25. August 2011
Place branding as global design culture. Gwangju Design Biennale 2011
Evert Ypma has been invited by Ai WeiWei and Seung H-Sang (artistic directors) and Brendan McGetrick (curator) to contribute a design research project about place branding to the Gwangju Design Biennale 2011.
Korean Place Brand Map
Developed by Evert Ypma (2011) with the support of Gwangju Design Biennale. Light box 240 x 164 cm. Copyrights by Evert Ypma, 2011
European Place Brand Map
Developed by Evert Ypma (2008) with the support of Femke Herregraven (participant of the 2008 postgraduate research lab, Multiplicity & Visual Identities). Light box 240 x 164 cm. Copyrights by Evert Ypma, 2011
The work contains two large light box panels showing place branding maps of Europe and South Korea. The colourful logos are the overly obvious representations of the communication and public diplomacy strategies initiated by governments to promote cities, regions and nations.
This particular development and the interest within design culture towards place branding occur in a framework of media production, consumption, economics and politics. Over the past forty years the professional design field has produced visual representations for city governments. The place brand, which have come in vogue is not necessarily connected to the representation and legitimization of governmental authority anymore, but aims at presenting places in a comprehensive and fast way to global audiences. One of the key issues is the desperate push for differentiation. However the similar, and ambiguous design strategies seem to be a contrary sign that serves the endless human quest for identification within the contexts of global tourism, foreign investment, export and public diplomacy.
Underneath the friendly bright logo designs there is another layer. Place branding is based on soft and network power concepts in order to gain and maintain reputation in complexities of influence spheres.
Although the visual strategies and slogans try to provide meaning, confidence and confirmation of the qualities of places, its modes of operation, the protocols, as well as the terms and conditions for contemporary identity production are hindered by a plethora of ambiguities. This concerns conflicts in the public and private sphere, collective representations, the methods used to deal with complexity, and the coordination over how people mentally relate themselves to physical places, which – often – they don’t know.
Read more about the ‘Un-Named Design’ section of the Gwangju Design Biennale.
List of further contributors of the Gwangju Design Biennale 2011