Designers and stylists gain ground in the city

Trend overview Urban Graphics

Sometimes I am suddenly hit by a project which tells me: this is going to continue, this is a trend. Madrid was booming for the international debt crisis when it came to urban architecture, trendy shops and innovative interior design of young hotels, flashy bars and cool restaurants. I often stayed there to trend hunt and to accompany interested professionals. And there in the Spanish capital I saw it for the first time in 2005: the clear application of graphic design in urban design. Both functional and very beautiful.

By Nathalie Jager, Urban Trend Hunter, co-founder Urban Signature

Parking metamorphosis

In the underground car park of design hotel Puerta de América hang no standard parking or exit signs with arrows, but appealing graphical figures who show you in which way to go by their movement in a certain direction. These figures are an integral part of the design of the parking. Italian born architect Teresa Sapey, working in Madrid, had actually set an eye on designing one of the hotel areas but all were already assigned to icons as Zaha Hadid, Norman Foster and Jean Novel. After insisting she got permission from the hotel to shape the underground parking space that was left.

Trend

Sapey cleverly applied a refreshing stylistic approach. Graphic pictures are complemented by word poems and intense color. Parking garages usually have to do with a negative connotation but here it feels safe. The large graphical figures point out clearly the course towards the emergency exits. And you can marvel at the originality of the design and the meaning of texts. The garage is now also used for hotel events. You could, for example, organize an excellent cat walk. First granted the nickname Mrs. Parking Lot Sapey now takes care of the interior of several European parking facilities.

Graphic design at Antwerp Central Station (photo Nathalie Jager)

Graphics at the station

Other underground spaces also use striking graphic design. Antwerp Central Station has framed huge figures in concrete showing the direction of the emergency exit.

Young artists experiment with announcement signposts and routing during the NS Tryout Festival. (photo Nathalie Jager)

And NS (Dutch railways) recently started experimenting with graphic design. During the NS Try Out Festival 2011 – held at several larger stations - young designers of art academies made new information signs and NS announcement signposts of the present plastic signs. Moreover, for the last two years NS together with ProRail –responsible for the construction, maintenance, management and security of the railways– did numerous tests on pilot station Leiden, to make the station-of-the-future safer and more attractive. It turned out, among other things, that graphic visuals of persons are better guides than arrows. To create an aesthetical synergy between the shops in the station hall all logos above the shops have been color stripped and logo shapes only are displayed in the overall used grey wall tiles.

All shop logos at Leiden Central Station have been given an eye soothing uniform appearance by leaving out color and displaying them in the overall used grey wall tiles.

Another unique example to support this trend: the university subway station in Naples, designed by Karim Rashid. Visitors are confronted with in this century created words, graphic symbols, soft and bright colors and round shapes. The rolling LEDs cause a great visual impact. Thus arises a decorated space in itself with, in fact, no more referral to a metro station.

What will Urban Graphics do ?

I forecast that this trend will spread quickly. Certainly because I notice the increasing use of graphic applications in the interior design of department stores, in visual merchandising, other indoor marketing and urban events. In doing so, it actually takes over the trend visible in other areas -fashion, product design, innovative stores- and integrates it. To name some examples: the Dutch slogan for Amsterdam 'I Amsterdam', the theme of one of the last campaigns of Dutch department store De Bijenkorf was typography, Louis Vuitton’s Marc Jacob launched graphic prints in a tribute to artist/stylist Stephen Sprouse with the Monogram Roses collection (2008), Dutch national symbols as the Delft blue tiles are used in the routing to the parking lots (addressed clog, mill, tulip, etc.) at Schiphol Airport and the to-visit locations for design- and fashion weeks (we will see more of them too) are marked by for the occasion designed logos. Not to forget adding upcoming mobile phone icons (QR-code, Apps) in inner city commercial areas. Extraordinary also are the graphic messages from the French designer Amandine Allesandra (London). In one of her projects she let people form graphic fonts with their bodies to sent other people a message. Shortly, Graphic design is becoming more present and taken serious in the urban sphere.

Designers are transforming the city

I expect to see soon more graphic designs, symbols, -fluorescent- colors in other passages in the city; meeting points, shopping malls, façades, airports and at street sprayed temporary marks during events. Apart from an effective approach it is in fact also a fashionable approach for the ‘dressing’ of spaces. It visually tastes good and when integrated well with the rest of the urban interior design it strengthens the feeling of originality, attractiveness and well-being, this beautification of the public space. Which is just what is ever important for city users and citizens. It is what graphics aim at doing. Urban (micro) areas can thus stand out and distinguish themselves. That also means that the designers of the city change. Creative decorators and stylists will win territory from the actual builders. Karim Rashid is an industrial engineer and product designer by education, Mrs. Parking Lot works with graphic designers. But we are heading for that way and it is worth to anticipate in scenario’s this trend to decorate the city.

Do you want to know more about Graphic Design in the city? Urban Signature published a whole magazine about Urban Graphic Design >

Tip: go have a look in the Graphic Design Museum in Breda (Netherlands)