Photographic Research

The starting point of this research was to carry out detailed recording of both typographic and audio-based communication within specific places, endeavouring to record as many examples as possible of both types of media in the urban realm. The data was recorded in the cities where the majority of the author’s time was spent during the early stages of the research, Manchester and London, and a field trip to Barcelona offered further opportunities.

The purpose of recording data was to gain a broad understanding of the urban environment, to assess the range of typographic and auditory communication currently in use, and for an examination of the latest developments in urban communications of this kind. It also made it possible to discover instances where type and sound are designed to work together such that an understanding of contemporary urban communication hybrids could be achieved. Conducting these informal investigations of the environment allowed a sense of what was happening in the ‘urban’ to be achieved.