Welmoet Wartena

Our environment and language play a significant role in how to perceive the world. Our current social experience, cultural perception of print-based materials, the use and influences of typography build relationships with our environment. This practice-led research discusses relationships—entanglements—between Dutch contemporary typographic discourse and place.

Epistemological questions are examined to understand the social and cultural structures of typographic developments to provide new perspectives to inform and understand entanglements between typography and place in the Netherlands. Taking into consideration a geographic location, the locale and a sense of place, connects discursive means of Dutch contemporary typography and meaning through print.

This practice-led research is using dialogical modes and graphic design practice as a method for thematic analysis and critical reflection on the printed page. Materiality and [inter]textuality are phenomena that enable to focus on how meanings of place are conveyed through typographic discourse. The research proposes novel ways to develop and critically evaluate relationships that inform critical debates and start a dialogue about our cultural perception to encourage a state of awareness in the reader.