"London Kerning"

“London Kerning” is a fantastic example of pure typography acting as info graphics. The information is taken from AZ street maps, where the icons, symbols and hard lines representing churches, streets, rivers and parks have been removed from the map, leaving only letters. Here you can see geography combining with creative design which is incredible and something different to the generic maps that we usually see.

The usual map typeface ‘Ariel narrow’ appears to have been used in this piece, which is clear and easy to read for an audience who want to know where they are going and be able to read the map quickly and efficiently. The sans serif typeface is certainly conventional to a map with its clarity and simple modern design. However, this piece is more about the visualisation of the information and people probably would not be using this to find their way around London. It is certainly and interesting design to look at by the way that you visualise the spaces yourself and work out where certain places are.

I think in terms of aesthetics this is a very stimulating piece of work, created by NB Studio in London. The typeface ‘Ariel narrow’ brings about a strong sense of clarity and understanding as opposed to confusing the audience with a more elaborate and complex typeface.