Graphic design in urban environments / Robert Harland.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Harland, Robert, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Design--Social aspects.

Design.

Signs and signboards--Social aspects.

Signs and signboards.

Signs and signboards--Design.

Outdoor furniture--Social aspects.

Outdoor furniture.

Outdoor furniture--Design.

Semiotics.

Graphic design (Typography).

Physical Description:

1 online resource (185 pages, 32 unnumbered pages of plates) : illustrations, photographs

Distribution:

London, England : Bloomsbury Publishing, 2020

Place of Publication:

London, England : Bloomsbury Academic, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 2020.

System Details:

Mode of access: World Wide Web.

Summary:

"Graphic Design in Urban Environments introduces the idea of a category of designed graphic objects that significantly contribute to the functioning of urban systems. These elements, smaller than buildings, are generally understood by urban designers to comprise such phenomena as sculpture, clock towers, banners, signs, large screens, the portrayal of images on buildings through "smart screens," and other examples of what urban designers call "urban objects."The graphic object as it is defined here also refers to a range of familiar things invariably named in the literature as maps, street numbers, route signs, bus placards, signs, architectural communication, commercial vernacular, outdoor publicity, lettering, banners, screens, traffic and direction signs and street furniture. One can also add markings of a sports pitch, lighting, bollards, even red carpets or well dressings. By looking at the environment, and design and deconstructing form and context relationships, the defining properties and configurational patterns that make up graphic objects are shown in this book to link the smallest graphic detail (e.g. the number 16) to larger symbolic statements (e.g. the Empire State Building). From a professional design practice perspective, a cross section through type, typographic, graphic and urban design will provide a framework for considering the design transition between alphabets, writing systems, images (in the broadest sense) and environments."--Publisher's website.

Contents:

1. Introduction. An everyday occurrence ; Who is this book for? ; Origin, bias and approach ; What this book is not about ; Chapter outlines

2. Argument. Introduction ; An array of urban objects ; Studying partial urban systems ; Art and design perspectives ; Adopting a perspective ; Towards a graphic design stance ; In the name of graphic design ; Graphic design as a spatial practice ; Beyond graphic design ; Summary

3. History. Introduction ; The urban graphic object ; What is urban (design)? ; Graphic design's urban history ; Trajan's Column, Rome ; Johnston's 'Underground' typeface ; Emergent 'environmental information systems' ; Summary

4. Imageability. Introduction ; An urban-graphic analogy ; The city image and its [graphic] elements ; Problems associated with sign and scale ; Concerning mesographic analysis ; Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo ; City of Westminster street nameplate, London ; Summary

5. Pattern. Introduction ; The visual dimension ; Form and context ; Object as pattern ; The road (zebra) crossing ; Ornamentation (as Unification) ; Summary

6. Representamen. Introduction ; From typography towards typology ; The semiotic sign ; Object as representamen ; The function of graphic objects ; Ghirardelli Square, San Francisco (1962-7, 1982-4) ; La Défence, Hauts-de-Seine, France (1958-90 and to the present) ; Theater District and Times Square, New York (1967-74) ; Symbolic resources for changing livelihoods ; Summary

7. Conclusion.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 121-126) and index.

ISBN:

9781472597755

1472597753

9781472597762

1472597761

9781472597779

147259777X

OCLC:

1201425950