At this stage of the project, I am beginning to identify the foundations of my practice, even though a final concept has not yet been defined. I am working primarily with typography and lettering, using observation as a research method informed by my position as a travelling practitioner. My current context is urban Asia, with a particular focus on food culture, movement, and tourist-heavy environments. Visually, I am drawn to vernacular and informal signage, especially where atmosphere, competition, and visibility are negotiated through colour, material, and placement.
What I do not yet have is a fixed narrative, research question, or clear position. However, rather than seeing this as a limitation, I understand it as part of the exploratory stage of practice-based research. Through my initial research tasks and observational walks, certain themes have begun to surface repeatedly, suggesting possible directions for further investigation.
One emerging area of interest is how tourist districts compete for attention through typography. In areas such as Bangkok’s Chinatown, signage does not simply provide information but actively works to persuade, attract, and seduce. The density of visual information creates a form of visual noise, where businesses compete for visibility within an already saturated environment. Photographing these spaces made me aware of how typography becomes a tool for persuasion, operating emotionally rather than functionally.
This idea became particularly clear when analysing the “I Wanna Bangkok” entrance sign to Chinatown. Rather than communicating direction or instruction, the sign communicates desire. It frames Bangkok as an experience to be entered and consumed, suggesting an awareness of its audience and their expectations. The language feels deliberately provocative and performative, reflecting how tourism culture often trades in ideas of pleasure, and spectacle. This raised questions for me about how typography can construct desire and shape how a place is imagined before it is even entered.
“ Rather than communicating information, it communicates desire, reinforcing Bangkok as an experience to be entered and consumed. “
In contrast, the fabric curtain entrance sign at a Chinatown café offered a very different approach. The vertically set Japanese text, which translates to “Hidden in the leaves,” prioritises subtlety over visibility. Initially, I was drawn to this sign purely because of its material and form: the softness of the fabric, the vertical text, and the quiet threshold it created. However, translating the text added an additional conceptual layer. The meaning of concealment mirrored the experience of the sign itself, rewarding those who look closely rather than those seeking immediate clarity. This introduced the idea of hidden messages within typography, where meaning is revealed slowly and selectively.
“ the signage prioritises atmosphere and curiosity over visibility, rewarding those who notice it closely.”
Together, these two examples highlight a tension that feels central to my developing interests: While some signage demands attention through boldness and desire, other forms operate quietly, creating atmosphere and curiosity instead. Moving forward, I plan to build on these observations through further targeted research into typographic strategies and to test and refine these ideas.