A good read for anyone who has a passion for intercultural exchanges and how design contributes vastly to the unspoken communication in a foreign land. We will all be able to relate to the experiences found in the book at some point or other; as we rely heavily on visual signages, especially in unfamiliar spaces.

The Means By Which We Find Our Way: Observations on Design
Project developed and edited by: David Gardener & Andrea Wilkinson
Foreword by: Gaby Esser-Hall

This book has emerged and grown from the success of an exhibition of the same name, which the premise of which was to examine colloquial visual language and also acts as a good source of information in user-centred design and also explores cultural artifacts particularly associated with design.



The project developers and editors of the book, David Gardener and Andrea Wilkinson, both teach design in New Zealand but neither are natives and it is from their own experiences of the change in visual communication and signage from one culture to another that began this project.



The vital role that graphic design plays in our world has often, a bigger impact than we realise. With collaborating design educators explaining about incidents in unfamiliar environments that lead to a greater level of appreciation and understanding of visual communications. These short essays are often light-hearted commentaries about relying on signage or no verbal communication in an alien environment overseas and the varying degrees of success achieved.



Photographs that make up the exhibition are also featured, the project focuses around twenty-six images taken around Hamilton, New Zealand. These photographs depicts local urban locations, most of which would be familiar to most cities, such as coffee shops and police stations. To create the canvas for the work, the text, which varies from government signs, to graffiti and shop signs, were removed from the photographs. This leaves the designer with a nomadic image ready for their interpretation.



Following a preliminary call for interest, the collaborating design educators from around the world are sent the now generic city images along with the absent text and asked to rework the lettering back into the image. Designers who were multi-lingual or based in a none English speaking country, were encouraged to incorporate a translation of the text with or without the English text that was provided.



The re-completed images may still be fundamental of Hamilton but now, some have taken on new meaning far from the pacific islands shore. With iconic typography or a well placed word or sign, viewers interpretations of the surroundings can be shifted from continent to continent. Some pictures portray this better than others. One such picture is simply of the side of a building and a small parking sign. The reinstated text is a simple coloured ‘no posting’ sign; it has now been configured in a manner that it is synonymous with America and thus giving the wall a new geographical address.



The book concludes with longer essays from designers, which are devised around four essay topics. These are in response to the many questions thrown up by this exhibition and case study.

International brands navigate the world with minimal resistance, the brightly lit sign of a fast food outlet can be instantly recognised, no matter how much land has been travelled. That neon glow can serve as a reminder of home and allow us to find comfort in the familiar.



This then also leads to the other side of the coin, originality and difference that can only exist within a community. I can walk down the high street where I grew up and feel comforted by the familiarity and comprehension of that localised signage, but I would expect to be overwhelmed if I found myself on an Egyptian high street. It is these local idiosyncrasies that this project focuses on.



There is a distinct lack of eastern typography. The complete difference in the written character shapes and forms would have perhaps made more of an impact and highlighted the cross-cultural differences and diversity with more force and greater ease. As it is the effects can be subtle and the viewer will need to be more aware of the variation in different cultural traits.



The book and especially the first section, spark memories of reliance on non-verbal communication and gives emphasis to the importance of true design for communication, personal style has to come second to good clean visual communication. It is important to remember the difference in just designing something in a studio and the understanding of how it will be used in a cultural context and where it will be situated.




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