[ DecoDe: your local utility graffiti app ]
[ ABOUT ]
Welcome!
This is your invitation to learn about the secret language of the city that plays a vital role in the function and the safety of our daily lives.
Decode is a website and an app that function to help introduce the local utility graffiti as a member to our community to the audience in regards to their vital role in the development of city.
The project focuses on utilizing data collection and photography to visualize their integration in our daily interaction in the city.
[ PURPOSE ]
Utility graffiti has always been part of our cityscape, evolving as the city ages. With a little more attention to your steps, you’ll notice the unique signs and shapes that color the roads. Yet, few people understand their purpose or functionality. For many, especially those who find them near their homes, these markings are just another form of graffiti. The Decode app empowers citizens to uncover the meaning behind these codes, revealing the city's hidden infrastructure and fostering a deeper appreciation for its vital role. By walking, collecting, and sharing, users contribute to a more inclusive and connected community.
[ GOAL ]
Create learning space about the function of utility graffiti
001
spread awareness through interactivity
002
applY in local community and form deeper connection with the city
003
[ DecoDe: your local utility graffiti app ]
[ ABOUT ]
Welcome!
This is your invitation to learn about the secret language of the city that plays a vital role in the function and the safety of our daily lives.
Decode is a website and an app that function to help introduce the local utility graffiti as a member to our community to the audience in regards to their vital role in the development of city.
The project focuses on utilizing data collection and photography to visualize their integration in our daily interaction in the city.
[ PURPOSE ]
Utility graffiti has always been part of our cityscape, evolving as the city ages. With a little more attention to your steps, you’ll notice the unique signs and shapes that color the roads. Yet, few people understand their purpose or functionality. For many, especially those who find them near their homes, these markings are just another form of graffiti. The Decode app empowers citizens to uncover the meaning behind these codes, revealing the city's hidden infrastructure and fostering a deeper appreciation for its vital role. By walking, collecting, and sharing, users contribute to a more inclusive and connected community.
[ GOAL ]
Create learning space about the function of utility graffiti
001
spread awareness through interactivity
002
applY in local community and form deeper connection with the city
003
FF8A00
MAIN-ACCENT-COLOR
30 %
30 %
30 %
30 %
30 %
MAIN-ACCENT-COLOR
MAIN-ACCENT-COLOR
MAIN-ACCENT-COLOR
MAIN-ACCENT-COLOR
FFDF37
007B31
0094FF
CC3030
[ color palette]
[ typeface ]
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
0123456789!@#%^&*()
designed by. Julieta Ulanovsky, Sol Matas, Juan Pablo del Peral, Jacques Le Bailly
montserrat alternates
sans serif - geometric / feeling - expressive, raw, calm
montserrat
alternates
Brand guide
FF8A00
MAIN-ACCENT-COLOR
30 %
30 %
30 %
30 %
30 %
MAIN-ACCENT-COLOR
MAIN-ACCENT-COLOR
MAIN-ACCENT-COLOR
MAIN-ACCENT-COLOR
FFDF37
007B31
0094FF
CC3030
[ color palette]
[ typeface ]
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
0123456789!@#%^&*()
designed by. Julieta Ulanovsky, Sol Matas, Juan Pablo del Peral, Jacques Le Bailly
montserrat alternates
sans serif - geometric / feeling - expressive, raw, calm
montserrat
alternates
Brand guide
research
[ UTILITY GRAFFITI RESEARCH I ]
Uniform color codes
Purpose of utility mapping
(Urban Hieroglyphics)
PROBLEM: There wasn’t a good system for keeping track of what was already in the ground. “What would happen is that the water and the sewer would go in, and then the telephone company would come in and cut the water and sewer,”
SOLUTION: The utilities would then come out and mark their underground pipes with paint, so whoever was doing the digging could easily avoid them. From the 811 call center, the your info is sent out to all utilities in your location; they have 48 hours go out to and mark with paint everything they have underground, so they know where not to dig.
Notations are necessary to keep track of the locations, widths and depths of conduits, cables and pipes and identify the associated utility company.
Guidelines for Operator Facility Field Delineation to indicate where and how to mark things with arrows, numbers and symbols.
Space between four-feet and fifty-feet apart should be used to mark the center of a single facility or, if multiple conduits are running in a single trench, over their outside edges with arrows pointing in the the direction the services are running with a perpendicular line connecting the edge marks to form an H (as seen in the photo at the top of this post). A diamond is used instead of the perpendicular line to indicate a duct system.
[ UTILITY GRAFFITI RESEARCH II ]
Secret Language On The Sidewalk:
HISTORY:Prince George’s County, circa
1960 Levitt and Sons, the pioneers of postwar suburbia, were working on a huge new 10,000 home development in Bowie, Md.
James Attebery organized the uniform color system chair of a utility committee for American Public Works Association in the 1970s. Forwarded by city engineer in Albuquerque
Industry dedicated to locating and marking utilities = Damage Prevention
Mark a much larger area than is actually excavated
Sidewalks marked for a project thats happening in someone’s yard etc
Water lines
Sewer lines
Gas lines
Telephone lines
Cable TV lines
Dark networks that serve gov
Decoding Utility Markings Spray-painted on City Streets
1976 construction cut into Petroleum pipeline under Culver City California leading to explosion
Ignited into a fireball + smoke
DigAlert System
Contractors and citizens to contact when planning a subterranean dig to avoid disasters
Mandate the use of white to mark off construction zones
Paint chalk four or flags
APWA (American Public Works Association)
Used Safety Colors formalized by ANSI American Standard Institute
Maintains the guidelines to indicate where and how to mark things with arrows, umbers and symbols
Notation pdf (August 9, 2001)
Different color schemes for countries
with few overlaps such as blue for water
[ data collecting ]
Within 1km radius of downtown [Providence, RI]
Data and photos of graffiti on utility surfaces were collected using Google Maps Street View and through on-foot exploration of the area.
This approach allowed for a comparison of graffiti over time to observe changes and trends.
[ data classification ]
research
[ UTILITY GRAFFITI RESEARCH I ]
Uniform color codes
Purpose of utility mapping
(Urban Hieroglyphics)
PROBLEM: There wasn’t a good system for keeping track of what was already in the ground. “What would happen is that the water and the sewer would go in, and then the telephone company would come in and cut the water and sewer,”
SOLUTION: The utilities would then come out and mark their underground pipes with paint, so whoever was doing the digging could easily avoid them. From the 811 call center, the your info is sent out to all utilities in your location; they have 48 hours go out to and mark with paint everything they have underground, so they know where not to dig.
Notations are necessary to keep track of the locations, widths and depths of conduits, cables and pipes and identify the associated utility company.
Guidelines for Operator Facility Field Delineation to indicate where and how to mark things with arrows, numbers and symbols.
Space between four-feet and fifty-feet apart should be used to mark the center of a single facility or, if multiple conduits are running in a single trench, over their outside edges with arrows pointing in the the direction the services are running with a perpendicular line connecting the edge marks to form an H (as seen in the photo at the top of this post). A diamond is used instead of the perpendicular line to indicate a duct system.
[ UTILITY GRAFFITI RESEARCH II ]
Secret Language On The Sidewalk:
HISTORY:Prince George’s County, circa
1960 Levitt and Sons, the pioneers of postwar suburbia, were working on a huge new 10,000 home development in Bowie, Md.
James Attebery organized the uniform color system chair of a utility committee for American Public Works Association in the 1970s. Forwarded by city engineer in Albuquerque
Industry dedicated to locating and marking utilities = Damage Prevention
Mark a much larger area than is actually excavated
Sidewalks marked for a project thats happening in someone’s yard etc
Water lines
Sewer lines
Gas lines
Telephone lines
Cable TV lines
Dark networks that serve gov
Decoding Utility Markings Spray-painted on City Streets
1976 construction cut into Petroleum pipeline under Culver City California leading to explosion
Ignited into a fireball + smoke
DigAlert System
Contractors and citizens to contact when planning a subterranean dig to avoid disasters
Mandate the use of white to mark off construction zones
Paint chalk four or flags
APWA (American Public Works Association)
Used Safety Colors formalized by ANSI American Standard Institute
Maintains the guidelines to indicate where and how to mark things with arrows, umbers and symbols
Notation pdf (August 9, 2001)
Different color schemes for countries
with few overlaps such as blue for water
[ data collecting ]
Within 1km radius of downtown [Providence, RI]
Data and photos of graffiti on utility surfaces were collected using Google Maps Street View and through on-foot exploration of the area.
This approach allowed for a comparison of graffiti over time to observe changes and trends.
[ data classification ]
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