UNDER THE WEATHER: UNCOVERING PUBLIC TYPOGRAPHY
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Preface Weathering is the chemical and physical processes that change the characteristics of natural and manmade materials over time. In order for weathering to occur, the object must be exposed to some form of water, air, or pollution. Typography in our daily environment is affected just as much as the next building. With nature’s elements helping to corrode public signage, the roughness and character of each letter becomes that much more invisible. By comparing the types of deterioration—rust, wind,
and sunlight—the breakdown of our daily type is often overlooked.
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01 GRAVES
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Graves are a final resting place for the deceased. They are a place where loved ones can visit, remember and celebrate one’s life. Grave markers can be thought of as a story or short summary of one’s life from existence until death. A grave without a marker is like a book without an author. You can’t help but wonder whose story you are seeing a small piece of and how that person impacted this world we live in.
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ince the beginning of time, mankind has used natural stones to commemorate one’s life. Just as the inscription on a gravestone documents a person’s placement in history, the physical
condition of the marker also says something about the effects weather has played upon the stone. This deterioration of the stone combined with a family-created inscription creates a sense of nostalgia. While walking through the Oak Hill Cemetery in east Lawrence, Kansas, I couldn’t help but notice the calmness throughout the sacred place. Each and every tombstone was special and distinct in its own way; some brand-new while others had been around for ages.
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weathering of this white marble gravestone found in the Oak Hill Cemetery increases the readability of the inscriptions. Lichens—small plants made up of two life forms—thrive in the shaded recesses where lettering and decorations have been inscribed. The gray lichens, and the organic acids they produce, darken and discolor the marble.
On some gravestones, the edges of lettering will become rounded and less distinct as weathering proceeds
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onetheless, each marker had been affected by weathering in some way. The significance gravestones have on our enable us to
reflect, reminisce and remember our loved ones. Although it would be ideal for the stone to stay in the same condition as when initially placed, forces of nature play their part and natural weathering is inevitable. Monuments mark a spot, or rather, a life. They hold a place for those
who may have been taken from sight, but not from memory. Life ends with death and
monuments and statues are a symbol that one is not forgotten. Monuments are a display of one’s existence and life timeline. No matter how a monument may change, it is a symbol of a person’s life.
In extremely moist conditions on old gravestones mosses can be found
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02 GHO 13
STS
Glimpes of ghost type throughout the Crossroads in Kansas City, suggest an eerie feeling of type’s past lives. This faded and worn type’s presence is long departed, yet their spirit lives on deep within the city. While walking through downtown, around each street corner was a new surprise. “Carter Glass,” “Johnson’s Spring Works,” and the “National Biscuit Company” were only but a few advertisements that occupied the sides of brick buildings. Some of the ghost type I observed was barely even readable it was so faded by the sun and eroded by the wind and rain.
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We must never forget that the words being visually expressed actually say something—they have meaning. —Paul Tosh
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B
aines makes a good point in his article, Typography is Everywhere, when he says,
“Some of the most
interesting urban lettering
juxtapositions occur when the functions of buildings change while the original lettering remains.�
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There is so much that in lettering terms that used to bad practice
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This abandoned furniture warehouse in western Kansas City is full of character as it sits South of I-70
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ultiple buildings that I saw were painted and re-painted, over and over with different advertisements. Throughout the years,
a building’s purpose changes along with its neighbors. Eroded by the hustle and bustle of nature and our society, ghost typography serves as a reminder of once was; another purpose for a different time period.
is uninspiring and unsuccessful it is all too easy to become and simply accept it. —Phil Baines, Typographer 20
03 SIGNAG
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Overlooked by functionality, street signs tend to have a lot in common. Although different messages are to be communicated clearly, the way in which each and every sign has a consistency that we can all recognize is astonishing. The expressive characteristics the lettering of street names occupies isn’t limited to just “computer” type. The use of hand techniques and local personality can be equally as charming.
“The fact that so many of the
older signs are still around is a testaments to the civic investment made by earlier generations.” Baines cites in his Naming places and defining spaces article. I find the most interesting signs are not the ones that are brand new, but
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Parking” sign at the end of the alleyway or the remnants of a message that was on a previous sign. This is most likely because the message has been partially obscured. Grime, paint, and rust are only a small amount of ways that these signs can be made difficult to read.
the worn and tattered signs that have endured generations of weather. The ones that strike my fancy have been rusted, painted over with graffiti, are twisted and worn from the wind, rain, and nature’s course; these are the most intriguing of signs. You probably didn’t notice the “No
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Naming and the use of specific locations are negotiating our public
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lettering to identify an essential part of environment.
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—Phil Baines, Typographer
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e see them everyday, but do we really pay attention to how they look? Yes,
we might see a “No Smoking” sign, but do we see the worn, rusted and yellow graffiti that encompasses it? Why is it that we tend to overlook the time someone took to put a smiley face on the “Danger, Flammable Gas” sign? Was the criminal trying to be sarcastic? Or was he just in the mood to freak people out as they walk by? Either way, the vernacular of the sign has now changed. The yellow, smeared smiley adds a character to the plate. It serves a purpose other than what the signage is there to do.
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...signs and sign systems already seen is replaced by a far greater concern with site specificity and individuality of expression. —Phil Baines, Typographer
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As long as there is material to be communicated, typography will always be present in our environment. It may change, go through different trends and fads, but ultimately, the way we as consumers identify with type contributes to our lifestyles. Baines says it best when he explains what we find when provided a literal identification, “The essential dynamic between utility and expression allows for lettering to say something more about the spaces and places around us.�
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CREDITS sources Signs: lettering the environment by Phil Baines & Catherine Dixon, Review Paul Tosh, Review, August 2007 “The Un-Cultured Word: Vernacular Typography and Image” Naming place and defining spaces, Phil Baines article Wikipedia.org
type faces Trade Gothic and Swift—designed in Adobe Indesign CS5
cameras Canon EOS 40D and Canon EOS REBEL T1i—photos edited in Adobe Lightroom CS5
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Michelle Gerstner Designer as Author | VISC 402 Patrick Dooley Fall 2011 The University of Kansas
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I would like to dedicate this book to my parents; the strongest, most loving people I have ever met. Thank you for making me the woman I am today. I would be nothing without you.
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