Thai-nized | Master Documentation

MASTER DOCUMENTATION | THAI-NIZED Hybrid Culture • Restaurant • Typography

SUPAKSIRIN WONGSILP

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THAI-NIZED Hybrid culture • Restaurant • Typography

‘Thai-nized’ Hybrid culture, Restaurant and Typography

A Thesis Documentation for the Degree in Master of Arts in Visual Culture by Supaksirin Wongsilp

at Bauhaus-Universität Weimar Faculty of Art and Design

Project Advisor Dr. Alexander Schwinghammer Jun.-Prof. Stefanie Schwarz

Weimar, Germany September 2020

Declaration of Honour I hereby declare on my honour that I have prepared this work without improper help from third parties and without using any other means than those indicated.

The information, method and concepts taken directly or indirectly from other sources are identified by reference to the sources.

This work has not been submitted to any other examination authoruty, either in Germany or abroard, in the same or similar form.

I affirm in good faith that to the best of my knowledge.

I have told the whole truth and have not concealed anything.

Supaksirin Wongsilp Weimar, Germany 2020

Introduction

We live in a transcultural and transnational world –a boiling pot consisting of people from different cultural backgrounds. Nowadays, the world is opened to be discovered and offers room for new intercultural experiences. As a consequence, more people travel abroad and absorb new foreign cultures on their own. At the same time, more and more people migrate to other countries where they have to learn and adapt to the new culture and exchange cultural experiences with the locals. Regarding this phenomenon, food is one of the most significant and influential cultural elements that play a big role in cultural interactions. Accordingly, ethnic restaurants have spread across countries which can be considered as cultural ambassadors that offer a specific tourist experience in foreign settings and environments for each individual without having to leave their neighborhood.

This research paper focuses on the relation of culture and visual communication in the scope of ethnic typography, specifically the combination of Latin and Thai letters. In the first chapter –theory consideration– different terms in cultural science regarding the project’s topic will be explained to understand the comprehensive concept of culture and intercultural interactions. They are the fundamental aspects of this project that lead to the field observation in the second chapter.

The research in the second chapter focuses on how Thai restaurants are established as a cultural staged identity to attract customers and remain commercially practical. Additionally, the term “Thai-ness” that applies to Thai typography will also be discussed in this chapter. The restaurant signs from 42 restaurants in Germany are collected to analyze the existing typographic use and graphical elements to find out the design potential, which will be created as an outcome of this project.

Typographic signs of restaurants can be perceived as a visual communicative output and acts of cultural identity. Cultural stereotypes, in this sense, are expressed through typography to advertise the brand image. However, it can be tricky to distinguish each nation from the ethnic group alone by the typeface

used on a restaurant sign – typographic logo – especially among Asian restaurants. There are only a few dominant stereotypical ethnic typefaces that have been used. For instance, Chop Suey font that transfers the Chinese writing style to the Latin scripts.

As a consequence, it can lead to visual confusion in representing a specific nation. As a Thai, I find it interesting during my research to see that some of the so-called Thai restaurants in Germany have selected this typeface to represent the brand identity even though the writing style has no relation to Thai scripts or cultural elements. On the other hand, it is questionable whether there are other alternatives in expressing Thai cultural identity through typography.

As a graphic designer, I believe it is challenging to create visual pluralities and break repetitive sameness in visual communication. The design outcome of this project is a book that neither aims to set a standard for Thai restaurants in creating the best logo, nor to define what should be considered authentic to the norm.

On the other hand, this project intends to experiment with how a Thai-ness can be transferred to typographic works and potentially leads to commercial use to accentuate a Thai cultural identity through Latin letterforms. This book is a combination of story narration about Thailand from my perspective and the collection of typographic experiments that combine different graphical techniques to exhibit the variations of the hybrid letterform, which I would call the “Thai-nized method.”

Supaksirin Wongsilp Germany, 2020

Table of Content

Part I. Theory consideration 1.1 The term ‘Culture’ 1.2 The tern ‘Cultural Aesthetic’ 1.3 The term ‘Stereotype’ 1.4 Signs as a communicative output 1.5 Ethnic type – Cultural Stereotype on letterforms Part ll. Research & Observation 2.1 Restaurant as staged authenticity – Tasting and Imagined Thailand.

2.3 Thaipography - What is Thai? Is it Thai enough?

2.3 Observation – Thai restaurant signs in Germany

Part III. Design 3.1 About project 3.2 Visual process and development 3.3 Final outcome Part IV. Conclusion

1 3 7 11 15 17 25 27 37 45

105 107 109 125 135

Theory Consideration

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1.1 CULTURE

Culture exists everywhere in the world. It is universal for all human beings. Culture is essential for most of the things we do by the fact that humans are social animals. Apart from the basic needs according to Maslow’s pyramid, human needs a sense of belongingness and identity by being accepted among the community.

Accordingly, cultural understanding has become necessary because of the call to interact with many individuals from other countries and cultures [1]. The first thing we have to define is why culture is so important to us and how many complex layers exist.

Culture, by a term of sociological concepts, can be determined in different areas.

The term ‘culture’ has two dimensions. One applies to its contents. Another is to its extension [2]. In terms of its contents, the concept of culture can be presumed as acts of activities in a collective such as art, music, literature, and lifestyle. However, in the area of social science, culture goes beyond the actions. It refers to the way of life as a set of values and beliefs of members in the society, or the group within the community, how they dress, their marriage customs, language, family life, and work pattern. Culture comprises of everyday routine, beliefs, interaction among the members, social norms, and expectations. Culture can be conceptually distinguished from society, but there are very close connections between these notions.

Without cultures, societies would not exist. A society connects each individual, driven by the interrelationships system, organized by the members in structured social relationships regarding a unique culture [3]. The second, the extensional dimension of culture, describes these acts’ ethnic scope to its extent as a reflection of the group, societies, or civilizations [4].

However, the form of culture depends on how each individual conceives, imagines, and learns and how the collective behaviors are shaped and sustain the pattern of life in the social system. Culture must be learnable, considerable, and livable [5]. There are many documented definition of cultures. Hofstede, Trompenaars, Czinkota, and Ron Kanen stated that culture influences organizational values such

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as languages, economy, religion policies, class, social institutions, attitudes, status, manners, material items, education, and customs. The term “culture” is retained as a whole for the nation, whereas “subculture” is reserved for a smaller lever of the society such as family, organization, or profession [6].

Johann Gottfried Herder defined culture differently as a monolithic, closed sphere.

‘Every nation has its center of happiness in itself like every sphere of its center of gravity’ [7]. This model demands a reductive social homogenization. Consequently, there is no place for diversity because all the activities and all objects become the unmatched part of this national culture. According to Herder’s understanding, this specific cultural model leads to an absolute separation, gaining its values by distinguishing themselves clearly from other cultures [8]. Nevertheless, there is no right or wrong about being in one culture. The ways of life are just different, and those key differences are culturally rooted. Two behavioral scientists have discussed this issue regarding self-esteem in the ethical relations and further stated that: “a common postulate in cross-cultural psychology is that all the societies confront similar basic issues or problems when they come to govern human activity. The key dimensions of culture are descended from these issues because the preferred way to deal with them is expressed in different societal value emphases. Therefore, it is necessary to characterize different societies’ culture by measuring prevailing vale emphases on these key dimensions. The yields unique cultural profiles.” [9] On the other hand, today’s cultural landscapes have expanded in modern societies where the closed sphere model could not fit into its contents or extensions.

Cultures penetrate each other and exponentially become hybrid. Wolfgang Welsch proposes the concept of transculturalism in which there are a macro and micro level that replaces the closed sphere model [10]. Nevertheless, Welsch does not consider the terms transculturalism as the true renewal of the old model. Both are still based on the sphere model. Transculturalism is yet determined with the relations of cultures within the society in global capitalism, consisting of external

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interconnections and internal hybrid characteristics through global traffics and communication systems. Nowadays, cultural diversity is nothing new anymore. It is widely accepted that one’s life form is no longer limited in national borders [11]. In the transcultural atmosphere, the increasing population has mostly several cultural backgrounds and cultural patchwork identities. They describe themselves as an individual being independent of one specific culture [12]. Human seeks for new destinations to expose themselves in the new culture.

Tourism is a great example that reflects the concept of cultural explorations.

People travel with certain expectations in which the new culture is introduced, the culture that has its unique pattern of behaviors. People usually get different sensations and feeling because most things they perceive in the new environment are unfamiliar to their cultures or countries. Nonetheless, The aspect of daily life can be different from the matter of personal changes. One prominent example is the expression of culture shock, which happens when a person has lost the familiar way of living and has not yet learned how to integrate into the new culture [13].

Cultural diversity can be challenging, especially among different ethical groups who are used to the previous cultural values. There are at least three possible theories of cultural diversity regarding how it functions. The first meaning is categorized by the similar-attraction approach in which people are attracted to each other who find similar terms of values, beliefs, and attitudes [14]. The second regards to social identity and social categorization theory. People tend to label themselves as a part of one specific group and categorize others as outsiders or members of other groups [15]. Third, regarding information-processing theory, diversity reinforces different contributions to the group’s members [16]. Culture plays an important role, not only preserving the social values and norms of the society but also distributing significant opportunities in a growing resourceful community. Subcultural groups that differently perceive the leading society’s overall values can show alternative views to the dominant culture. Social movements of people who interchange the same way of life are potent forces for social change. In this regard, the subcultural members can express themselves freely for their opinions, hopes, and beliefs [17].

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The last part of this chapter is about identity regarding this project in the scope of visual communication. It is essential to understand the particular factors that construct cultural identity and how it psychologically influences society’s members and cultural values that it maintains. Identity has a comprehensive meaning. Generally speaking, identity relates to the understanding of people, who they are, and what represents them. Identity is generally categorized into two levels, social identity and personal identity (self-identity), which relate to one another. In this project, social identity plays a vital role as a cultural representation related to cultural attraction in touristic terms by offering foreign sensations. An individual can have more than one social identity but still involves in a collective dimension. It is a remark that they belong to the social group as same as others. For example, environmentalism is a powerful source of meaning drawn by a shared identity [18]. In Asian culture, an interdependent connection is more common. It is more significant than individual accomplishments because it gives a sense of belonging as a group [19]. This chapter explains the cultural definition concerning identity in different dimensions. Moreover, culture plays such an essential role in preserving and reinventing society’s values and norms. However, none of these circumstances is static as long as humanity exists. It can change over time and can be redefined. On the other hand, it renders us a better understanding of how a social system in humankind is structured. It conducts us to an immense diversity of the unknown future.

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1.2 CULTURAL AESTHETIC

Culture influences perceptions; meanwhile, this is because of the validity of aesthetic practice by its directness by reaching under the layers of acquired interpretations and cognitive patterns. The aesthetic character of perception is subjective rather than absolute observation, automatically and unreflectively grasped in thought. In this way, we interact aesthetically with both art and the environment.

Perceptional dedication, influenced by cultural and personal experiences, is a catalytic and unifying factor in the field of aesthetics (Barleant 1970).

Those effects on aesthetic perception impact the characteristics of art artifacts.

They also influence how we correspond to them, which is not just a question of the personal attitude to object. Our experience is as much a result of the physical attitude we assume when we exchange with it aesthetically. The history of taste must, therefore, include more than an increase in understanding and reactivity. Strictly speaking, it should effectively include recognizing changes in our world’s way of living, perceiving, and behaving. The history of style is inseparable from the history of taste, and both are connected to the history of culture. Culture has an even more significant influence on art, admittedly, on the formative power of culture, on the environment [1].

An environmental aesthetic, an analog of cultural prospect, of which anthropologists and geographers declaim, is, at the same time, a cultural aesthetic. Cultural aesthetics require the perceptive characteristics of the environmental institutions and the principal characteristics of the people who work in them. According to the study, it also includes a correlative analysis of the effects of social structures, values systems, and habits, which form and provide significance to a human social animal existence.

The characteristic sensory, conceptual, and ideational form that forms a culture’s perceptual environment is, therefore, cultural aesthetic. It comprises the conventional qualities and arrangements of perceptual pattern, color, form, sound, scent,

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light movement, taste, space, temporal sensibility, and size in juxtaposition with the human body, and the effect of conventional norms of belief and experience on the development and comprehension of these values.In order to formulate a cultural aesthetic, we will need to determine the perceptual characteristics that are characteristic of a specific human culture at a certain period. Cultural aesthetics studies, therefore, form a significant social science field. Berleant further stated; when we leave contemporary Western cultures with their own overly restrictive cultural aesthetics, we discover that the most historical and modern non-Western societies appreciate experiences that simulate Western artistic experiences, though broader than those accepted by aesthetic theory. Aesthetic knowledge permeates many aspects of life, from practical practices related to craftsmanship to food gathering, ritual customs, and other social events.

Wolfgang Welsch described how the ‘regional-specific’ is communicated through décor superficies and aesthetic staging. The way of regional cultures is highly represented simulatory and aesthetic, practically, because most things are transculturally determined [2]. Precisely speaking in the transcultural world’s scope, there is no longer anything genuinely foreign because there is nothing entirely ‘own.’

Accordingly, authenticity has become folklore in which the ownness resembles for others who belong to the indigenous group. It causes the spread of the terms’ aesthetic’ in the conspicuous present. He states, ‘Originality exists only as an aesthetic production’ [3].

He has further described the phenomena through examples. Regarding the Potlatch feast – the ritual of gift-exchange among the younger generations of native North Americans where today’s markets mostly influence the shared objects, the Indian representatives still significantly consider their own culture whether their ancestors would still perceive today’s conventions as an inheritance of the old rituals. However, the situation does not bother them because they seize the foreign as their own. Correspondingly, transculturality can achieve the most significant rituals of identity.

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While the Indian representatives of the North Americans are still aware of this issue, it does not seem problematic in Japan. Wolfgang gave another example when he was in a Japanese restaurant in Kyoto, Japan, with Japanese companions. As a foreigner, he recognized all elements in the restaurant as genuinely presented.

He asked his companions whether everything they see in this restaurant is very Japanese for them. They were surprised by his question and reacted nimbly, confirming that everything in this restaurant is very Japanese, including the chairs.

Interestingly, Welsch claims that the chairs are designed by Mario Bellini – an Italian architect and designer– and produced by Cassina in Milan. According to this setting, Welsch has realized that it is impossible to distinguish between the foreign and own concerning the degree of reliable transculturality. By the fact that the Japanese take over those chairs to be the product of their own culture. In terms of principle expression, it means that the own-culture and the foreign culture can no longer be selected. Nowadays, in the internal relations of culture – among unconventional lifestyles– the foreignness exists as much in external relations with other cultures.[4] “it is natural that in the contemporary world, many local settings are increasingly characterized by cultural diversity” [5].

The challenge in visual communication scope would be ‘how to establish the most effective cultural references in competitive markets. According to the visual research, Signs of the Metropolises by Irmi Wachendorff, the extensional and content-related cultural references are set differently. She found common references to an ethical connection: the placement of national flags, colors, symbols and geographical references such as the images of place and cultural ornaments.

Moreover, there are several examples where the culture is portrayed exclusively in typographic shapes and letter types. Referring to a writing style, script system, or writing tool, generally in a particular geographic area, is one way to reflect the culture. Characteristic of the formal script is stereotypical markers of comprehensive, geographical, or ethnic affiliation[6].

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I. Theory Consideration

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1.3 STEREOTYPE

The concept of stereotype was initially taken from old raised printing technology, where the process of printing was made by using papier-mâché as molds to produce the identical printing to the original. The term ‘Stereotype’ was used for the first time in 1922 by Walter Lippmann, who worked as a journalist in propaganda in World War I. In his book Public Opinion, he explained the term stereotypes concerning mass media. For instance, how public opinions could be fabricated, how people create identical preconceptions about others, and how decisions are made about things people have no direct experiences. In this regard, it makes sense how Lippmann borrows the term stereotype from a printing tool to interpret the repetition of fixed images in people’s heads [1].

In social sciences, a stereotype is often acknowledged as an economized attention, short-cuts, and simplistic generalization of individuals or particular people. As people typically have opinions and criticize things, they create stereotypes of others in order to predict the unknown behaviors of those around them. However, a stereotype is mostly perceived as negative unflattering expressions because it may cause prejudice and discrimination. Stereotypes frequently contain a grain of truth.

Accordingly, they may not necessarily be a delusive opinion about the target group.

A stereotype must be a significant set of characteristics or behaviors that further reinforce the fact as reliable shreds of evidence. Stereotypes are not static, it can gradually change over time, but it is resistant to change them[2]. Stereotypes usually do not change but are interpreted as exceptions. Some examples indicate the variations of stereotypes that have changed after World War II regarding Germans, Jews, and Black (Gilbert, 1951).

The theory is categorized into three approaches that describe the origin of stereotypes [3]. The psycho-analytical approach; defines a stereotype as a defensive mechanism by which negative feelings against one’s person are assigned to another group member. The socio-cognitive approach; defines stereotypes as a consequence of conflicts between groups, focusing on problems as communicative resources.

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As a result, it cultivates social inequalities. The socio-cognitive approach; defines stereotypes as emotional representations of fundamental knowledge with an adaptive concept, simplifying the phenomena by classification.

Although the stereotype is not a judgment and can be positive, neutral, or negative because stereotypes can also convey additional knowledge about the element of cultural specificity to improve intercultural interactions through knowledge and formation [4]. Stereotyping is a very effective way to cope with phenomena, not as individual occurrences, but to classify them from the known criteria. This method allows people to deal with unfamiliar settings quickly, memorize them, and shorten the decision-making process [5]. For this reason, it is essential to analyze and create solutions regarding cultural misunderstandings. A stereotype can be problematic by the fact that ‘it censors out much that needs to be taken into accounts.’

(Lippmann 1997, 74)The real components, such as time, space, numbers, connection, and weights, are lost. The significant aspects of dimensions are detained and wrapped in the stereotype (Lippmann 1997, 100) Cultural/ethical stereotypes are generally prescriptive and descriptive. They have shared beliefs among the perceivers about one target group’s particular characteristics, whereas they also perform ‘social expectations.’ In the primary intercultural interactions scope, the cultural stereotype may be used as a source of expectation as judgments that apply to other groups’ behaviors. Stereotypical opinions about the group member’s characteristics determine a person’s emotional reactions toward other people. Negative stereotypes – the idea of conceiving others as dishonest may cause displaced oppositions. For example, one might behave negatively against another person as a defense because he /she assumes that this person has negative attitudes about their culture. However, the practice of stereotypes in intercultural studies is ambiguous. Scholars in this field have evolved various indicators that implement the comparison of different cultures such as individualism, collectivism, feminism, etc. Scholars’ concepts – regarding people in one culture

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are more unified than others – can also be considered a stereotypical statement.

Osland and Bird (1998) have named this stereotype as ‘sophisticated stereotyping’ because it is based upon theoretical notions. It is a solution to diminishing the complexity of culture. Although, this concept remains a stereotype that may hold down the understanding of real cultural behavior [6].

‘Our stereotyped world is not necessarily the world we should like it to be. It is simply the kind of world we expect it to be.’ (Lippmann, 1997, 69). For Lippmann, stereotype carries lots of meanings. It is an assurance of our love, mental shelter, self-esteem, and self-actualization. At the same time, it allows people to express the feelings attached to it [7]. Petersen and Schwender refer to the spontaneous function of images in comparison to the slower text perception. They point out significant aspects to analyze how the role of images creates the stereotype. In this context, shapes and forms of letters on an image can be seen as a visual representation as opposed to the text part by its meaning [8].

Stereotypes influence transcultural relationships. Nevertheless, its negative features can create cultural barriers, which leads to negative consequences such as discrimination. Therefore, it is necessary to clearly understand the role of stereotypes and be aware that they are only cursory determinations that do not always manifest individual characteristics. Subsequently, it introduces different approaches and adjustable attitudes when intercultural relationships with other people from other cultural backgrounds have developed [9].

Another interesting aspect that should be considered is whether cultural stereotypes in letterforms can be problematic? Lippmann states: ‘A great deal of confusion arises when people decline to classify themselves as we have classified them’ (Lippmann 1997, 97).

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1.4 SIGNS AS COMMUNICATIVE OUTPUT

This section will go through the linguistic sign’s role in an opened landscape, how language and letterforms are used to convey the message, and represent themselves as visual objects reflectings cultural identity regarding its function.

The term “sign” has a range of meanings, two of which are essential in the current study. Sign is a crucial concept in semiotics, where it signifies a symbolic unit that is perceived as standing for something other than itself. Signs typically take tangible shapes, including sounds, images, acts, etc. Semiotically, the universe we exist in is a universe of signs. Everything we learn about ourselves and what happens around us is dependent on signals being produced and perceived. Communication, in any form, without using words, would be inconceivable (Backhaus, 2005) The urban areas where millions of written documents are every day exhibited, such as sidewalks, walls, buildings, and squares, are beneficially transmitted to an unlimited number of viewers. This form of communication is the so-called linguistic landscape referring to the public domain presenting linguistic artifacts in letterforms. Some scholars have established a more progressive approach[1]. The linguistic landscape of place constitutes the clarity and salience of the language on signs. They pointed out that linguistic environments encompass a comprehensive and infinite variety of text forms such as verbal texts, objects, images, and location in time, space, and human beings[2]. Therefore, it is essential to emphasize that linguistic landscape studies can frequently provide a range of information designs such as pictures, sounds, words in mixed languages, hybrids, and fusions representing various modes and interactions [3].

The role of signs is connected to a broad range of disciplines, such as advertising, economics, education, media, history, sociology, semiotics, and urban geography (Gorter 2013, 192). However, it may address several linguistic concerns, such as multilingualism, literacy, language policy, linguistic diversity, and minority languages, among others (Gorter 2013, S.190).

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After Landry and Bourhis (1997) have attempted to categorize the sign marking in public space, many researchers have also tried to categorize all the items shaping urban settings. Spolsky outlined potential categorizations involving eight types of signs: advertisement signs, street signs, warning notices, building names, informative signs (way findings and operating hours), memorial signs, artifacts (police call box, postbox) graffiti. Nevertheless, despite the efforts in the making as possible complete types of signs in a public sphere, these pieces are only a few examples of the myriad of signs present in the urban space. Accordingly, it shows that categorizing all possible signs in the linguistic landscape is extremely difficult due to the technological progress that signs can always be temporarily displayed and produced. In contrast, a shop/restaurant display sign takes its place over a more extended period than temporary advertising mediums (Bianco, 2018) All language items characterizing public space and signs or announcements outside or within a public institution or private business at a certain geographical venue can be regarded as a linguistic landscape (Ben-Rafael et al., 2006). Besides, Peter Backhaus defined signs as any piece of the written text within a spatially definable context, focusing attention on the language displayed within the sign or as inscribed displayed surfacing in public space to convey a broader concern a non-specified reader community. Although the writers are not known, signs may be recognized by using the concept of authorship. Indeed, the nature of signage is mainly related to the participation of social actors regarding semiotic construction.

Spolsky states the sign’s creation is determined by stakeholders’ correspondences, notably, the agent, the creator, the owner, the sign-maker, and other relevant users who constitute the rules for signs (Spolsky, 2009).

Furthermore, language on signs can only be perceived and linguistically understood at a certain point to an extent (Backhaus, 2007). Beholders are the recipients of messages communicated through signs that convey the beholders’ perception by semiotics selections (Ben-Rafael et al, 2006). For this reason, signs are powerful communicative medium in shaping the linguistic landscape and an assembly of social interactions.

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1.5 ETHNIC TYPE

Cultural stereotype on Letterforms

Paul Shaw has written an article ‘Stereo Types’ in Print magazine. He describes cultural stereotypes in letter shapes as ‘ethnic’ form, lettering, or type that indicates a particular ethnic or religious group (Shaw 2009). Ethnic typefaces are used extensively for the purpose of modernity to make something appear foreign or to make businesses offering foreign products, such as restaurants, clearly stand out.

It is widely agreed in the design community by the fact that these shapes are ethnically and culturally insensitive and inappropriate (Helfand 2007) and come with ‘impaired aesthetic’ and ‘degrading’ qualities (Shaw 2008, 109).

According to the visual research project by Wachendorff – Cultural Stereotype in Letterform in Public Space– the concept of cultural stereotype has been further investigated concerning typographic functions in the transcultural world where the public sign has different impacts the beholders. This section will further explain different strategies that apply to letterforms to express cultural and ethnic identity on the Latin script system. Regarding Shaw’s statement, there are five different strategies that ethnic letterings are developed. However, only three of them are specifically designed for ethnic and regional references. We will, therefore, have a closer look at each of them.

Strategy a) Letter substitution between scripts This technique has been used prominently in a Greek restaurant. The idea is to substitute familiar characters from foreign alphabets to Roman alphabets. From this example, the letter E is substituted by sigma (∑).

Strategy b) Letter Shape Resemblance Between scripts The second way of mimicking individual characters from non-Latin writing

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Strategy c) Transfer of Particular writing style This approach is the most significant way that appears significantly in most Asian restaurants to express ‘Asianness’ through curved and pointed wedge strokes (Shaw 2009). The way of creating a similarity to another culture is to mimic different writing styles by implementing a particular aesthetic feature, which is mostly achieved by using brushstroke characteristics. The style is applied to the overall construction of the letters of other script systems.

This style of typeface spreads rapidly in various fonts. One of them is ‘Wonton Font,’ which is considered an ethnic typeface associated with Asianness or Chineseness, by its meaning, using the name of Chinese food as a cultural preference. It is also well-known in another name as Chop-suey; Shaw described the font’s nickname is influenced by Chop-Suey dish, which is an American invention. Interestingly, it has no relation between food and font in real Chinese cuisine or calligraphy (Shaw 2008, 110). This font becomes popular through the use of advertising by the Beggarstaff Brother for their 1899 poster “ A Trip to China” that was published in Les Maîres de L’Affiche monthly magazine. After all, Chop Suey has gained its proliferation in the USA, especially to promote a Chinatown in San Francisco.

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Shaw states the Beggarstaff poster may have influenced the spread of Chop Suey. By the ’30s, chop suey letters were being. During the 1930s, Chop-Suey letters were being used to promote Chinese restaurants across the country before the dish, named Chop Suey, was invented 40 years later. However, in recent years, Chop Suey letters have become more generic and lost their exclusive identity to Chinese references. Because other ethnic restaurants, such as Japanese, Thai, and Indian, have also become popular in the USA and Europe. As a consequence, similar letters can also be seen widely at Asian restaurants.

In this phenomenon, cultural stereotype serves its purpose effectively, despite its negativity, the simple reason for its existence is to serve commercial purposes. It is a shortcut in the visual communication world, especially in the commercial world, where the attention must be grasped immediately. Most business owners want the passersby to realize their service and welcomeness immediately. Therefore, restaurant signs and shop fascias are the initial communicative output. Paul Shaw notes that ethnic types have been dubbed as ‘garbage fonts’ by designers due to the inauthenticity. Besides, it politically becomes sensitive affronts of ethnic groups as well as some designers. On the other side, understanding the whole circumstance is additionally essential. Based on the fact that this font has been often chosen by immigrant entrepreneurs, not professional designers, only to maintain this image and their popularity alive.

According to the visual test regarding a viewer’s perception on the characteristic of letterforms in comparison to the meaning of the text by Wachendorff, the result has shown that ethnic fonts play a role not only for the linguistic function, but also as a tool for social positioning. For this reason, letter shapes in public space has a big impact in constructing social space (Wachendorff, 2018)

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CONCLUSION: PART I

In this work, the literature research explains how each area of this project is related to social science and visual communication. The term ‘cultural aesthetic’ will not be applied to this project as its definition is very subjective rather than an absolute observation. The term ‘stereotype’ in this project is only used to analyze how cultural identity is determined to take advantage of the stereotypical phenomenon positively. On the other hand, the term ‘stereotype’ in this project is considered a ‘challenge’ in creating something new to break its repetitiveness.

The study about cultural stereotypes has reinforced further explorations in ‘ethnic types.’ However, I would like to emphasize the interesting insights that have been found very significant in ethnic type. As Paul Shaw mentioned in the case of Chop-Suey font, it has been used widely after decades, not only for a Chinese restaurant but also for Japanese, Vietnamese, and ‘Thai’ restaurant. Unfortunately, there is no relevant connection of this font to Thai restaurant, neither to the writing system nor cultural preferences.

Therefore, this project aims to break stereotypical typography focusing on Thai ethnic restaurants. As a graphic designer, it is our tasks in today’s transcultural and transnational world to create visual plurality and make better understandings in our society. As I am Thai, I would like to use this advantage, since I have a profound understanding and background knowledge about Thailand and the Thai language, to further explore visual possibilities in typographic work. The next section will introduce Thai cultural identity and how Thai restaurant is represented as ‘staged identity’ to attract the customers. We will have a closer look focused on the Thai script system and the observation that has been made and analyzed, based on existing cases in Munich and Berlin.

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Research & Observation

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2.1 RESTAURANT AS STAGED AUTHENTICITY Thailand is globally well-known in tourism. It is one of the top touristic destinations of the world for millions of international tourists every year. Tourism plays a vital role in the Thai economy. As stated by Thailand’s Tourism Authority (TAT), the number of international tourists in 2019 has increased to 39.7 Million per year. TAT has created the slogan “Amazing Thailand” in 2015 to promote Thailand internationally, referencing the experience of a “Discover Thainess” movement [1]. The traditional mindset has long connected food and tourism. People seem to learn one’s culture through food and eating. But since eating is tourism, new theoretical structures emerge (Molz, 2004). As many food scholars mentioned, food is a way of communicating and maintaining identity (Douglas 1971, 1982; Brown and Mussell 1984; Abraham 1984).

Since the traveler’s expectation is connected with cultural authenticity, this section will explain how the concept of authenticity can be applied in Thai culinary business to better understand the social dynamics, especially identity construction and validation processes that accompany a food adventure. Ethnic restaurants can be considered tourist spaces where people may engage in daily life in tourist activities in their own culture by eating at an ethnic restaurant that can be achieved without leaving their own neighborhood (Molz, 2004). John Urry states, “people are much of the time tourist” (1990:82). He refers to the tourist gaze in which local sights and experiences are part of. Eating out was described as identity work (Lu and Fine, 1995). Whereas, the restaurant is a theater of self-reflection (Shelton 90, 1902). Therefore, the ethnic restaurant is a symbolic stage where exotic discovery through the idea of authenticity is turned into an expression of identity (Molz 2004).

Jennie Germann Molz has defined the Thai restaurant as “Staged Authenticity.”

According to her studies, restaurant owners and designers clearly understand their customers’ demand for an authentic experience and strive to do so. The restaurant’s marketing materials are designed to be authentic, although some factors indicate that these elements are not inherently authentic.

Thai restaurants mostly aim to establish a feeling of authenticity outside of food.

They use traditional artworks, music, and decorations to demonstrate that restaurants are genuinely part of Thai culture. Another unique national characteristic that customers might see in Thai restaurants are photographs of a Thai King and a Thai royal family. Although, the author only regards the observation from the past.

According to the current political issues in Thailand, the image of a Thai monarchy has negatively changed. Therefore, this visual characteristic in Thai restaurants could potentially change. Many restaurants have a spirit house – a small alter or sometimes a tiny pavilion where people – the owner – put incense, flowers, water, or fruits to worship so-called guardian spirits who protect the house. Regarding Thai beliefs in ghosts and spirits, people always need spiritual supports from the invisible superpower. They believe that it helps them to gain more profits and fortune in their business.

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Other decorations are indeed exhibited to create a Thai atmosphere for the diners. Painting of temples, traditional wooden handicrafts, and pictures of touristic places in Thailand direct the tourist gaze to those sights that are supposed to be seen while visiting Thailand. Native artworks, such as wood carving painted in gold, elephant statues, large fans painted with countryside scenery, lotus flowers, fivecolors traditional porcelain, or a figure of a Thai woman with Wai pose – hand held together in this middle of the chest for welcoming. All of these souvenirs items are typically available in most souvenir shops in Bangkok, by this fact, a Thai restaurant is determined as a stage for Thainess (Graburn 1976, Evans-Pritchard 1987). The Thai restaurant owner has explained to the author that they usually play Thai traditional music in the background like ambient music to establish a “peaceful and relaxing” atmosphere. Interestingly, he claimed that the diners seem to automatically adapt to the atmosphere by showing their respect in murmuring. He positions his business as a high-class Thai restaurant in contrast to a street food type where people are casually talking loud and listening to Thai folk music.

These ethnic elements are performed to stage national identity for the benefit of culinary tourism, or frankly speaking, for commercial uses. For this reason, Thai restaurants play out the Westerner’s perceptions of Thai culture rather than displaying the real culture. However, as a Thai, assigning the term “Thai authenticity” can also be subjective despite the own culture, as some people only perceive authenticity as an objective quality existing in a fixed place or time (MacCannell 1992). Whereas, some people might perceive cultural authenticity as a recreative experience, independently from a conventional way of judgment. Therefore, it is essential to pay attention to how each individual defines one culture, in this case, Thai culture.

Apart from how Thai restaurants construct their cultural identities through visual materials, it is necessary to consider how the dining guests determine authenticity within the setup environment. As mentioned, Thai restaurants adjust their own authentic representation to fulfill their customers’ needs and remain professionally practiced. In this sense, restaurant owners and designers are inventing a new interpretation of authenticity, one that is based on a Western perception of Thai culture rather than a rigidly Thai point of view (Molz, 2004). In conclusion, this phenomenon does not actually reflect the representation of Thai culture or Thai cuisine, but rather a typical western picture of what Thainess should be.

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2.2 THAIPOGRAPHY

What is Thai-ness in Thai font?

Is it “Thai” enough?

The generic Thai cultural elements have been mentioned in the last section.

Cultural identity can be expressed through various mediums, not only in the form of an object but also in language. This section focuses on how Thai-ness can be exposed through Thai letterforms. What is the identity of Thai letters? These issues will be questioned from the typographer’s viewpoint. “Thaipography” is not a common English word. The author believes that it was used the first time by Phillip Cornwell-Smith, an American journalist and writer who published a book called “Very Thai,” where he explained a Thai pop culture in everyday life. However, the term “Thaipography” was mentioned for the first time in his column of the magazine “Here & Now” in 2014.

There is no real evidence where the Thai alphabets precisely originate from. Still, some semiotic researchers claimed that the Thai alphabet probably derived from the Old Khmer alphabet, which has a relation to the Indic scripts in the south part of India. Accordingly, Thai scripts were initially invented in 1283 by King Ramkhamhaeng [1] and were later simplified for practical use until these days.

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As shown on the right, the original character of the Thai alphabets is with a loop.

This feature with the loop tends to serve better legibility. Fundamentally, every Thai kid first learns to write the Thai alphabets starting from a circle, which is a starting point of most Thai letters. According to modern society and new technology, the Thai alphabets have been developed and designed to meet economic purposes.

Lots of Thai typographers attempt to create various Thai typefaces expressing new cultural identity. However, from the perspective of designers who are involved in working with Typography, creating Thai letters without a loop seems to be a new challenge for creativity, commerce, and connections. For a decade, A Thai font without a loop becomes widely popular in commercial business due to its modern look in representing Western culture. Nonetheless, it upsets defenders of Thainess. Therefore, this phenomenon has become questionable among Thai designers regarding Thai script being colonized and losing its uniqueness and standards.

Are loopless font considered un-Thai?

The reason for this phenomenon has started from the transformation of advertising world in which nowadays two languages are used to communicated, Thai and English. According to the script system, Thai and Latin are completely different which means that it creates some design constrains in combining them together. Anuthin stated,Thai typefaces sometimes do not complement each other, let alone with logos, translations or bilingual layouts. Much local advertising, printing and, in particular, website design is visually disturbed by discordant fonts. Moreover, Thai designers look Latin typography as a form, but they do not look at Thai letters as a form, instead, as words. The fonts are created to look internationally modern.

Unfortunately, it is ironic that designers actually deny what is genuinely modern: a Thai typeface can do that job [2].

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Typography may seem a subtle detail, but it has important practical and cultural roles. “The fundamental duty of a typeface is to communicate. Its presence must be silent, even if it has to carry a loud message” (Pracha, 2014). Letters basically make words recognizable, which is as essential as it comes to culture. Typography is part of literacy. Now that handwriting seems to be an extra job, a font projects the text’s voice and tone and projects an identity, whether it’s a blog, a brand, or a country [3].

Consequently, Thai letters have been significantly influenced by Latin letters. It is interesting to consider whether this cultural acts in typography can be determined as another form of being “Thai,” collecting bits and bits from other cultures and reinvent something new into their culture. As Thai letters’ style has never been academically categorized, it is, therefore, complex to define what makes a Thai font Thai. As stated, the Thai alphabet was invented by King Ramkhamhaeng, but the original Thai scripts did not look as same as now. The script itself ultimately derives from India, through Mon, Khmer, and other influences. Besides, most of the printing machines and equipment have been back then imported. Like most cultural hybrids, Thai-ness probably comes into the process of adaptation [4].

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However, Cornwell pointed out specific characteristics in detail, such as loops, thin monoline strokes, or lai Thai – Thai motif patterns. With an attempt to make Thai fonts look more Western and modernized, these elements are mostly eliminated or simplified. For example, those anxious of Thai being colonized point to ร (ror rua) being rendered like an ’S,’ or ล (lor ling) like an ‘a.’ This loopless style strategy constitutes a particular relation to a Latin script, as Ben Mitchell named it, “Latinized.” He further explained the specific pattern in applying Western characteristics into Thai Letters. “Thai typographers equate the loops to Serifs since they seem to be a discretionary detail and are presumed to aid readability, but unlike serifs, the loops semiotic significance and distinguish similar letters” (Mitchell, 2014). Another investigation that Mitchell pointed out is, effectively, Thai script can be seen to have branched into a style for reading (looped) and for writing (loopless). For this reason, the loopless looks too informal to be endorsed as Thai.

This section is only based on the Thai script system to understand its structure, typographic elements, and how Thai letters are influenced by western culture to represent themselves as modern. Apparently, the Latinized strategy on Thai scripts has been effectively applied by Thai designers who try to create new elements in a hybrid world. In contrast on the other side of the world, the opposite approach is applied on Latin letters by Thai restaurants in Germany with an attempt to look “Thai” and South-East-Asian as much as possible. The next section will be the field observation of this project focusing on Thai restaurant signs in Munich and Berlin, whether the applied solutions effectively works in trying to perform cultural identity through Latin letters.

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2.3 OBSERVATION

Thai restaurant signs in Germany

According to the explanation of cultural stereotypes in letterforms in the previous chapter, three strategies were introduced in which Latin letter shapes are modified to represent cultural identity. Strategy C seems to be the most dominant way regarding Chop-Suey font among Asian restaurants. It has been pointed out that this font style has no connection to the writing system nor cultural preferences. However, the literature review is not yet explicitly made, focusing on Thai restaurants.

Therefore, this observation has been made to analyze whether there are effective strategies in applying Thai identity into restaurant signs in Munich and some in Berlin.

The pictures of 42 Thai restaurant’s signs have been collected in Munich areas.

During the field research, the observation key is based on four aspects as follows: 2.3.1) 2.3.2) 2.3.3) 2.3.4)

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01) 02) 03) 04) 05) 06) 07) 08) 09) 10) 11) 12) 13) 14) 15) 16) 17) 18) 19) 20) 21) 22) 23) 24) 25) 26) 27) 28) 29) 30) 31) 32) 33) 34) 35) 36) 37) 38) 39) 40) 41) 42)

Hot Wok Sala Thai Thai Fresh Cuisin Lemon Trees Siam Thai Food Asia Bites Kai Muk Thai Restaurant Thai Orchidee - Stehimbiss Rüen Thai Sabai Bar Rüen Thong Asia Küche Chilli Asia Noppakoa Thai Imbiss Krua Thai Ratchada Thai Thai Mama Bistro Yum2Take Thai Thanh Nhàn Asia YUM Thai Kitchen&Bar Rainbow Thai Atrium Nam Nam, Eat Fine Khun Tuk Asia Feinkost & Imibss Thai Krung Sri Mun Mun Thai Cooking Thailand Restaurant Be Thai Style Longgrain Tem Thai Rabiang Thai Viet-Thai Manam Thai Noodlesoup Spicery Pad Thai Khanittha Mae Thai Thai Curry Delhi Chiangmai Thai Imbiss Thai Curry

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2.3.1 Type of restaurants In Germany, especially in big cities, there are much varieties of choices of Thai food, from street food quality to fine dining. According to the observation, the business scale of Thai restaurants are classified into main four categories, based on the price range and the physical installation.

Imbiss (₏₏) – The price range is between 6 to 8 Euro for the main dish. Imbiss are mostly located close to the central train station or the inexpensive area. Most Thai Imbiss are owned by Thais as well as the food is cooked by Thai. However, during the observation, it is interesting to see that the Imbiss plays a role as a place for social gathering for Thai people such as housewifes to hang out. The reason could be the affordable price and the casual atmosphere in eating and sharing food on the street to replace a street food culture in Thailand.

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Chain restaurant (€€) - The well-known Thai restaurant in Munich is called “KAI MUK,” a chain restaurant mostly located in the shopping mall. The price of the menu ranges from 7 - 11 Euro, depending on the type of meat. The business is owned by a German businessman who lived in Thailand with his Thai partner and later moved to Germany. The look of the restaurant is well-branded, the slogan “Taste Thai.” According to the literation review regarding “a Thai restaurant as staging identity, this is a good example that confirms the marketing purposes of Thai restaurants concerning cultural authenticity. However, as a Thai who personally tried the food, the menu’s selections are not necessarily extraordinary and can be considered “food for tourists.” The most popular menus, such as Pad Thai, green curry, or red curry, are cooked based on customer’s expectations and differs from the food in Thailand. For example, no restaurant in Thailand would never put ketchup in Pad Thai. However, “Taste Thai” has been created only for marketing purposes because the cooking chef is, in fact, Thai.

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Trendy (€€€) – The restaurants are mostly located in the city center where young and business people usually to hang out. The restaurant interior does not rely on the traditional way of decoration, but instead tend to look modern and contemporary. The price of food ranged from 9-12 Euro which is slightly more than Imbiss, but the restaurant offer casual and cosmopolitan atmosphere.

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Luxurious (€€€€) – These restaurants mostly target German customers whose expectation are not only food authenticity, but also the elegant atmosphere. The food price starts from 12 to 20 Euro per dish. From the observation, the restaurants that are owned by Thai tend to convey the conventional representation of Thailand with a lot of cultural elements such as Buddha statue, Thai paintings, Thai king’s images, or Amazing Thailand poster, to emphasize “Thai-ness.” Whereas, the expensive restaurants, owned by Germans tend to go beyond this concept by focusing on other settings. However, all of them claim their authenticity not only bu the quality of food, but it also includes the names of food on the menu, which are mostly in Thai.

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2.3.2 Type of Letters

The signs and shop facias from 42 Thai restaurants have been collected and classified into 4 groups. However, there is some confusion by choosing letters because some restaurants use more than one style of typeface on their logo. In this observation, a few restaurants intentionally use Thai scripts only as images or visual representations because most people cannot read it.

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Basic style – Using generic Latin style typefaces, such as Serif, Sans Serif, or Fixed Width. Regarding the observation, this style seems to be popular among the chain restaurants and the modern ones as it is widely used in cooperate branding.

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Script/ Handwriting font – Using calligraphy style with organic graphic elements. This style is more preferred among the restaurants privately owned by Thais than the chain restaurants that prefer the generic modern fonts. During the interview with Rüen Thong restaurant’s owner, he explained that the logo has been designed by a Thai friend in Thailand.

The calligraphic style has been chosen due to its fineness regarding Thai architecture, as Rüen Thong means a golden pavilion.

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Custom lettering The character of each logotype is designed based on the meaning of the name.

However, the letters’ style is not very specific in terms of typographic use, as there is no system in this category.

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Asian writing style or ethnic type According to Wachendorff's research in the previous section, strategy C has been used widely, mimicking the writing style and typographical elements in Latin letters.

Apparently, this particular way of transferring cultural stereotypes into letterforms has also been found at some restaurants in Munich and Berlin. The last picture on the bottom right is a Thai Imbiss in Berlin, owned by a Thai person, but the logo was designed by a local sign shop in Berlin However, other ethnic typefaces have been applied apart from Chop-Suey, such as the type with ‘Loop’ style referencing Thai letters or the Indic scripts, which has no relation to Thai culture in particular. In conclusion, only 2 out of 42 restaurants have chosen the strategy in mimicking characteristic of Thai letterforms into Latin letters (two pictures from the left). It is questionable whether this technique can be considered an effective way of representation and can be further explored to accentuate Thai cultural identity by distinguishing themselves from other Asian ethnic types.

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2.3.3 Selection of Names

Apart from the style typography, people also perceive certain information from linguistic communication like words and their meanings. Therefore, to understand how Thai restaurants position themselves in the marketing aspect, it is useful to have a closer look at how a given brand name helps the restaurant stand out from other competitors and the message they try to express Thai-ness to the customers. The naming strategies are divided into 4 main categories.

A Thai person’s name: Khun Tuk, Noppakoa, Kai Muk, Khanittha, Mae Charoen, Tem Places in Thailand: Pattaya, Bangkok Bites, Ratchada, Chiangmai Using “Thai” as a part of the name: Thai Mama, Thai restaurant, Thai Krung Sri, Mae Thai, Pad Thai, Thai Atrium, Thai Curry, Thai Fresh Cuisine, Rüen Thai, Be Thai Style, Siam Thai Food, Sala Thai, Krua Thai, Thai Curry Delhi, Rabiang Thai Other names: Sabai Bar, Mun Mun, Spicery, Manam, Nam Nam, Yum2Take, Yum, Lemontrees, Longgrains Apparently, most restaurants rely on the word “Thai” to identify themselves as it is probably the most direct way to communicate their nation. Other names used as the names of cities in Thailand also associate with tourism because these are the destination where most international tourists visit.

Nevertheless, this project is focusing on the visual characteristic of ethnic letterforms. Thus, the image above eliminates the viewer’s attention to the meaning of word, but instead to focusing on the letterforms. Regarding the image, it shows that the style of letterforms can be visually perceived to cultural references depending on the beholder’s cultural background. Which is one do you associate with Thailand?

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2.3.4 Graphic Elements

Some particular graphic elements have been found as a part of a logo and branding materials such as menus, brochures, and business cards. Apart from the characteristic of Thai letters, Lai Thai (Thai motif patterns) is sometimes applied to typefaces to express Thai-ness.

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CONCLUSION: PART II

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This chapter has introduced very comprehensive information about culinary tourism, Thai restaurant as a staged identity, Thai script system, and the field observation of restaurant signs to understand the relationship between cultural phenomena and visual communication. The last section focused on the existing strategies of Thai restaurant signs to discover graphic patterns in Latin letterforms. Because it is essential to investigate how Thai cultural identity could be creatively expressed through Latin letters in a transcultural world to explore the possibility of creating something new for the society. This project only aims to create a unique visual experiment in typographic design.

However, the observation has revealed some important insights regarding the focus on cultural stereotypes in typography. It shows that most Thai restaurants owned by Thais seem to pay attention to not using “Asian writing style” – or Chop Suey font – for their logos. Because they want to distinguish themselves from other Asian restaurants. On the other hand, their logo’s chosen typefaces have mostly no relation to Thai identity but very generic apart from the word content. Instead, they used other graphic motifs such as flowers or temple to express their logos.

Apparently, there are only a few significant styles regarding Thai cultural references, as shown on the page108-109. The most exciting point of the observation is to see the attempt to combine the stereotype of Thai letters into Latin letters with loops. It shows that this characteristic could be a creative solution for hybrid typefaces. The next chapter will be a design part where the visual experiments and typographic works are created based on the first two chapters.

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3.1 ABOUT PROJECT

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The observation in Thai restaurant signage has revealed some insights that most Thai restaurants tend to avoid using Asian ethnic types. On the other hand, their logo’s chosen typefaces have mostly no relation to Thai identity but very generic apart from the word content. For this reason, the design challenge could be a new typeface that can be used commercially to convey Thai cultural aesthetics.

Ethnic typefaces have been widely designed to represent ethnic cultures. There are different strategies that a national characteristic can be applied to letterforms, such as the script system, graphic elements, or the writing style. Therefore, the creative part of this work has been explored by experimenting with all possible strategies in applying Thai cultural aesthetics in Latin letterforms.

However, without defining what Thai-ness is, it is impossible to emphasize its visual aesthetic. Thus, Thai-ness in letterforms has to be determined in specific features.

Nonetheless, It is still unclear to define what is Thai or if it is Thai enough. It could be a Lai Thai (traditional motifs) or the writing system.

Accordingly, the most significant visual features on Thai letterforms that have been discussed among Thai type designers seem to be the loops. It is the writing system that always starts from a circle (ex. ข,ด,ล,จ,ฌ,ฮ). Concerning how Latin letters have influenced Thai letters, loops are determined equally to the serifs. Type designers call this way “Latinization.” Therefore, using the same method conversely, “Thai-nized” has been invented for this project.

The Thai-nized book contains the creative outcomes of this project and is an outcome itself. It includes a type specimen of a new Latin typeface ‘Hua Klom,’ which means rounded head, which is inspired by Thai looped letters. The book narrates a story about Thailand and Thai culture and the relation to the typography. Thai-nized is a concept of applying all possible Thai visual aesthetics on Latin letterforms to bring out ethnic expression. In the design process, I have explored different ways, such as mimicking Thai traditional scripts style from signs in Thailand, interpreting graphic elements from architecture, or taking significant characteristics from Thai letters to find out what would fit best for commercial purposes for restaurant signs.

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3.2 VISUAL PROCESS & DEVELOPMENT

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Strategy 1: “Loop�

Loop is one of the most significant features in Thai letters as it has been as well discussed among Thai type designers. Besides, from my own experience, this characteristic has a unique expression to the non-Thai people, such as a friend of mine in this picture. Casually speaking, I was surprised as I saw her picking me up at the airport in Berlin with this welcome sign. She is not a designer, though I suppose the looped character is very recognizable for people who are not familiar with the Thai language. Therefore, this direction has been further developed.

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Strategy 2: Influnced by Thai written sign

This style of Thai typeface has been widely used in Thailand in public space mostly at traditional places such as temples or local bus terminal. Most of them were drawn by hands. According to the advertising purpose, these handwriting are converted to font, but most of them are only available in Thai language.

Therefore, transfering this style to Latin letters could be significant to Thai people who are familar with this typeface.

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Strategy 3: Traditional motif and Thai architecture The traditional pattern is called ‘Lai Thai,’ known as typical ornaments that have been used for Thai architecture, especially for temples. Lai-Thai is also applied to traditional Thai decorations such as five colors, ceramics, textiles, or food carving.

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Strategy 4: Modular Type System This concept has been inspired by the book by H.F. Henderson, Understanding Molecular Typography. The method has been slightly adjusted from the main idea, but simpler. The anatomy of Thai letters is disassembled and reassembled to create a new letter.

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+

=

+

=

+

=

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MOOD & TONE

Thailand is a land of rainbow colors.

Most typical elements that appear locally are expressed through vibrant tones, such as signs, arts, and crafts. Therefore, the book’s art direction has been set to the rainbow spectrum to represent the culture.

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3.3 FINAL OUTCOME

‘Thai-nized’ is a book that contains the creative outcomes of this project and is an outcome itself. It includes a type specimen of a new Latin typeface ‘Hua Klom,’ which means rounded head, which is inspired by Thai looped letters.

The book narrates a story about Thailand and Thai culture and the relation to the typography. Thai-nized is a concept of applying all possible Thai visual aesthetics on Latin letterforms to bring out ethnic expression. In the design process, I have explored different ways, such as mimicking Thai traditional scripts style from signs in Thailand, interpreting graphic elements from architecture, or taking significant characteristics from Thai letters to find out what would fit best for commercial purposes for restaurant signs.

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Hua Klom is a contemporary typeface, inspired by looped Thai letters. ‘Hua’ means head, and ‘Klom’ means circular. It comes only in regular weight and can be used as a headline font.

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Uppercase Characters

Lowercase Characters

Numbers

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4.

CONCLUSION

This project is a visual research-based project that initially intends to investigate the transcultural phenomenon in a relation between social science and typography.

The project has started with the concept of cultural stereotypes applied to letterforms, which led to further literature studies in this field. The term authenticity and stereotype have been discussed whether it is right to define the meaning based on the norm. Accordingly, it turned out that the term authenticity is very subjective and can only be determined by an individual, based on the cultural background.

Therefore, guiding what is authentic and what is inauthentic is perhaps not the right way to contribute the creative output in the role of a designer. On the other hand, this project’s creative result seeks its way to emphasize the cultural values that can potentially be useful to the transcultural society.

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FOOTNOTES

1.1 Culture 1) Lee, 2006; Lebrón, 2013 2) Wolfgang Welsch, 2009, S.39; Wachendoff, NERD - New Experimental Research in Design, S.208 3) Gidden, 2005; Itulua-Abumere, 2013, Sociological concepts of culture and identity 4) Welsch, 2009, S.39 5) Keesing, 1974 6) Kanungo, 2006 7) Herder,1967, S.44; Wachendoff, 2013 8) Welsch, 2005, S.42 9) Lu, 2006; Licht et al, 2005, S.234; Lebrón, 2013 What is culture?, Merit Research Journal 10) Welsch, 2009, S.42; Wachendoff, 2018, NERD - New Experimental Research in Design, S.208 11) Wachendoff 2018, S.209 12) Welsch 2009, S.46 13) Giddens, 2005; Itulua-Abumere, 2013, Sociological concepts of culture and identity, S.2 14) Williams and O’ Reilly, 1998 15) Tajfel, 1982 16) Lenbrón, 2013, S.127 17) Giddens, 2005 18) Giddens, 2005 19) Swann et al, 2010 1.2 Stereotype 1) Cardwell, 1996, The Dictionary of Psychology, S.227 https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofpsyc0000card/page/227/mode/1up?q=stereotype 2) Lehtonen 1994, Cultural stereotype, S.173; Steel 1997, xii; Wachendoff, S.210 3)) Bauer, 2009; Neculaesei, 2017, Cultural Stereotypes- A Revival of Bosche’s View, REBS, S.208 4)) Durand we al.,2000 5) Petersen, and Schwender 2009, S.10 6) Lehtonen Kaakko 1994, Cultural Stereotypes in intercultural communication, S 173-182 7) Bosch, 1993a; Neculaesei, 2017, Cultural Stereotypes- A Revival of Bosche’s View, REBS, S.207 8) Wachendorff 2018, S 211 9) Nicoleta Neculasei 2017, S.205-218 1.3 Cultural Aesthetic 1) Arnold, 1970, Notes for a Cultural Aesthetic, S.20 2) Welsch 2001, Transculturality - The changing form of cultures today, S.69 3) Wesch 1993, Die Aktualität des Ästhetischen, Munich: Fink 4) Wesch 1993, Die Aktualität des Ästhetischen, Munich: Fink, 70 5) Ulf Hannerz 1990, Cosmopolitans and Locals in World Culture,in: Global Culture, S.249 6) Wachendorff 2018, S. 209 1.4 Signs as communicative output 1) Shohamy & Waksman 2009; Kelly-Holmes 2014 2) Gorter 2013, S.197; Shohamy & Waksman 2009, S. 314 3) Bianco M. 2018, An Analysis of Shop Signs, S.16 2.1 Restaurant as staging identity - A Discover Thainess.

1) “สถิติด้านการท่องเที่ยว ปี 2562 (Tourism Statistics 2019)”. Ministry of Tourism & Sports. Retrieved 23 January 2020.

2.2 THAIPOGRAPHY 1) Hartmann, John F. (1986). “The spread of South Indic scripts in Southeast Asia”: 8 2) Anuthin 2014, Here & Now, The Magazine, Bangkok Post, S.218 3) Phillips Cornwell-Smith 2014, Here & Now, The Magazine, Bangkok Post, S. 216-221 4) Pairoj Teeraprapa (Roj Siamruay), 2014

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REFERENCES

Backhaus, Peter (2005): Signs of Multilingualism in Tokyo. A Linguistic Landscape Approach, S.17-19 Blum, Lawrence (2004): Philosophical Papers, Vol. 33, No.3, S.288-289 Bianco, Martina (2018): The linguistic landscape of Turin. An analysis of shop signs, S.16-26 Berleant, Arnold (1970): The Aesthetic Field. A phenomenology of Aesthetic Experience, Springfield, IL

ฝรั่งอ๊ะป่าว?), Bangkok, Issue 36, S.49-57

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PHOTOGRAPHS & ILLUSTRATIONS

P.18: Greek restaurant, Kevin Lucius, http://www.kevinlucius.com/files/images/greek3.jpg P.19 (Bottom): A Trip to Chinatow, poster design, William Nicholson and James Rryde, https://www.mkg-hamburg.de/en/collection/permanent-collection/poster/poster-for-the-play-a-trip-to-china-town.html P.38: The development of Thai alphabets, https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xQ_HXPtMJv8/UTrAXZOOMWI/ AAAAAAAAAHw/c0RFYANjPOs/s1600/111+001.jpg P.39: Ben Mitchell, 2009, https://www.flickr.com/people/ohbendy P.42: Writing exercise for school, https://www.aksaraforkids.com/home/ภาษาไทย/แบบหัดคัดภาษาไทย/เก่งภาษาไทย-เล่ม-1-หัวกลม/ P.47: MVV Public transportation map, https://www.mvv-muenchen.de/fileadmin/mediapool/03-Plaene_Bahnhoefe/Netzplaene/2018_MVVnetz_Final_S_U_R_screen.pdf P.50: Kai Mug Restaurant, https://www.kaimug.de/upload/18573327-DSC-6745.jpg P.53: Rüen Thong, https://www.ruenthong.de/ P.55: Spicery Restaurant, https://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/13/93/ed/57/bar.jpg P.144: Ben Mitchell, 2016, https://www.flickr.com/people/ohbendy

*The rest of the photographs and illustrations in this book that are not listed here were takend and created by Supaksirin Wongsilp during the field research *Some stock images are legally bought from freepik.com

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