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Advertising in Southern Laos
Been there, Don Det
The region of the Si Phan Don in southern Laos can, with little exaggeration, be described as the very end of the world. Of the countless islands scattered across this stretch of the Mekong, only a few are inhabited, and a mere three have seen any degree of tourist development. The electrification of the islands has brought with it a modest prosperity—alongside a steady flow of visitors. Where competition emerges, so too does the impulse to advertise.
Stoke Newington
The secret of the Gravestones at Abney Park
At Abney Park Cemetery, subtle details emerge upon closer inspection of the gravestones. The lettering, in particular, appears almost as if it had been applied to the surface, bearing a striking resemblance to letterpress printing plates in both form and presence.
Awnings as Advertising Space
Extreme Scale 3D-Typography
In Ho Chi Minh City, the prolific use of awnings as advertising surfaces is a defining feature of the urban landscape. Smaller shops and restaurants, in particular, make use of these large-format displays to attract attention, often prominently presenting the house number in oversized numerals.
Amsterdam’s Krulletters
Letters and Lager
They belong to Amsterdam much as pubs belong to London: bruin cafés—intimate, traditional establishments frequented by locals and, for the most part, still largely untouched by gentrification and the excesses of tourism. What unites these cafés, beyond their preserved local character, are the often playful letterings at their entrances, known as krulletters.
Albert Cuyp Markt, Amsterdam
The Market Signpainter: Henry van der Horst
A November morning at the Albert Cuyp Market in Amsterdam. The distinctive style of the price signs at many stalls immediately catches the eye. Responsible for them is the market signwriter Henry van der Horst, who has been producing hand-lettered price cards for nearly four decades.
Kwong Fah Press, Bangkok
Roadside Heidelberg
A chance discovery: at Kwong Fah Press—a family-run business that has operated in Chinatown for over fifty years—a Heidelberg press remains in daily use. The Frankenthal Albert automatic press was sold a few years ago due to lack of space, yet its manual has been carefully retained.
Kolkata’s hidden oasis
Park Street Cemetery
South Park Street Cemetery was among the earliest non-ecclesiastical cemeteries in the world and, in the nineteenth century, likely the largest Christian burial ground outside Europe and the Americas. Opened in 1767, the site is today enclosed by a brick wall that shelters an eclectic assemblage of graves, mausolea, and dense tropical vegetation, set apart from the surrounding bustle of Kolkata.
Deserted streets in India? An uncommon sight.
Empty streets
Cars, buses, countless yellow Ambassador taxis, hand-pulled rickshaws, and India’s only tramway: the streets of Kolkata exist in a near-constant state of movement and congestion. Yet during Durga Puja, the most significant religious festival in Bengal, this intensity briefly subsides. The streets appear almost emptied, revealing a quieter urban surface in which numerous typographic details come into view.
Poetic overlays in Kolkata
Stick no bills!
Kolkata, the capital of Bengal, is considered the intellectual centre of India. Its inhabitants are known for their passion for politics and their affinity for art and literature. The city’s cultural offer is correspondingly large. This is also reflected in the street scene: literally from every wall, political slogans, local services, film posters and other messages compete for the attention of passers-by.
A (virtuell) walk to Vienna’s gilded Signs
Vienna, Gilded
Pallas Athena, the Secession, the Plague Column—Vienna has never been sparing in its use of gilding on architectural landmarks. Far less attention, however, has been paid to the gilded shopfronts and commercial portals that came into vogue around the turn of the twentieth century, and which played a formative role in establishing Vienna’s reputation as a centre of sign painting.