Silence
Art Direction Environmental Graphic Signage Design
The brief was to create an environmental graphic for a tunnel in Tower Hill, London. During a site visit, the tunnel's sound environment was notable, as it felt noisy despite no active interactions. This observation highlighted the ever-present ambient noise within the tunnel.
Inspired by John Cage’s philosophy in his piece '4’33,’ which demonstrates that absolute silence doesn’t exist, the insight was to reflect on the ‘fragments of sounds that lacked attention’. Cage’s piece, silent for four minutes and thirty-three seconds, reveals that silence is filled with sounds that often go unrecognized.
The solution was to create a typography intervention using textured artex to spell out the word "silence." This design juxtaposes the concept of silence with a textured, constructed form, visualizing the tunnel’s soundscape. This graphic invites passersby to experience and perceive the ambient noise from a new perspective.
