LOGO CITIES: AN INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON SIGNAGE, BRANDING AND LETTERING IN PUBLIC SPACE
05.04.2007 News
Montreal (Canada) - Cities are awash in 'public lettering': street signs,
newspaper mastheads, road signs, high-rise corporate logos,
store/shop/restaurant signs, engravings on buildings and monuments,
etc. They are at once branding and promotional devices; names (of
buildings); labels; locating devices; material and technological
artifacts; pieces of graphic, typographic, and industrial design;
architectural heritage; industrial detritus; personal and cultural
narratives. They are also intricately linked to the dominant
preoccupations of the city: high-rise logos, for example, eloquently
describe the commercial, financial, civic, even religious priorities of
a particular urban locale - especially at night.
It is all the more surprising, given their sheer ubiquity, that signs and lettering have received relatively little coordinated attention - critical, creative, or otherwise. From 4-5 May 2007, The Logo Cities symposium will draw together around thirty scholars, designers, and artists to foster an informed, critical dialogue about signage, branding, and lettering in public space - in local, regional, national, and international contexts. Dr. Johanna Drucker, Robertson Professor of Media Studies, University of Virginia, will deliver the keynote. The symposium is organised by
Logo Cities will also include an art exhibition of creative works focusing on signage and lettering, alongside examples of old and new signs from around the city. The symposium will close with the Quebec premiere of Helvetica, a new documentary film exploring the history and significance of this archetypal Modernist typeface which, for half a century, has been a ubiquitous presence in print and on signage in city streets, train stations and airports across the world. This screening of Helvetica will be introduced by the film's director, Gary Hustwit.
The symposium will convene in the J.A. de S ve Cinema (Library Building LB-125) at 1400 de Maisonneuve Blvd. W. on the Sir George Williams Campus of Concordia University, which is centrally located in downtown Montreal. Attendees are invited to register in advance at the regular rate by printing out and submitting this form. Registration will also be available on site on May 4th, subject to availability.
For further information please contact:
It is all the more surprising, given their sheer ubiquity, that signs and lettering have received relatively little coordinated attention - critical, creative, or otherwise. From 4-5 May 2007, The Logo Cities symposium will draw together around thirty scholars, designers, and artists to foster an informed, critical dialogue about signage, branding, and lettering in public space - in local, regional, national, and international contexts. Dr. Johanna Drucker, Robertson Professor of Media Studies, University of Virginia, will deliver the keynote. The symposium is organised by
Logo Cities will also include an art exhibition of creative works focusing on signage and lettering, alongside examples of old and new signs from around the city. The symposium will close with the Quebec premiere of Helvetica, a new documentary film exploring the history and significance of this archetypal Modernist typeface which, for half a century, has been a ubiquitous presence in print and on signage in city streets, train stations and airports across the world. This screening of Helvetica will be introduced by the film's director, Gary Hustwit.
The symposium will convene in the J.A. de S ve Cinema (Library Building LB-125) at 1400 de Maisonneuve Blvd. W. on the Sir George Williams Campus of Concordia University, which is centrally located in downtown Montreal. Attendees are invited to register in advance at the regular rate by printing out and submitting this form. Registration will also be available on site on May 4th, subject to availability.
For further information please contact:
Logo Cities Symposium
Attn: Dr. Matt Soar
Department of Communication Studies
T: +1 514 848 2424 x2542
E: logocities.symposium@gmail.com
W: www.logocities.org
Concordia
University Sponsors
Faculty of Arts and Science; COMS Guild; Obx Labs;
Department of Design and Computation Arts; Department of Communication
Studies.
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