Graffiti and signage

Where to start? In this densely built-up environment, there is visual communication, in the form of writing or pictures, everywhere. Recently I read the book: “Characters: Cultural stories revealed through typography” by Stephen Banham, who I believe is also a Brunswick resident. (There is a great article on the book and part of an interview at this link to TheDesign Files blog.) Reading Banham’s book and admiring the photographs reinforced my view that it is not only what is written, but how it is written, that is fascinating and revelatory.

Often, the revelations are just in the eye of the beholder. Where one finds a scribble, a sign. What one has been thinking about, what one is looking for. Here are some examples:

Bohemian Brunswick: of course it did not take me long to discover this piece of commissioned graffiti art in a laneway along Sydney Road.

Lygon Street bookshops

“What can one do with old encyclopedias?” I asked Paul, proprietor of the Red Wheelbarrow bookshop. He confirmed my fears that they go to pulp. It seems such a waste: all that stored carbon in the paper and all that accumulated knowledge and information in the contents. Not to mention the historical snapshot that some of the writing styles and biases capture. In the end, an old set of Britannica became the stumps that ensured that my furniture stored in the garage of my old house did not get waterlogged when water came through the garage after a heavy downpour. Their sheer physical bulk was their only remaining use.