in praise of london
While researching, I came across Dr. Julius Neubronner’s aerial photographs, taken by carrier pigeons fitted with miniature cameras he invented. There was something absurd and immersive about these images: wings and feathers creeping into the frame, awkward angles, skewed panoramic vistas.
Neubronner’s images feel almost mythological — the pigeon as angel, watching over the city from above. Inspired, I asked: what if pigeons were symbolic guardian angels of cities? Who — or what — might be the guardian angel of London? I explored the bird’s flight as a conceptual parallel, a kind of urban pilgrimage. This became the foundation for the project.
Captivated by the surreal image of ‘pigeon as angel’ — sooty, dusty, neglected — I studied pilgrimages through historical, religious, and otherworldly lenses.
Arguably, the pilgrimage is the ultimate dérive: a collective led by an indescribable pull toward a place. Czech photographer Markéta Luskačová’s Pilgrims helped set the emotional tone. I refined the idea: a pilgrimage through London in search of our elusive ‘guardian angel.’
To understand if the concept resonated with Londoners, I designed a survey. Influenced by the responses, I wrote a poetic manifesto—a collective manifesto addressed to London herself.
The question, ‘Who or what looks after our city?’ revealed disillusionment with the lack of recognition for those who truly keep the city running—street cleaners, transport workers — and frustration with the government’s failure to act as a true ‘guardian.’
It became clear that those we assume to be angels often are not. Instead, the angel emerged as symbolic — a moral figure, a myth, a call for justice. This led me to frame protest as a modern pilgrimage. Disobedient Objects highlighted the physical language of protest: banners, flags, slogans, manifestos.
Survey respondents described a guardian angel as:
‘An entity who makes sure you are safe’
‘A benign and all-caring overlooker’
‘Anyone who puts others first’
‘A figure of protection’
‘Unconscious memories that guide me.’
It became evident that the flag or banner was the most powerful way to communicate the sentiment of pilgrimage. Carried by the wind, the flag performs the journey itself.
The flag is a universal medium: cloth bearing words or symbols, capable of both nuanced and universal meanings. I explored the Heraldic Flag system—shape and colour conveying rank: from pennon, to banner, to streamer.
I distilled research into poetic phrases — verbal snapshots gathered throughout the process. I experimented with typefaces, wording, and shapes, ensuring each flag’s form, motion, and materiality contributed to its message.
Final flag phrases included:
oh! for the love of london.
feed the birds
such a riot!
definitely maybe
i’m mine / i’m yours
wings of dust and soot and smoke
fog / smog / murk
saint soot
tarmac omen
petrol blues
I studied the craft of sailor and semaphore flags and found a stream of twelve 1800s linen semaphore flags — worn, faded, beautiful. Their raw, handmade quality became a reference point—not elite, but of the people.
I aimed for a typographic language modern and relevant in London’s landscape, yet echoing myths and allegory. I designed three typefaces — two sans-serif, one serif — to create a visual voice that’s open, accessible, and democratic. Unlike the hierarchical Heraldic system, this language reflects the project’s ethos: symbolic, collective, grounded in everyday guardianship.