bark). He believes in polished work. I am quite fond of illustrative typeface so I would disagree. FIND A DESIGNER THAT CONTRASTS WITH HIM LIKE Paula Scher
Designer of the New York Subway map. Regrets indicating the geography of the city

WORKSHOP //

Here are a couple of interesting archives I found in Poly's archive, which will be interesting to compare with today's typefaces.

Facts about Falmouth:

Known for its marine industry- mainly oysters
Was appointed as the Royal Mail packet station (ship transportation) in 1688 (also known as the year the town bloomed). Steamships became more reliable in 1850, thus ending the era of the Packet Service.
The Trafalgar way (Falmouth to London) - messengers used this route to carry news of the Battle of Trafalgar. Now a cycling sporting event every October.
The town's fortune's degenerated when the sugar industry went into decline during the 19th century, and was dealt a further blow with the advent of steamships.

During the first part of my workshop, my initial thoughts were to capture the identity of the marine industry and/or the town centre. Other idea included looking at creative businesses and the traditional side of Falmouth. However, as I approached the town, however, I thought this was too obvious and I started drifting off into the ignored parts of Falmouth that I often ignore or don't explore. This allowed me to capture the traditional side of Falmouth that true locals are exposed to everyday.

Locations:

2 Longfield, Falmouth, England, TR11 4ST
Under the Penmere train bridge. Boslowick Rd, Falmouth, England, TR11 4QE

Some South Coast Railways refer to the mileage system, which I assume is Falmouth's case: FAL 311-16.75. The Type has been painted on, which is much more economic. As far as my understanding goes, FAL means the distance from Falmouth to London, which is 311 miles with 16.75 chains.

Olderrope (use to be 'Deja Vu Clothing' but sign is still there) 5 The Moor, Falmouth TR11 3QA
Seven Stars (the old water fountain and seven stars pub) 1 The Moor, Falmouth TR11 3QA

The original fountain is said to have been moved from a place unknown first to the Old Market (on the site of the new Post Office) built by Sir Peter Killigrew 1632, removed to New Market House 1729 and to its present position in 1812. This was for farm animals that would visit during market days.

Both the fountain and seven stars building is listed as grade II. The Seven Stars is a 17th Century ale house but was a grain store in the 14th century for the mill that was next door.

Palacio Lounge (signage and carved stone type). The Moor, Falmouth TR11 3QA

The building began as a fire house and then turned into a Magistrate's Court. Now serves as a 1940's lounge area for food and drink.

Prince of Wales Pier, Falmouth TR11 3DF (cafe sign, a couple near the flags, benches facing Greenbank had a stone, graffiti on bench facing docks, and a carving on far end pier lamp).

The foundation stone for the pier was laid on 20 July 1903 by HRH Prince of Wales. The Pier was built when pleasure boats and being ferried to other destinations started trending.

The Natural Store, 5 Market Strand, Falmouth TR11 3DB

Inspire makers, 5 High St, Falmouth TR11 2AB
The old town hall, 3 High St, Falmouth TR11 2AB

The old town hall was originally a Congregational chapel but was converted to a town hall in 1715 - five years after it was built.

Britains yard sign, 40-38 High St, Falmouth, TR11 2AF

This sign intrigued me because the type was different from the other street signs that I usually see in Falmouth. It makes me wonder whether this was an older street sign.

Star & Garter, 52 High Street, Falmouth, TR11 2AF

Star and Garter opened in 2015, formerly a traditional pub. Serves Mediterranean dishes using local produce.

Time and tide tattoo, 31 High St, Falmouth TR11 2AD

This street is one of the oldest in Falmouth, which did once exist as part of Smythwyck in 1370. It is an English name rather than Cornish, which translates as 'smith's village'. Falmouth means estate or settlement, which was named after William Falmouth in the 15th century.

Oaken & The Chintz, Old Brewery Yard, Falmouth. TR112BY

I took two images from The Chintz. The building sign was illuminating and reminded me of a circus, which I think is inspired by Lewis Carroll's Alice In Wonderland and it's traveling bar. The other one is handwritten on chalk, which is a typical thing you see with Falmouth pubs. The building used to be a dental surgery. Oaken is a sustainable-clothing shop.

The Brewery Yard is a mix of creative studio spaces and shops, which turns into a social hub by night. It use to be a stable yard serving Carne's Brewery.

Boathouse, Beacon St, Trevethan Hill, Falmouth TR11 2AG

Since 1714. A combined pub and restaurant that serves local produce.

Penwerris terrace, Seaview wooden door
12 Stratton Terrace, Falmouth, TR11 2SY

A series of detached villas listed grade II and built around 1800's. Along this street is the church of St. Michael, which is has a gothic design architecture that was built in 1827 in response to the growing population.

6 Kingsburry House, TR11 2SY

Other interesting things I saw on my walk

I have found the texture used for the architectures very interesting. The illustrative mug was found on Boatyard's chalk board, which even though doesn't suit the message it is trying to convey, I thought was very playful and inspiring.

The image of the fruit was found at the sides of Falmouth's Fountain. This reminds me of the broken-up stone from Baines' book (see reference), which I found fascinating.

The two pieces of wall art have been found at the Chintz and next to the old fire station. I find it interesting how different these painting are in style, perhaps to suit the Art Deco architecture of the old fire station and the brand identity of Chintz.

Top 10

Before I choose my top 5, I thought it would be easier to choose the top 10 first.

The locations include: the old fire station (Palacio Lounge), The Moor Fountain, Boatyard, High Street (Star and Gartar, Britin's Yard sign, Inspire), Chintz, Kingsbury House, The pier's historic sign, Penwerris terrace.

My decision is based on the historical knowledge I have gained from this workshop. I'm wondering whether I should keep the 'P' and the 'R' that is made out of shapes because I feel that the Art Deco style forms part of Falmouth's creative identity. However, I am tempted to stick with the texturised type because it fascinates me and it represents the historical sites that nobody looks at due to not being in the centre.

TOP 5

Below is a collection of type that used to be under the Smith's village area, which also contains a couple of modern typefaces from the Chintz and Star & Gartar's.

This collection is more diverse because it contains typefaces from different areas: The Old Brewery Yard, The Moor's Fountain, a 300 year old pub, The Pier's stone sign, and the old fire station. This way, I have captured the Art Deco (Old fire station), the history (pier, fountain and pub), the community and quirkiness (Old Brewery and pub).

1) Prince of Wales Pier, Falmouth TR11 3DF

The foundation stone for the pier was laid on 20 July 1903 by HRH Prince of Wales. The stone represents a historic time in Falmouth when the town stopped being known for only being a poor fisher's village and started expanding into a tourist destination. Paint on the stone isn't the most durable, but it is the most economic option for a town that was still recovering from the decline in trading as well as investing money in pleasure boats and developing the docks and railway station.

2) The Chintz, Old Brewery Yard, High Street, Falmouth. TR112BY

The building sign was illuminating and reminded me of a circus, which is inspired by Lewis Carroll's Alice In Wonderland and it's traveling bar. The Brewery Yard is a mix of creative studio spaces and shops, which turns into a social hub by night.

It use to be a stable yard serving Carne's Brewery and the building used to be a dental surgery. I think this represents the sense of community in Falmouth and how it brought people together throughout history.

3) Boathouse, Beacon St, Trevethan Hill, Falmouth TR11 2AG

The estate itself has been known for being the poorest localities in Europe and with high crime rates, however, in 1995 there have been regeneration developments taking place and the town is now know as one of the safest in the UK.

The 300 year old pub and restaurant 'Boathouse' is hidden from the tourists and supports local businesses, which shows there is a strong community supports each other even through financial hardship. The ink lettering is very economic and humanist.

4) Palacio Lounge, The Moor, Falmouth TR11 3QA

The building began as a fire house and then turned into a Magistrate's Court. Now serves as a 1940's lounge area for food and drink for people to socialise. The style of the type itself is Art Deco, which can be seen to represent creative parts of Falmouth such as the wall painting at the back of this building and Falmouth University's brand aesthetics.

5) Water fountain, 1 The Moor, Falmouth TR11 3QA

The fountain is listed as grade II. The original fountain was built by Sir Peter Killigrew 1632 at the Old Market, which was re-moved to New Market House 1729 and to its present position in 1812. This was for farm animals that would visit during market days. The town continues to have market days, except live farm animals are no longer brought to them, leaving the fountain derelict.

REFLECTION //

I think for this workshop it was difficult to decide which were the top 5 types because I was left with the conflict of deciding from the types that I found more interesting and the types that reflected the identity of Falmouth. I think it was also difficult because the are many identities to Falmouth: the tradition, the creativity, and community. Additionally, the town has changed through time, so it is also questioning whether I am recording the past identity or documenting the present identity with a bit of history to justify my decisions.

However, after experimenting with the pairings of these letterforms, I eventually decided to make the grouping diverse. One thing I didn't expect was how even though they are diverse, they all have a sense of community that connects them. This grouping represents the trading industry, tourism, the effects of financial hardship on locals, community, creativity (Art Deco movement) and quirkiness.

I think this challenge has enabled me to reignite my passion for typography and explore what kind of type that interests me the most - so far it is the texture and illustrative style because it can tell a story on its own.

REFERENCES //

Research

TedTalk by Matt Cohen: Hiding in plain sight
Blackwell, Lewis (2000) ‘Edward Fella: Letters on America.)’, Princeton Architectural Press
Baines, Phil (2003) Signs, Lettering and Environment, (London: Laurence King)
Bentley, Alexander and O’Brian, Michael J. (2017) ‘Chapter 2: Change is not Norman’) in The Acceleration of Cultural Change, (Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press)
Hustwit, Gary (2015) ‘A Rare Interview with Graphic Design Legend Massimo Vignelli ’, Fast Company, 24 March [online]. (Accessed: 5th December 2018) https://www.fastcompany.com/3044133/a-rare-interview-with-graphic-design-legend-massimo-vignelli
The Story behind Paris' Iconic Art Nouveau Metro Entrances. May 2019 by Kelly Richman-Abdo. My Modern Met. https://mymodernmet.com/paris-metro-entrances/
Broadway Housing Communities. Pentagram. https://www.pentagram.com/work/broadway-housing-communities/story