nick,
just getting around to responding here myself…. thanks. i so agree with your comments
about contemporary minimalism-just that, a conscious effort often bordering on austerity in the name of ‘keep it simple’ and ‘cool’ as if we’re afraid of artistic expression.
all those components you note related to scale, place-making, experience, legibility etc are essential. it’s also true that we all have encountered such everydayness in communication and sometimes in not so clear proportions too. integration, i mean embracing opportunities to work and learn from each other along the process. i mean embracing opportunities to potentially enhance these tools of communication with good signage design and the technical experience often thought about very late in the process. while i have seen a huge improvement in this area by architects to include signage consultants along the way, i also think signage can be more like architecture, as a supporting expression of social attitude carefully thought out and fun to encounter however simple a structure. and BTW, when clients ask us for something ‘simple’ what does that mean really? its like saying don’t take it personal, isn’t life work people personal?
