Virtual Typography

Graffiti (images or lettering scratched or marked

on property) has been found in the catacombs of

Rome and on the Mayan temple walls of Tikal. With

messages of political rhetoric or Latin curses, graffiti

found in Pompeii provided us with insights into the

daily lives of people during the 1st century. As it does

today, graffiti reflects the writer’s views of society.

During the student protests and general strike of

May 1968 (in France), revolutionary, anarchist and

situationist slogans such as ‘be realistic, demand

the impossible’ covered the walls of Paris and

articulated the spirit of the time. At the same time in

the US, street gangs were using graffiti as a means

to mark territory. Signatures (or ‘tags’), rather than

slogans, were used by writers such as Top Cat and

Cool Earl in Philadelphia. Cornbread, credited as the

Working with Ethics: Case study: Graffi ti

A framework for ethics Further reading

An aspect of typography that often raises ethical

issues is the ability to make information accessible

or understandable to the reader. Creative use of

typography can emphasise meaning and embed

emotion in words. In this way, typography becomes

a gateway to verbal and visual communication, and

this leads to underlying questions about the role of

a piece of text.

Will it instruct, inform or helpfully guide the receiver

toward something beneficial? Or might it confuse,

frighten or alienate all but a select few? Does a

typographer have a responsibility to always be as

clear, informative and legible as possible? Or are

there occasions where the decorative treatment

of script is far more important than the ability to

read the words? How much responsibility does the

typographer have for the message as well as the

way it is delivered?

‘A word is not a crystal,

transparent and unchanged; it

is the skin of a living thought,

and may vary greatly in color

and content according to the

circumstances and the time in

which it is used.’

Oliver Wendell Holmes

(Nineteenth-century poet)

Case study: Graffi ti

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