Overly clever typography misses the point

This is one of many shopping centres (malls) in central Singapore. So what is its name?

In a country where different cultures and languages mix freely and sometimes oddly, the idea of a shopping centre named “Pork Mall” is actually not that far fetched…

21 comments on “Overly clever typography misses the point”

1. acturus said:
   

   ..its ‘P A R K ‘ mall..

   think u need glasses

   
   27 August 2008 at 5:17 am
2. Zern said:
   

   I know it is meant to be Park, not Pork. I was commenting on how inappropriate typography can lead to funny misreadings. I’ll always remember this place as Pork Mall because it was so funny reading it as that the first time.

   
   29 August 2008 at 1:18 pm
3. poppyr said:
   

   This Park Mall sign has been up for AGES… at least 14 years by my reckoning (based on when I first remember seeing it as a kid).

   It looks like PARK MALL and it has always looked like PARK MALL.

   People like you are just shit stirrers.

   
   2 September 2008 at 4:03 am
4. Laremy said:
   

   It may not exactly be an issue about typology - what if you actually wanted to read it as Pork Mall the first time round? The subconscious works in very mysterious ways, you know.

   
   2 September 2008 at 4:16 am
5. KH said:
   

   Ya, I think Pork Mall is a nice name. From now on I will refer Park Mall as Pork Mall to all my friends =)

   
   2 September 2008 at 7:09 pm
6. max said:
   

   psssssh.

   park.

   …..AUSTRALIANS!

   
   2 September 2008 at 7:44 pm
7. Zern said:
   

   Ahhh - what is more fun and creative than the naughtiness of divergent thinking, of actively seeing and engaging with alternatives (however unlikely or unreasonable or unconventional) especially the humourous.?!!! Everyday life is such great fun when you deliberately choose to see the world in an un-obvious way!

   Indeed, what IS to stop someone building a place called Pork Mall? Where all good things about pork may be celebrated and purchased? There could be eateries of pork products (yum), and shoes/bags made of pork skin etc.

   And now we have an idea of product-themed malls. In a city filled with heterogeneous malls, why not themed malls as a point of differentiation? How about a Kids Mall filled will all products and services relevant to the younger ones?

   We can all choose to engage with the unexpected funny unconventional thought. Or we can choose to judge it as silly and irrelevant, and thus lose the opportunity to play and generate new ideas.

   
   3 September 2008 at 12:46 am
8. Zern said:
   

   Thanks for the great comments by the way. ALL of the comments

   
   3 September 2008 at 12:51 am
9. Mercia said:
   

   If there was to be consistency in your parsing of Pork Mall, you’d have to call it “Pork Moll”, don’t you think? After all the letter “a” exists in both words.

   
   3 September 2008 at 12:52 am
10. Zern said:
    

    Ha ha - good point Mercia.
    That does make logical sense. But it is less funny you have to admit
    Pork Mall. Love it!!!

    
    3 September 2008 at 12:56 am
11. Zern said:
    

    Hey! What about a Pet Mall?!!!
    With a real life petting zoo in the basement.
    I would personally so love that!
    (I miss my cat)

    
    3 September 2008 at 1:26 am
12. DK said:
    

    It doesn’t looks like an ‘o’ to me.

    
    3 September 2008 at 4:32 am
13. Dennis said:
    

    When you read, the marks on paper mostly trigger expectations. Wchihw is why mxigin up the odrer of lttrees doens’t make as much difference as you might think. Reading this sign through my occidental, first-world glasses: “Mall” is correct and “Moll” is unlikely to suggest itself. “Pork” is odd, but hey! - I’m in a different culture and maybe they do like to celebrate pork in their shopping precincts. The typography only helps the suggestion - even if the sign was in Arial this mistake might happen. For these reasons “Pork Mall” is OK - “Pork Moll” is not going to happen often.

    
    3 September 2008 at 9:02 am
14. Silly post leads to potential idea said:
    

    [...] Go see my post on “Pork Mall”. [...]

    
    3 September 2008 at 9:55 am
15. What the Pork! said:
    

    You must be from the generation where cursive writings is no longer taught in school.

    
    3 September 2008 at 5:12 pm
16. Zern said:
    

    Good point Dennis. Reading is a combination of seeing the marks and working off an internal “monologue” which is trying to rapidly fit what the eye is seeing into preconceived notions.

    This is why repeated, redundant words that appear at 
    at the end of a line and the beginning of the next 
    is so hard to spot when proofreading.

    
    3 September 2008 at 5:19 pm
17. wy said:
    

    Is the blogger illiterate or what?

    
    5 September 2008 at 1:22 pm
18. dana said:
    

    the chinese character above the english sign means home, and it has the symbol for ‘pig’ in it. perhaps that’s where the random idea of ‘pork’ came from.

    
    7 September 2008 at 3:20 am
19. Zern said:
    

    Oooo subliminal peripheral-vision auto-combination mis-messages… Very interesting thought dana!!!

    The top row below shows the traditional Chinese characters for “home” and “pig”.
    
    The connection is slightly obscured in the simplified characters on the bottom row.

    Obviously a home would naturally have a pig in it. The character is made up of a roof over a pig! Does anyone know for certain if this is indeed why part of the character for “pig” appears in the character for “home”?

    (I so love where this discussion is going!!!)

    
    9 September 2008 at 4:24 am
20. jh said:
    

    Interesting - I’ve always walked past that and didn’t notice how the ‘a’ looks like an ‘o’. You’re very observant my friend! (:

    
    10 September 2008 at 6:14 am
21. adrian said:
    

    …and I read it as “Pork@Mall”. One of those hideous trying-too-hard names.

    
    21 September 2008 at 3:28 pm

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