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Title: | Vernacular design : a history of Hong Kong neon signs | Authors: | Kwok, BSH | Issue Date: | Dec-2021 | Source: | Journal of design history, Dec. 2021, v. 34, no. 4, p. 349-366 | Abstract: | Neon signs dominated Hong Kong's urban landscape from the 1950s to the early 2000s. This visual vernacular, however, has begun to vanish from Hong Kong’s streets over the past decade due to stricter regulations and the emergence of cheaper alternatives. As a result, scholars, the media and the general public have become more engaged in recording and preserving neon signs, and have begun to recognize them as an aspect of Hong Kong's vernacular design. This engagement serves as an entry point for investigating the application of western views of vernacular design to Hong Kong, using neon signs as a case study. A collection of 218 original neon sign designs was donated by the Nam Wah Neonlight & Electrical Factory to the Information Design Lab at Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Using these original designs and photos of neon signs taken in different districts in Hong Kong, this article provides historical and socio-cultural perspectives with which to examine vernacular design, to identify other attributes that should be taken into account, such as aesthetics, bottom-up participation, architecture and the urban environment. The article aims to contribute to the study of vernacular design and the design history of neon signs. | Keywords: | Neon sign Graphic design Vernacular Crafts history East West Hong Kong |
Publisher: | Oxford University Press | Journal: | Journal of design history | ISSN: | 0952-4649 | EISSN: | 1741-7279 | DOI: | 10.1093/jdh/epab017 | Rights: | © The Author(s) 2021. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Design History Society. All rights reserved. This is a pre-copyedited, author-produced version of an article accepted for publication in Journal of Design History following peer review. The version of record Brian Sze-Hang Kwok, Vernacular Design: A History of Hong Kong Neon Signs, Journal of Design History, Volume 34, Issue 4, December 2021, Pages 349–366 is available online at: https://doi.org/10.1093/jdh/epab017. |
Appears in Collections: | Journal/Magazine Article |
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Kwok_Vernacular_Design_History.pdf | Pre-Published version | 4.64 MB | Adobe PDF | View/Open |
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