Resorting to Type

The promenade vista is constructed with perennial visual tropes which have evolved and embraced

typographic influences since the 19th Century. Inscribed, painted, or fabricated letterforms form part of

the expected ‘image’ of the seaside and are integral to the visual packaging of our trip to the seaside.

Lettering, typography and its relationship to architecture and place – if sometimes misunderstood and

under-valued – has been fundamental to the identity and formation of British resorts. In assessing the

origins of the typographic landscape on the seafront, piers, theatres, and theme parks, we can observe

nineteenth-century vernacular sources within the environment. During this period, industrialisation had a

significant impact on commercial printing, with the advent of new bolder letterforms and typefaces to

communicate to the masses. Our experience of the seaside is informed by the multi-faceted discipline of

graphic design, long used by resorts to identify and promote.

This survey of some of the familiar typefaces along the coast will contextualise the origins and influences

on the visual landscape of our resorts.

Justin Burns