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8.4.2026

Signs of Saigon

Tracing Old Saigon

Inspired by the Signs of Saigon project by Steffi Neukirchen, I set out on my first trip to Ho Chi Minh City in December 2019 with the expectation of encountering a wealth of historic lettering.

Having been in contact with her prior to the journey, I anticipated typographic discoveries at every corner—much like those documented on her website, on Instagram, or in Saigoneer.

_{↑ street scene, 1990s. © Steve Raymer / The Image Bank Cầu Thị Nghè bridge, 2019 →}

Ho Chi Minh City is an extraordinarily dynamic city, and it may have been somewhat naïve to expect that time would stand still here of all places. With images of old Saigon from the 1960s and 1970s in mind, only one constant seems to remain: the still astonishing street traffic, an unending stream of motorbikes.

Encounters with older signs proved considerably rarer. In the dim interiors of certain market halls, such as Xóm Chiếu Market, a few painted letterings can still be found. In some cases, however, the low light made it difficult to determine whether they were indeed hand-crafted. Occasionally, I came across examples on the streets as well—but the question remained: had I simply been looking in the wrong places?

Compagnie des
eaux et d’électricité d’Indochine

An unexpected remnant of colonial rule can be found in the numerous substations of the Indochina Water and Electricity Company (CEE) that appear throughout the urban fabric of Ho Chi Minh City. The Compagnie des eaux et d’électricité d’Indochine, established by the French in 1900, was responsible—through its subsidiaries—for the city’s essential infrastructure.

Its distinctive logo, with its characteristic lettering, still adorns many of these modest structures. Although responsibility has since passed to Vietnam Electricity (EVN), the stations appear to be carefully maintained to this day. The dates inscribed on their façades offer a subtle indication of the many transformations the city has undergone over the decades.