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Signpainter Documentary
When Better Letters met ... Josef Samuel, Vienna’s Last Signpainter
Vienna-based graphic designer Tom Koch teamed up with Better Letters to produce the second in their series of biopics about veteran sign painters. This short film celebrates the life and times of Vienna’s last sign painter, Josef Samuel.
Mumbai Taxi Art
Sameer Mistry, artist with a fine blade
In 2009, the magazine Creative Review appeared with a cover that brought sudden attention in the West to an art form that had hitherto remained almost entirely unknown: the ornate typographic embellishments adorning Mumbai’s kaali peeli taxis. A decade later, I set out in search of the artists behind these “Mumbai Typo Taxis,” seeking to discover what, if anything, has endured of their once resplendent decorations.
Vietnamese Newspaper Titles
Colourful roadside finds
A chance discovery not far from the memorial to Thích Quảng Đức—who set himself alight in Saigon on 11 June 1963 in protest against the persecution of Buddhists: at a roadside stall, the colourful newspaper headlines immediately draw attention.
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.
In the Museum Depot
A Visit to the Prater Whale
The inn Zum Walfisch, founded as early as 1782, was a true Prater institution and, for generations, a cherished destination for Viennese patrons. Above its entrance, a nine-metre-long whale—installed in the early 1950s—delighted visitors with its playful water fountain, captivating not least the younger among them. In 2013, however, the restaurant closed its doors, and with it seemed to come the end of the whale.
The Verein Stadtschrift in Vienna
The Typographic DNA of the City
Television repair, photographic studios, taverns: not only the design of the lettering itself, but also the services once advertised by these signs now appear curiously antiquated. Yet it is neither nostalgia nor a longing for a “better past” that motivates the association Stadtschrift, which collects, preserves, and reintroduces these Viennese signages into the public realm.
Alone in the Wiener Prater
Lockdown in the Amusement Park
Vienna’s Prater looks back on more than 250 years as a place of recreation on the city’s doorstep. The Wurstelprater in particular, with its array of attractions, has long been a favoured destination for Viennese families and a place of longing for generations of children. In spring, the Prater enters its high season, when tourists and local families alike crowd around its stalls. In April 2020, however, everything was different. During the first lockdown, the deserted Prater revealed itself as both captivating and eerily uncanny.
Chinatown on the Eve of the Pandemic
Chinese New Year
Yaowarat, Bangkok’s Chinatown, is in itself a visual challenge. Yet as the turn of the year approaches, the already dense interplay of Chinese, Thai, and English scripts acquires an additional layer: the red-and-gold aura of the Chinese New Year begins to cast its glow.
Museum Documentary
The Remarkable Rescue of a Historic Advertising Wall
In 2019, the Vienna Museum commissioned us to document the removal of a historic advertising wall on Favoritenstraße. Over the course of the week-long filming, a quiet tension accompanied the entire team, as uncertainty lingered over whether the severely deteriorated wall could, in fact, be preserved.