1.
Human-Centred Design is an
approach to design driven by the
needs, desires and context of the
people for whom we design
Culture and context
Culture and design
Why graffiti?
To design useful, usable and desirable products we need
to understand the context of the humans interacting with
the products and services.
Take trains for example - in the UK, where there is a
strong culture of health and safety, legislation dictates
that the front of trains must incorporate a certain amount
of yellow to increase visibility. In continental Europe, this
is not the case. Designers of trains destined for the UK
must therefore design around this constraint
During LDF2013, our pop-up space was located in the
heart of Shoreditch, one of the most prolifically painted
and tagged parts of London.
When we practice HCD we seek to understand different
layers of context:
Context icons
People
Products
& services
Environments
Graffiti and street art are evolving forms of urban
expression, increasingly attracting the attention of
tourists, the media, art collectors and galleries.
‘Javelin train
at St Pancras International by interbeat’
photo by Ed Webster
VS.
‘AGV .italo Napoli side view’
photo by Hoff1980
Systems
We’ve looked at the work of graffiti writers and street
artists in 5 cities through the lenses of culture and
context, exploring how the following contextual
frameworks impact their work
Culture
Culture is the lens through which we view everything,
from language to physical forms
© PDD Group Ltd 2013 | www.pdd.co.uk
Velaro Siemens train photo
by Illkka Silssalo
Trains in the United Kingdom
Trains in continental Europe
ARCHITECTURE
CLIMATE
CULTURE
/HISTORY
SOCIOECONOMIC
LEGAL

2.
THE MECCA OF
GRAFFITI
Philadelphia may be the birthplace of modern graffiti, but New York is where
it took its renowned form. It reached its peak in the 80s, but even today NY
codes of conduct, motifs and styles are emulated worldwide.
New York
Featured image credit: 5 Pointz Jules Antonio @flickr
Featured image credit: Graffiti seen from Manhatten Bridge
www.jelania.ru
Featured image credit: Brooklyne Bushwick Graffiti Wally Gobetz @flickr
Featured image credit: Super Kool 223.
New York www.anotoniodearaujo.blogspot.co.uk
Strict policing forces writers to work quickly to avoid
getting caught, resulting in styles that achieve maximum
coverage and impact in a short space of time, such
as simplistic letterforms and colour palettes. Stringent
policing has also led to anti-police messages
The inhospitable New York winters also compel writers
to work quickly, while the rain provides a window of
opportunity as New Yorkers head indoors during a
downpour, leaving the streets deserted
Featured image credit: NYPD & NYFD Katie Gavin @flickr
Featured image credit:
Ket featured @tumblr
© PDD Group Ltd 2013 | www.pdd.co.uk
Hip hop and graffiti grew out of 80s NYC culture,
starting out as forms of expression - ‘rocking’ - dancing
(breakdancing), poetry (rapping), graffiti (art) and music
(turntablism)

3.
CHOLO-INFLUENCED
URBAN SPRAWL
An arresting combination of Latino gang culture and sprawling urban
landscape has spawned LA’s distinctive, cholo-influenced graffiti style.
Los Angeles
image credit:
Ca#2657 Amayzun @flickr
Featured image credit: F13 LRS Mgs TagsofLA1986 @flickr
Featured image credit: Rodeo Coolcat carnagenyc @flickr
Featured image credit: Graffiti and Wading Birds Down LA River
www.varley.net
Featured image credit:
Florentia ‘71 KID DUECE @flickr
Cholo-style originated in the 1940s when Latino gangs marked
their territories using a Gothic-Baroque ‘Old English’ font to
convey authority. When NY-style graffiti arrived in the early 80s,
it was imitated and combined with local cholo-aesthetic, giving
birth to LA-style graffiti.
Featured image credit:
5 Pointz Jules Antonio @flickr
Billboards, or ‘heaven spots’, are a favoured target, with some
pieces recognised as works of art, via projects such as Public
Works, by LALALand.
Featured image credit: Seventh Letter Crew Cathy Cole @flickr
Featured image credit:
Nov 2012 B 006 Lord Jim @flickr
© PDD Group Ltd 2013 | www.pdd.co.uk
LA’s complex networks of highways provides a variety of
canvases for writers. The LA river’s 50 miles of concrete banks
was home to the world’s largest graffiti piece, by SABER MSK,
painted in 1997 and removed in 2009.
The pleasant Californian weather gives writers and artists more
time to work on their pieces.

4.
PIXAÇÃO
= ‘TO STAIN’
Pixação, which began in the 1960s in response to political slogans on
billboards, is today more of a ‘a loud assertion by the city’s youth of their
existence and self-worth’; its visual style is influenced by the fonts used by
80s metal bands.
São Paolo
Featured image credit: PICHAÇÕES Segunda-Feira www.betaolemela.blogspot.co.uk
Featured image credit: Sao Vito Windows @
wikipedia
Featured image credit: Fotógrafo Leandro Mantovani retrata a
pichação e a rua (5) www.subsoloart.com/blog
In Brazil, pixação (“staining”) is a way for the youth and those
living at the margins of society to protest against the increasing
gulf between the rich and poor by tagging São Paolo’s
skyscrapers — the physical symbols of wealth and inequality
Featured image credit: PIXAÇÃO Thais Ibarrondo
www.corventanapredio.wordpress.com
Pichadores (graffiti writers) aim to paint as high up in the
city as possible, usually by abseiling or climbing multi-storey
buildings, and much kudos is given to those who tag the
highest, most dangerous place
There’s a high level of respect among the pichadores. Pixação
tags are often seen stacked up on top of each other - avoiding
conflict by not painting over other tags
Featured image credit: Pixo Escurocinza @tumblr
© PDD Group Ltd 2013 | www.pdd.co.uk
Featured image credit: PIXAÇÃO-SP, por Choque Fórum Latino
Americano de Fotografia - São Paulo @tumblr
Featured image credit:
Pixacao Pablo
Trincado @flickr

5.
EUROPE’S MOST
‘BOMBED’ CITY
Conventional graffiti first appeared on the West side of the Berlin Wall in the
early 80s, when it was subject to a new type of ‘bombing’ (tagging). Like
many other cities, Berlin’s graffiti still emulates that of 80s New York.
Berlin
Featured image credit: Berlin Street Art
Marek Isalski @flickr
Featured image credit: We Don’t want no yuppie flats, we are happy
with our rats Aesthetics of Crisis @flickr
Featured image credit:
Street Art BLU - carnageNYC @flickr
Featured image credit: Graffiti and Reflection Wolfgangfoto @flickr
Featured image credit: Graffiti Martin
aka Maha @flickr
Reflecting Germany’s social and political history, the work
of today’s street artists and graffiti writers embodies themes
of conflict and protest, calling to reclaim the city from the
advancing gentrification
Featured image credit: Pixo Escurocinza @tumblr
An abundance of vacant buildings provides the canvas for
expression without fear of reprisal, contributing to the volume
of graffiti in Berlin
While much graffiti and street art is illegal, police rarely make
arrests, as the work attracts tourists and contributes to the
perception of Berlin as an edgy, modern “City of Design”, a
moniker bestowed by UNESCO
Featured image credit: Yuppies Auslachen
-Prost! Urban Artefakte @flickr
© PDD Group Ltd 2013 | www.pdd.co.uk

6.
‘KAWAII’ (CUTE)
GRAFFITI
Japan’s culture of respect for authority doesn’t mean that Tokyo is devoid of
graffiti, but it’s not as ubiquitous as elsewhere. While Japanese writers often
emulate Western graffiti styles and much of the work in Tokyo is by Western
writers, ‘Kawaii’ - the quality of cuteness - adds a uniquely Japanese flavour.
Tokyo
Featured image credit: Graffiti - Hello Kitty is
street-wise Kleemo @flickr
Featured image credit: Graffiti - Harajuku
TimKirman @flickr
Featured image credit: Graffiti - Unnamed
Yuichi Hirasawa @flickr
Featured image credit: Hiroshima Nagasaki
Fukushima Daniel Rubio @flickr
Featured image credit:
Graffiti - Tokyo - Street Art
Isobrown @flickr
Japanese pop culture and cartoons, such Hello Kitty,
Tarepanda and Manga comics contribute to a ‘Kawaii’influenced style.
Japan’s culture of law-abiding politeness means that many
writers and artists in Tokyo gain permission for their work and
aim for it “to act like nature”, not intruding on people’s lives,
but rather harmonising with their surroundings.
Anti_Nuke, whose work is politically-charged and controversial,
is the exception, using paste-ups to protest against
government corruption after Fukushima disaster and is likened
to Banksy as no one knows who he, or she, is.
Featured image credit: Art Shibuya Christian.Ryan @flickr
Featured image credit: Shibuya #4 Graffiti Ken
Lee @flickr
© PDD Group Ltd 2013 | www.pdd.co.uk
Featured image credit:
281_Anti Nuke Trevor
Dykstra @flickr

7.
Socialise
London studio
+ 44 (0)20 8735 1111
contact@pdd.co.uk
www.pdd.co.uk
Hong Kong studio
+ 852 2997 6151
contact@pdd.com.hk
www.pdd.com.hk
© PDD Group Ltd 2013 | www.pdd.co.uk
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