conf: LOGO CITIES: An International Symposium on Signage, Branding, and Lettering in Public Space

LOGO CITIES: An International Symposium on Signage, Branding, and 
Lettering in Public Space

Concordia University, Montréal May 4-5, 2007 <www.logocities.org/symposium/>

Keynote: Dr. Johanna Drucker (Robertson Professor of Media Studies, 
University of Virginia)

Cities are awash in 'public lettering': street signs, newspaper 
mastheads, road signs, high-rise corporate logos, store/shop/restaurant 
signs, engravings on buildings and monuments, etc. They are at once 
branding and promotional devices; names (of buildings); labels; locating 
devices; material and technological artifacts; pieces of graphic, 
typographic, and industrial design; architectural heritage; industrial 
detritus; personal and cultural narratives. They are also intricately 
linked to the dominant preoccupations of the city: high-rise logos, for 
example, eloquently describe the commercial, financial, civic, even 
religious priorities of a particular urban locale - especially at night.

It is all the more surprising, given their sheer ubiquity, that signs 
and lettering have received relatively little coordinated attention - 
critical, creative, or otherwise. The Logo Cities Symposium will draw 
together around thirty scholars, designers, and artists to foster an 
informed, critical dialogue about signage, branding, and lettering in 
public space - in a variety of contexts.

Logo Cities will also include an art exhibition of creative works 
focusing on signage and lettering, alongside examples of old and new 
signs from around Montréal. The symposium will close with the Québec 
premiere of Helvetica <www.helveticafilm.com>, a new documentary film 
exploring the history and significance of this archetypal Modernist 
typeface which, for half a century, has been a ubiquitous presence in 
print and on signage in city streets, train stations and airports across 
the world. This screening of Helvetica will be introduced by the film's 
director, Gary Hustwit.

Participants include: Will Straw (McGill University); Sarah Teasley 
(UMass Dartmouth); Nancy Marrelli (Concordia U); Ann McDonald 
(Northeastern U); Michael Golec (Iowa State); Alex Bitterman (RIT); 
Darren Wershler-Henry (Wilfrid Laurier); Laurie Churchman (U. 
Pennsylvania); David Gibson (Two Twelve Associates, NYC); R. Hakan Ertep 
(Izmir University of Economics); Louis-Charles Lasnier (Atelier 
Louis-Charles Lasnier, Montréal); Shannon Mattern (New School); David De 
Benedetto (Red Dye Studios, NYC); Will Temple (North Carolina State U); 
Joey Medaglia (Ryerson); Alessandro Colizzi (UQAM); Stuart McKee (U San 
Francisco); John Armstrong, Louise Noguchi (Sheridan) & Paul Collins 
(École d’art de recherche de Caen la mer); Jason Lewis (Concordia U); 
Matt Blackett ( Spacing magazine, Toronto); Bill Kovacevic (Enseignes 
Transworld, Montréal); Gary Hustwit (director of Helvetica, Brooklyn); 
Hélène L’Heureux (Interaction/design, Montréal; directeur, Société des 
designers graphiques du Québec).

Concordia University Sponsors: Faculty of Arts and Science; COMS Guild; 
Obx Labs; Department of Design and Computation Arts; Department of 
Communication Studies.

To register: <www.logocities.org/symposium/>.