Towards a typographical classification for popular letterings

Abstract

The diversity of the urban typographical environment provokes a series of visual and informational
experiences. Within this universe, we encounter the hand-written signs with popular lettering, which, despite
the innumerable technological innovations in the area of visual communication, manage to stand the test of
time. Such artifacts are valuable sources of information of the cultural expression a particular social group and
have become a constitutive part of the history of Brazilian informal graphic design. This article seeks to
register the diversity of work created by these popular lettering sign writers, as well as to investigate their
aesthetic influences, so as to understand popular imaginary more fully, and thus bring it towards the
professional practice of design. We therefore, present the process of creating a classification for popular
lettering typology, with the intention of systematizing the production of these artifacts in accordance to the
following aspects: authorship, the forms of visually representing verbal language and formal attributes. As a
result, six categories of popular lettering are herein presented, which have been identified and established
through the observation of fifty artifacts.