pardon our progress

Via Coudal Partners’ Fresh Signals, we are invited to reflect on the bold but humble typography of Tokyo metro worker Shuetsu Sato (佐藤修悦), a practise and an art form that he cultivated in order to better perform his job of helping commuters safely and swiftly navigate through a maze of shifting corridors and detours that result from the continuous construction projects on the stations and subway lines.
Equipped with some rolls of colourful duct tape and an X-Acto knife, Sato san has transformed the matter of broadcasting diversions and disruptions into something brilliantly captivating, albeit temporary, with his neat and helpful guides. Much more to explore and an entire gallery of Sato san’s improvised signage at the links above.