Spring 2026 - SHORTLISTED

Out of Signs, Out of Types

Out of Signs, Out of Types is an ongoing typographic experiment that investigates signage as one of the most immediate and democratic visual languages of a city. It begins with the idea that signs are often the first point of visual contact for anyone arriving somewhere new, quietly revealing how a place thinks, moves, and presents itself. The project started in Hanoi’s Old Quarter, where nearly every letter of the Vietnamese alphabet was collected directly from street signage. These letters were scanned and digitised to form a living archive of the city’s visual mindset, then used to create a series of visual experiments. Together, they capture the quirks, inconsistencies, and layered character that feel deeply specific to Hanoi. The aim is to preserve the nonconformity and chaotic beauty of the city’s signage: a raw visual noise where styles clash and rules bend. In the Old Quarter, generations overlap, and local and global influences coexist, creating an energy that is vividly reflected in its signs. Some letters were hand-painted on cardboard by a parking attendant; others came from long-standing traditional Chinese medicine shops, worn and faded over time. Some were newly printed with glossy finishes, while others appeared swirly, improvised, or carefully ordered. This diversity is rooted in the area’s history, where streets once specialised in particular trades, and in the many transformations Hanoi has undergone—from Chinese domination and the French colonial period to the American War and today’s globalised culture. The signs become a record of these shifts, revealing how the city’s identity continues to evolve. As the project expands to other cities, it will build a comparative study of typography not simply as aesthetics, but as cultural evidence—recording time, place, and the layered identities of urban life.