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Monday 7 January 2013

Blackpool's Comedy Carpet

Being a designer you never stop searching for inspiration and for me it seems to be everywhere I look, even on a simple drive in my hometown of Blackpool. The five-year in the making attraction named the 'Comedy Carpet,' is part of the new regeneration for the sea front and headland on Blackpool's Promenade.

An unexpected surprise came when researching the artists for this piece, Gordon Young the head designer for this project studied at Coventry University in the 1970's. The phrase 'Is a small world' rings in my head.

"The combinations for journeys differ, but lots of important funny bits make for good and memorable travels. Graphic designers, photographers, architects, landscape architects, engineers, chemists, builders, sculptors, knitters, planners, rock climbers, teachers, historians, writers, comedians, filmmakers, boxers – and the list goes on. These confections of folk and skills and talents really interest me and give direction to different journeys." - Young

A collection of famous comedic quotes and punchlines cover a cross section on the new headland across from one of the Blackpool's most known landmarks its very own Tower. From the very top of the Tower a birds eye view revels a large newspaper style print out of typography. 


On a cold post-Christmas drive, the road works in the centre of town from re-developing meant the traffic on the promenade was twice as bad, however this allowed me to explore my surroundings from the warm interior of my car. The inspiration of the varied fonts, colours, columns, positioning of text, shapes immediately brought my attention back to my project on Typography and creating my General House Style Guide.


Each font for each quote represents that comedian/comedienne whether flirty, feisty, loud or both fighting for attention in a double act. You automatically start reading in that voice of whoever the quote belongs to without thinking, punctuation also helps in this way.




I am particularly found of these typefaces as they remind me of the traditional wooden printing blocks and metal typefaces. I can't resist a perfect pointing hand, their popularity has grown drastically in recent years as the demand for typographic signage and artwork in interior design has risen. 







I love the use of shapes that are used to differentiate quotes from each other, lines and stars are mainly used to break up text. 




 This piece of artwork has definitely inspired me in my pursuit of design. 
For more information click on the link below.


NAP x












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