Don’t panic!
Keep it clean!
Monumental type and the pleasure principle.
“…an educated ego has become reasonable; it no longer lets itself be governed by the pleasure principle, but obeys the reality principle, which also at bottom seeks to obtain pleasure, but pleasure which is assured through taking account of reality, even though it is pleasure postponed and diminished” –after Freud
Raunak and the criminal mind
Indian industrial designer Joghi Panghaal, who is a specialist in connecting western industrialized thinking with Indian traditional craftsmanship, pointed out to me, somewhere in the mid 1990’s, a condition called ‘raunak’. With this he meant the typical Indian sense of wellbeing felt when confronted with a moving crowd of people or animals so dense that it has become a sum of undistinguishable features. He also found this term applied to the Indian decorative aesthetic where the eye will linger on – and loose itself in complex patterns and signs that often form the visual result of Indian religious architecture, will it be Mughal – will it be Hindu.
Obviously Joghi wanted to point out to me a way of perception that is in conflict with the modernist mantra ‘less is more’. And I could not help to connect the sense of panic a westerner experiences when locked in a typical Indian crowd with the ‘Spic and Span-approach’ conducted by Swiss modernist graphic designers where ‘everything not directly functional’ is eliminated for being unnecessary. Don’t panic! Keep it clean!
I have never been very sensitive to modernist advice when it comes to the readability of type. Once being informed by museum staff that nothing is legible except Univers 45, I was prompted to say that this observation put all graphic communication before 1954 in purgatory and made the writing by hand of letters in the past as well as in the future a pointless activity.
What connected Joghi’s notion of Raunak with my work is that I have always liked an inherent visual complexity as part of an otherwise – but necessary – clear visual organisation. From very early on the notion of type being merely text or also functioned as image was decided by me to be in favour of the latter. Joghi’s observation not only pleased me but also brought me understanding about my personal position within design and ornament. In the 80’s I once told a journalist that I presumed that my aesthetic education grinded to a halt when I saw my first Christmas tree. This was obviously way before any formal education took place. The concept of visual complexity (countless balls, candles, chocolates) within an archetypal form (a pine tree) had entered into my unconscious at the age of kindergarten. Interestingly enough the same age when children are being forced by the Fröbel system of education to accept circles, squares and triangles in red, blue and yellow to be the major building blocks of the – visual – universe. Thanks heavens the Bauhaus didn’t originate in Delhi in 1700. It would have produced an utterly different kind of architectural heritage and no ornament!
In the 1970’s the famous Dutch collector, designer, writer an publisher Piet Schreuders wrote an article entitled: ‘Are Graphic Designers Criminals?’ Echoing the famous article by Adolf Loos ‘Ornament and Crime’, it was this time the modernist graphic designer – and more in particular Wim Crouwel – who was considered a criminal for scorching our eyes with white pages scarcely plastered in univers 45, whether it be a design for a museum or for a steel factory.
Less is more is no longer. Modernist functionalism has found it’s way into graphic design templates and has made every office hack into a graphic designer of the late modernist school. Helvetica is doing its 7th comeback in contemporary typography and now is in fact older than most serif type used today. Essentially it is a nostalgic typeface. Compare it with Dieter Rahm’s design for Braun in the 1960’s being recreated in the iPod product line of the early 21st century. Is it new or is it nostalgia? Is it functionalism or is it merely style? I think the latter. ‘Empty design’ now stands for empty thinking.
Make it dirty
I write all this down so it will be expressed that my work represents a ‘position’ within graphic design. I never considered myself a postmodernist. More so an ‘expressive modernist’ of which there is also a tradition in the Netherlands, from Willem Sandberg to Gielijn Escher to Anthon Beeke to the Hard Werken design group of which I was a member.
Within the mix that makes up my design work monumental design has been a recurring element since 1986 when I was asked by Dutch PTT to make a ‘neon frieze’ of some 100 meters inside one of their sorting centres. And at this very moment I am working on interactive media presentations on a monumental scale at the Philips Music Hall in Eindhoven. In between there are some 6 major projects. From early on I worked with large typographical forms that bring to mind commercial neon signage that can be seen in any major city. This is no coincidence since for the Dutch PTT I developed a visual approach that can best be described as ‘corporate art’. Originally I was asked to develop monumental ‘narrative’ signage (my term) about the graphic identity of the PTT in 1990.
At that time a new identity was developed by Gert Dumbar for the state-owned company that was in the process of being privatized. This identity consisted of a graphic toolbox that could work for the two company names that were then used: PTT-Post and PTT-Telecom. This was an unsurpassable exercise in corporate design. The so-called 3rd level of the identity consisted of a collection of crosses, circles and squares of which the famous suprematist painter Malevich would not have been ashamed. Seeing this and the fact that the architecture of the building where the work should be applied made me decide to create a typographic comic strip titled: ‘The Rise and Fall of the graphic identity of the PTT’. The first panel shows the first use of Univers 45 in the logo and continues through the further development of the logo in the 60’s and 70’s in the following panels with a gradual take-over by the Malevich suprematist signs until the logo is lost in an almost incomprehensive graphic delirium including a face of the moon which worked on a cosmic clock and coincided with the real moon. This last panel made an impression of coming from a Disney Arabian Night cartoon.
Although it was clearly a sign for PTT, it was much more that a corporate logo and it filled the staff with pride to be working in the building that formed the backdrop. For the car traffic along the plant it became a landmark as well. Every morning and evening the traffic would slowly curl around the building on various flyovers. I had given them a lot to look at. I had made my very first ‘Traffic Jam Artwork’.
This is a key work for many reasons; It showed me that one can ‘work’ almost generic elements – like type – into an independent monumental expression. But maybe even more important: in essence mundane visual material of corporate origin can be brought into an extended visual context and be made sublime.
The pleasure principle
Over the years I did several projects in this direction. In the mid 1990’s I embarked on a visual research project for – again – PTT then rebaptized into KPN-Post. I was commissioned to make a large scale multiple. A typographic sign, twelve by twelve meters in size, derived from corporate logo material, to be placed in the vicinity of six new sorting centres. Based on the analysis of existing visual material like the constructive approach of the architecture, logotype and prime colour three directions were developed. In all directions the concept of Raunak is central. By playing with fragmentation within a solid visual frame the basic elements of the graphic identity are represented. At the same time it is not just another billboard. As an almost mysterious landmark it communicates place and time – this place and this time, not merely the existence of a company.
A logotype like that of TNT – the next name of the Dutch PTT after it was called TPG for a while – is published in print, on television and on the web. It is designed to look the same within any media. When you see the logo in real time and space it could be an advertisement for the company in general but it could also be communicating the fact that the company is physically there on the spot. This quality of place and time is neglected in current thinking about the application of monumental type in public space. The legacy of Robert Venturi and B.E.S.T. architects in the 1960’s and 1970’s that concentrates on architecture’s role as symbol or sign connects directly with the need for institutions to become visible in the dense urban visual fabric that characterizes the contemporary city. One way of achieving this is by the application of ‘slow visualizing’. To create signs that do not give away all in one glance, but need to be studied, looked at, lingered on, related to. Like a beautiful Christmas tree. Instantly gratifying.
Two contrasting projects
S.T.I.P. (System Typography Integrated Program)
The first S.T.I.P. project – stip meaning dot in Dutch – was an architectural monumental signage program to apply the corporate identity of the then called TPG-Post to a series of some 110 buildings of which some 33 were executed. These buildings were to be build conform market requirements, in contrast with earlier TPG architecture which was tailor made for their activities. A modular system was developed that could erect clean cut glass panelled boxes in various sizes and floor plans. Originally these buildings would contain more than one company in the then fashionable shop-in-shop concept. Furthermore these buildings would be partially located in living areas, which restricted severely the use of regular commercial signage. In order to represent the different logos a fragmented visual language was developed in line with the research done for the Multiple Sign mentioned above. The material consisted of retro-reflective prismatic foil that created a dramatic day and night effect. In the end TPG turned out to be the only party using the buildings. It didn’t stop the approach of typography as a patterned image. All locations have different designs applied to them.
Hofbogen Project
The Hofpleinlijn Viaduct is a defunct air rail bridge in Rotterdam constructed around 1900. After the bombardment of the city centre in 1940 the arches of the bridge were closed off in order to house companies and even families who had lost the roof over their head. As a result, the city area where the bridge stands, has been divided by this two kilometre long grey concrete wall for the better part of the last half century. The bridge is now under a process of re-development and ironically – for such a monumental structure – it had to be made visible to begin with. When a derelict build object has been somewhere for a long time it turns into an obstacle that is avoided if possible, also in its perception. To bring the bridge back into the beholders eye’s a visual program was started that consisted among other things of the numbering of many of the 200 odd arches. Other elements of the re-visualisation program consisted of large scale application of related textual fragments as well as the setting up of a wall(news)paper – De Hoftrompet (The Hof Bugle) – which delivered related texts dealing with topics as the history of the bridge and the surrounding area, like song texts, cocktail recipes or a glossary on the vocabulary of skaters. The type was complex and monumental, and it was applied in paint with the use of cut-out templates. All the graphic communication, ranging from websites to printed material to the monumental application were of one visual family.
Captions:
01.
Gerard Hadders performing a field test with the ‘LED striplight’ developed for the ‘Hoogvliet Lichtplan’ in 2003.
02.
The Rise and Fall of the graphic identity of the PTT. 1992.
Neon light frieze with moon. Appr. 20 x 8 meters and 100 x 6 meters.
Mail distribution centre Terbregseweg Rotterdam.
03.
The Rise and Fall of the graphic identity of the PTT. 1992.
Detail with moon.
04.
The Rise and Fall of the graphic identity of the PTT. 1992.
Detail with delirious suprematism.
05.
The Rise and Fall of the graphic identity of the PTT. 2003.
First revision; name change to TPG-Post, Night view. Rendering.
06.
The Rise and Fall of the graphic identity of the PTT. 2006.
Second revision, name change to TNT-Post. Panel design day view. Rendering.
07.
The Rise and Fall of the graphic identity of the PTT. 2006.
Overview and details of executed work.
08.
Serial signage for 6 PTT distribution centres.
Research project 1996-97.
Building visual rhetoric on the base of existing conditions.
09/11/11.2.
Serial signage for 6 PTT distribution centres.
Research project 1996-97.
The signs were to be executed in cheap materials like industrial grids en box letterforms, with the use of low voltage lensed light bulbs commonly used in fairground attractions. Projected size ± 12 x 12 meters.
10.
Serial signage for 6 PTT distribution centres.
Research project 1996-97.
Design for ‘Idiot proof’ paving to be used in parking lots near business units of PTT. Even if the paver would be having a bad day the result were to be satisfactory. 1997.
12.
Serial signage for 6 PTT distribution centres.
Research project 1996-97.
Tensegrity Tree. Steel structure, not unlike the supports for power cables with box type positioned by wind direction. Projected size ± 16 x 8 meters.
13.
Neon sign for ‘Walino’, the restaurant of the Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg. 1996.
The signage was mounted top down over the balcony terrace of the restaurant, washing the diners in subtle blue light.
14.
S.T.I.P. coordinated design project for business outlet chain PTT-Post. 1998-2000.
Architectural design by Cepezed Architects, Delft, to accommodate the architectutal signage system developed by S.T.I.P. shows the principle; a clean glass box as the ideal surface for the sticker based execution method.
14.2
S.T.I.P. coordinated design project for business outlet chain PTT-Post. 1998-2000.
The shop-in-shop concept of the 1990’s asked for a balanced visual approach in the combination of different corporate logos. Furthermore the logos needed to be made ‘monumental’, becoming part of the architecture instead of a mere appendix.
15.
S.T.I.P. coordinated design project for business outlet chain PTT-Post. 1998-2000.
The logo of PTT was always to be eroded or fragmented within the system. It could almost be taken apart completely before losing it ‘gestalt’.
16.
S.T.I.P. coordinated design project for business outlet chain PTT-Post. 1998-2000.
Retro-reflective prismatic foil in dots. Night and day view. Since the dots were hand-applied the ‘flow’ of the material was different with each individual dot that resulted in a twinkling effect.
17.
S.T.I.P. coordinated design project for business outlet chain PTT-Post. 1998-2000.
The night view effect was generated by streetlights and more importantly: by the headlights of the approaching clients cars.
18.
S.T.I.P. coordinated design project for business outlet chain PTT-Post. 1998-2000.
Day view detail of the façade.
19.
S.T.I.P. coordinated design project for Porsche Cayenne Factory Leipzig.
Proposal. Unfortunately the architects of Cepezed were pushed out mid-process. They were rewarded ‘in kind’ with Porsche 911’s where I didn’t even receive new hubcaps – unfortunately.
20.
S.T.I.P. coordinated design project for TNT Express Mail Headquarters, Houten.
The building is located near one of the most dense traffic arteries in The Netherlands with a guaranteed daily traffic jam. A ‘slow sign’ was developed. The contours of the TNT logo were executed six times: three times in their corporate colour and three times in white. Where the orange filaments were ‘on’ all the time, the white filaments burned one at a time with an interval of three seconds. Always casting a slight movement in the whole.
20.2.
S.T.I.P. coordinated design project for TNT Express Mail Headquarters, Houten.
Diagram of neon filament construction on an industrial grid.
21.
S.T.I.P. coordinated design project for TNT Express Mail Headquarters, Houten.
The switch sequence of the neon filaments.
22.
S.T.I.P. coordinated design project for TNT Express Mail Headquarters, Houten.
‘Traffic Jam Artwork’.
23.
S.T.I.P. coordinated design project for TNT Express Mail Headquarters, Houten.
Overview en detail.
24.
S.T.I.P. coordinated design project for TNT Express Mail Headquarters, Houten.
Detail day view.
25/27.
L.E.W. (Light Emitting Wall) for Dexia Bank, Philips Design. 2001-2008. ± 12 x 20 meters.
Here the S.T.I.P. visual system was translated into a bright L.E.D. wall. Although it had an L.E.D. coverage of less than 15% the physiological effect of the light in combination with the mesh suggested full coverage. The pixelation of 80 x 120 made it possible to create iconographic and textual programming. Originally constructed in 2001 it’s programming was refitted in commission by Philips Design when they moved into the towers in 2008.
28.
Monumental street signage for the Hofbogen Project. 2006-2009
The basic design for the molds (rasta’s) for the numbering of the arches.
28.2.
Monumental street signage for the Hofbogen Project. 2006-2009
Typefaces. On the basis of the Egiziano Black some ten fonts were developed, all content-related to aspects of the Hofbogen Project.
28.3.
Monumental street signage for the Hofbogen Project. 2006-2009
The application of the arch numbers with the use of molds.
29/32.
Monumental street signage for the Hofbogen Project. 2006-2009
Arch numbers.
33.
Monumental street signage for the Hofbogen Project. 2006-2009
A kiss from a stranger!
34/35.
Monumental street signage for the Hofbogen Project. 2006-2009
Related text lines or terms were also applied to the arches.
36.
Monumental street signage for the Hofbogen Project. 2006-2009
The arch numbers were also executed in somewhat subdued colours.
37.
Monumental street signage for the Hofbogen Project. 2006-2009
Related text lines or terms were also applied to the arches.
38.
Monumental street signage for the Hofbogen Project. 2006-2009
The website and printed matter were executed in an identical style.
39/40.
Monumental street signage for the Hofbogen Project. 2006-2009
The arch numbers were also executed in somewhat subdued colours.
41.
Monumental street signage for the Hofbogen Project. 2006-2009
Related text lines or terms were also applied to the arches.
42.
Monumental street signage for the Hofbogen Project. 2006-2009
Some three hundred wall-(news) papers were designed, printed and pasted up.
43/44.
Muziekgebouw Frits Philips Eindhoven (Philips Music Hall). Redesign. Work in progress, 2009–
For this music theatre, reopening in the fall of 2010 a series of interactive media walls and signs are being developed under direction of Menno Dieperink in association with Eijk and van der Lubbe, Gerard Hadders and Eric Simon Thomas.
Programming media walls and graphic design. Interactive signage, programmed L.E.D. letter signs, outside façade and entrance.
Captions with the essay to be placed at will.
51.
Cover of the brochure accompanying the combined monumental light works of Gerard Hadders and Gea Kalksma.
52.
Three Bauhaus Mosques.
If the Bauhaus would have originates in Delhi in 1700 A.D.
48/49.
Skyscrapers are typography.
45.
The legacy of S.I.T.E. Architects. Best Product Company, 1960’s
46/47.
The legacy of Robert Venturi, Learning from Las Vegas.
see also:
http://typoarch.blogspot.nl/2012/04/holendersko-arabski-projekt.html
