Printed Text and Reading - Research

Primary

My research will focus on Printed Text & Reading in the environment we live in. The main elements of the environment that I want to look into are scale, specifically large, and location. As primary research I have walked the streets of Leeds looking for, and photographing, where printed text is used. As outlined at the start, I want to focus on location and scale so whilst collecting my primary research these are areas I have focused on.

The most common forms of printed text found around Leeds are these pillars that are plastered, on a regular basis, with posters for up and coming events. The pillars stand around 2 meters tall and around 1 meter wide. They have 8 flat faces that enable the posters to be pasted on to them. The Printed Text is slightly larger than commonly seen, as it has to be readable whilst conveying a large amount of information.

Another commonplace to find printed text on a much larger scale is on shop fronts. This is a much more commercial type of printed text. When this happens it is usually the shop name and/or logo that is printed in large letters on the side of the building. In the case of Jaldi Jaldi and Costa the text is printed onto glass, meaning other buildings and objects are reflected. This is something that I do not think is a good aesthetic.

Another very common area of printed text is advertising, in this case, on billboards. The reason I chose to photograph billboards rather than other advertisements is due to the scale. I find that the larger scale works have a much greater impact. Adverts on this scale need to be easy to read and therefore the key information is much larger.

Another place I found printed text was on the side of Leeds art gallery. As I found with my secondary research and my experience of going to art galleries, it is usual to have information about the exhibition printed onto the walls. This makes the information easily accessible and readable. Out of all of the printed text I found around the city, this was one of the most effective and aesthetically attractive.

The final and most effective printed text I found around the city was this text on the side of boards marking out a building site. This is the most effective as it is simple and clear and its colours create the greatest contrast. This is also an interesting piece of text as it is only temporary whilst the building work is being completed. Although this is not on a massive scale it is larger than would usually be seen. In comparison to the other printed text in Leeds, this has the greatest impact, followed by the gallery and the advert. When compared to the secondary research, however, it is not as powerful as it lacks the innovation of concept that printed text such as the Eureka Carpark and the Design Museum Cafe have.

 Secondary

For my secondary research I have looked deeper into scale and how more simple information can be displayed on a much larger scale. I have also looked into how large amounts or more detailed information can be printed onto our environment. 

The first Printed Text that I looked at was commercial related. Although it is commercial, it is not common and generic. There is a flow and continuation between the interior of the shop and the exterior, where the branding is shown on the exterior and interior but can be see through both.

This work, although not all of it is printed, shows the brand on different scales in the environment. The central image has the identity printed on glass, showing another dimension, where printed text impacts on our environment.

I also looked at how large amounts of information and imagery can be printed on our environment. The most common place that information is printed large scale in our environment is in galleries and design spaces. The information is usually kept to a single size so that it is legible and readable. The Design Museum cafe has illustrations printed on the walls as well.

This research is all visual and focuses on scale and perspective. Depending on where you view the printed text it will either be perfectly legible or distorted. This is especially noticeable in the Eureka Carpark, on the right, where the directions are printed on the wall and floor. At the London Design Festival a similar scale and concept was used.

Direction

I want to move my research away from the poster stand and commercial promotional side to printed text in the environment. I want to focus it down on the larger scale work where there is an innovative, more creative element to the work. I really like the idea of working on walls to a scale that would not be commonly expected. I do not want to look any further into advertising, however billboard size and scale is something I want to develop further. Although I chose the temporary information for the store and the eternal wall printing from the gallery as the most affective printed text in Leeds. When they are compared to other images of printed text, found elsewhere, they loose their impact.

The key focus areas I want to explore in greater depth and potentially develop work from are:

            -           Scale (Billboard/wall)

            -           Perspective

            -           Information

            -           Unusual/experimental

            -           Interaction between printed text and it’s environment

Whilst looking further into these areas there are also other elements that much be considered, such as:

            -           Legibility

            -           Readability

            -           Communication