Signage

Interview with Design 360°

‘An interview with PolyU Design (Keith Tam)’, in Design 360°, issue 51 (the type issue), June 2014, pp.26–33

Design 360°: School of Design has just moved into the Jockey Club Innovation Tower, the latest landmark of Hong Kong. Congratulations. The building…

再略談北魏

有兩本多年前出版，已經被遺忘的平面設計及印刷製作書籍，可說是蒼海遺珠。中一的時候，我買了畢子融、黃炎鈐、鄭偉宗編著的《草圖與正稿》，1985年教育出版社出版，是我的平面設計啟蒙書藉。直至現在，我對印刷製作的興趣未有減退。書中闡述的，是平面設計由初稿到印前涉及到的所有工序，說的當然不是電腦排版了。書中有示範手寫廣告文字，用的是叫「雞腳字」的粗筆標題字體，和內文小字用的北魏體，以小號的圭筆蘸廣告彩書寫。早前到珠海拜會為蒙納設計製作中文字體的香港美術字老前輩郭炳權先生，有幸見到他七十年代手繪廣告字的真跡。他稱內文用的北魏體為「釘頭字」。當年最出名的寫字師傅，標題字筆潤每字十元，內文每字一元，收入可觀。要寫字，動輒要等一星期。五十至七十…

In search of Hong Kong’s traditional calligraphic signs

追尋香港的北魏楷書招牌

香港的店舖招牌算得上聞名於世。不論霓虹光管的、銅製的、木刻的、油漆的、膠片的，甚至近年興起的LED、噴畫等，無處不在，縱橫交錯，形成了獨一無二的城市面貌。從前，很多店舖都是一脈相承的家族生意，一門長遠的事業。店面的招牌代表着字號的商譽，必需大方得體，是店舖的視覺形象。傳統招牌…

Wayfinding at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University

I work at the Hong Kong Polytechnic Unviersity. Every time we have visitors, the first thing they say is invariably: ‘I got lost! It’s really hard to find’. This blogpost investigates why.

理工大學校園導向

經紅磡海底隧道由九龍過海，進入隧道前，會見到紅磚外牆的理工大學建築群。除了紅磚外牆，一幢幢的圓柱體也是理大的建築特徵。近年，校園內多了幾幢打破了紅磚圓柱格式的獨立大樓，風格迴異。我在理大工作，每逢有訪客，見面的第一句話總是：「我迷路了，好難找啊！」為什麼呢？

MTR temporary signage

At Tai Koo station, exit C is currently closed for escalator maintenance until August. How does the railway company deal with this temporary closure? Apparently they do not have a system for handling temporary messages. Last week, it looked like this:

Taikoo Shing schematic map

These schematic maps on totem signs are dotted around the Taikoo Shing and Island East developments. In terms of graphic design they are quite elegantly considered, and the schematic approach is a departure from the more common plan view street maps or floor plans. These maps are…