What Does This City Say: A Gated Fairy Tale

What Does This City Say: A Gated Fairy Tale

Noyan, Nazlı Eda

Article:

There are numerous studies dealing with the very important question of “what is the impact of graphic language on society”, nevertheless this paper addresses a rarely acknowledged area and asks how the graphic language of the logos of gated communities, which are playing a huge role in urban transformation process especially in Istanbul and their brochures printed and distributed for promotion and sales purposes say of these communities. 70 brochures have been examined from the year 2013 with special attention to their graphic language, consisting of repeated symbols as well as slogans such as “a new life” and mostly analogous layouts. Paper argues that this graphic language talk about a future life in the form and with the rhetoric of “fairy tales”. Unfortunately, their visual rhetoric seem to lack the diversity, freedom and hence the adventure that a fairy tale and a city promise to offer. In conclusion, the following questions are answered: If we create only the facade but not the content, what kind of a fairy tale do we tell? If we don’t express ourselves through design what is its impact on the community? Furthermore, what happens to our language?

There are numerous studies dealing with the very important question of “what is the impact of graphic language on society”, nevertheless this paper addresses a rarely acknowledged area and asks how the graphic language of the logos of gated communities, which are playing a huge role in urban transformation process especially in Istanbul and their brochures printed and distributed for promotion and sales purposes say of these communities. 70 brochures have been examined from the year 2013 with special attention to their graphic language, consisting of repeated symbols as well as slogans such as “a new life” and mostly analogous layouts. Paper argues that this graphic language talk about a future life in the form and with the rhetoric of “fairy tales”. Unfortunately, their visual rhetoric seem to lack the diversity, freedom and hence the adventure that a fairy tale and a city promise to offer. In conclusion, the following questions are answered: If we create only the facade but not the content, what kind of a fairy tale do we tell? If we don’t express ourselves through design what is its impact on the community? Furthermore, what happens to our language?

Palavras-chave:

DOI: 10.5151/despro-icdhs2014-0018

Referências bibliográficas

• [1] Barnard, M. (2005) Graphic Design As Communication. Londra: Routledge.
• [2] Firidin Özgür, E. (2012) “Tüketime Bağlı Bir Kimlik Öğesi Olarak Konut ve Planlama Açısından Bir Değerlendirme”, Tasarım + Kuram, No: 14. pp: 29-45
• [3] Gençalp, B. (11 January 2014) Personal Interview, İstanbul
• [4] Hollis, R. (1994) Graphic Design: A Concise History London: Thames Andamp; Hudson
• [5] Julier, G. (2008) The Culture of Design, London: Sage
• [6] Le Goix, R. (2003) “Gated communities Sprawl in Southern California and Social Segregation” http://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/docs/00/03/58/67/PDF/legoix20041012.pdf

Como citar:

Noyan, Nazlı Eda; "What Does This City Say: A Gated Fairy Tale", p-169-174. In: Tradition, Transition, Tragectories: major or minor influences? [=ICDHS 2014 - 9th Conference of the International Committee for Design History and Design Studies]. São Paulo: Blucher, 2014.
ISSN 23186968, DOI 10.5151/despro-icdhs2014-0018