Grid for street

Grid for street STUDENTS’ PROJECT | KNPGK | ASP Katowice 1. Scientific Group of Graphic Design „Kilo” 2. Academy of Fine Arts in Katowice 3. Grid For Street 4. piotrszencel@wp.pl 5. 603 985 008

The Public Space All the places which are commonly available to all free of charge

The physical space accessible to an individual

Roads and streets, squares and other publicly accessible private buildings

State and community owned natural areas are also considered public space

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Katowice The capital of the Silesian Voivodeship.

The centre of the Upper Silesian Industrial Region

308 724 inhabitants

The 10th most-populous city in Poland

Ranked 11th biggest city in Poland according to its area

Candidate for the title of the European Capital of Culture in 2016

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The city of Katowice is subjected to the phenomenon, which the sociologist refer to as the appropriation of the public space. It takes place mostly in a symbolic form by placing advertisement on museums and renovated public buildings etc.

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The reasons for the current state of affairs The lack of strict legal regulations concerning the placing of advertisements in the public space resulting in an inability to penalize the individuals for actions harmful to the city. Â The advertisement has become an inherent part of the human life. Therefore, the belief of its indispensability is common, on the other hand the people rarely pay attention to the aesthetic value and quality of the concept. Â Commissioning the execution of the advertisement to individuals who lack elementary artistic awareness, results in a common violation of the rules of visual communication. The form is inadequate to the content, the typography is incorrect while the aggression of colour and chaos confronts the balance of the public space.

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The consequences of the current state of affairs?

The buildings become “jammed” with a tier of advertisements, which deprive the inhabitants of the opportunity to delight in the true aura of the city and a chance to admire its architectural valours.

The appropriation of the public space leads to the privatisation of the surroundings, which become hostile. The navigation in the city becomes difficult, for repeatedly the building numbers and street names are covered or removed.

The bright, clamorous wall of advertisements deprives Katowice of its specific aura, making the people overwhelmed by the blaze of signboards, posters and hoardings.

Moreover, the pedestrians are attacked with handbills, which make them feel uncomfortable and cause a need to leave the centre and head for a safer place.

This phenomenon should not arise in the city centre – the space, which has been considered the place where citizens meet and participate in different sorts of civic entertainment since the dawn of history.

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The suggested solution to the problem The grid system is an aid, not a guarantee.

It permits a number of possible uses and each designer can look for a solution appropriate to his personal style. But one must learn how to use the grid; it is an art that requires practice.

Josef M端ller-Brockmann

The project of the KILO scientific group is based on the usage of grid which aids the work by keeping it under complete control. We believe that there are possibilities for revitalising the advertising space in Katowice by a skillful redesign of the signboards which currently lack any system and are located in chaotic manner.

Swiss designer and teacher

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We believe that there are possibilities for eliminating the visual chaos in Katowice by hierarchising the advertisement and elements of the visual communication system, and introducing a module, which will be responsible for establishing the rules concerning the size and width of the advertisements. We suggest a division of the advertising area into 4 areas.

the direct area corresponding to the height of an average person

the information and navigation sign area if necessary, it can replace the direct area

the boardsign area the medium format advertisement area

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The Grid For Street project requires the introduction of a “x” module, which will define the possible width of the advertisement.

It can be duplicated according to the needs of the advertiser or the specifics of the building. Nevertheless, we believe that there is a need to define the limit to the possible number of the multiplications of the “x” module, so as to establish the maximal and minimal size for an advertisement in the particular advertising area

information signs public information signs signboards medium format advertisements

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The problem of the excessive stratification of the advertising information arises in every single passage between the buildings, and every other place where commercial properties can be found. We propose the introduction of information signs, which would help the advertisers in retaining coherence of the visual statement without interfering in the form.

place for graphic information place for text information

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The quality and advantage of a well prepared grid is the possibility of arranging many elements in a way which makes them properly visible and functional. The grid does not impose a single solution, its creativity provokes the designers to search for different compositely and constructionaly coherent graphic solutions. These should be individually formal and loosely interpret the parameters. The implementation of the grid assists in the eradication of the composite chaos and is beneficial to finding balance between the elements of visual identification and architecture, especially for the latter. It is without doubt underestimated and dominated by the graphic statements, which are inadequate to their message.

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