TYPOSITE 1
Flip Signage

Possibly one of the most curious large letterforms in Melbourne – Intriguing though it is nobody really knows what it is actually signing to. So typographic is it that it has many spectators wondering what it says. With some license one can discern that it says FLIP (with the F & P flipped) but what is this signing to?perhaps it is best left to you, the observer.

It brings up the fundamental question of what it is typographic and what is not. The most eloquent, definitive and convincing answer I have ever had on this perplexing topic is from the Dutch design writer Peter Mertens who wrote in Emigre 15 – ‘Letters are legible. If some things are not legible, then they are not letters. Illegible letters do not exist. Illegibility does not exist’ 1.

So is this signage illegible? Certainly it can’t be read as a word but it carries with it the formal essence of letterforms without needing to refer to any inherent content. It doesn’t appear to be advertising2 anything and yet its highly polished form easily fits our preconceived notions of ‘high design’ (read as: commissioned design). Put simply, if you can get to it, it’s worth a look (and maybe even a read).

1. Emigré 15 (1990) Pg 4. Legibility (Peter Mertens). The text was originally written for Mijn TYP #E (1989).
2. In the hope of further understanding the ‘signage’ we contacted the Melbourne Central Marketing Department. As our calls were not returned it seems that the mystery goes on.

Along the way

Looking left down William Street (next to Flagstaff Station and the Family Courts) is Helvetica Café – the only café in Melbourne to be named after a typeface. This indicates the entry of typographic language into common usage.
Designed by Hassell design and architecture in 2000.