Gold-clad Shop Signs
Neighbourhood mum-and-pop shops are the unique faces of the local community, and they reveal the humanity that is found deep inside us.
– Simon Go, Photographer
Old Neighbourhood Shops II: Gold-clad Shop Signs comprises two volumes. The first volume contains illustrated essays, which are in-depth studies and analyses drawing on the aesthetics of these old shops. The second volume is a photo album, resulting from the author’s faithful documenting through his camera old shops found on Hong Kong’s main streets and back alleys over many years.
For this project, I tried something new to construct the body of the book, and looked for a breakthrough in terms of structure and binding. For this, I worked with the author repeatedly, attempting to break the text up into smaller chunks, and reconnect them with a meticulously designed layout, so different chapters are woven together into a dynamic whole.
The first and second volumes use a large format and a small format respectively. The two volumes are bound together with a small book cover. Different sizes create overlapping layers, which evoke the uneven signage that characterises Hong Kong’s streetscape. The book title printed in gold on the small black book cover, along with the old photos of the first volume, the maroon cover of the second volume, and the texts printed in silver, discrete design elements come together to form an interesting tapestry of overlapping colours, textures, and forms.
