Content editorialisation of research design line “Vus à 130. La route, le graphisme, les régions. Mise en tourisme de paysages autoroutiers et de sites en France, 1972-2022.” – Problemata

Problemata is a platform for publishing lines of research organized around a theme in the design disciplines. With historical or historicized perspectives, a line of research is composed of articles (texts) and resources (images). I was in charge of the editorial process for this research line, as well as writing a note introducing Julien Lelièvre’s photographic work Art d’Autoroute, carried out from 2009 to 2015.

The research line is entitled “Vus à 130. La route, le graphisme, les régions. Mise en tourisme de paysages autoroutiers et de sites en France, 1972-2022.” It tackles questions of the tourism of the French territory, of the relationship to landscape, to the genius of places and to motorway culture, through the entry point of graphic design. The panels for tourist and cultural events, or “brown panels”, designed by the Atelier Visuel Design Jean Widmer, Pierre Bernard, Philippe Collier… are the entry point for this line of research. Over and above the aesthetic values attributed to them or the content they convey, these images, intended to be seen at 130 km/h, act as an interface between the regions the motorist passes through and the freeway that distances him from the real experience of these regions. The Genius loci research program team at the Institut supérieur des arts et du design de Toulouse has updated various archives, texts and historical studies, and taken a forward-looking approach to show how graphic design has accompanied the development of tourism in France since the 19th century, from the first sketches of animated signage in 1972 to the acquisition of Jean Widmer’s archives by the Centre national des arts plastiques.