The Clearing, by artists Tom James and Alex Hartley, was a project that aimed to explore humanity’s future survival in the face of the climate crisis. Centred around a geodesic dome built from reclaimed materials in the grounds of Compton Verney Art Gallery and Park, from March to December 2017, The Clearing became part school, part shelter and part folly. A series of workshops taught people a variety of skills, including building fires, digging toilets, working with wool, building radios, and rebuilding democracy.

Outside of these workshops, the dome was looked after by a various residents, who chopped wood, fed the chickens and stepped outside of the current world, imagining what our future might look and feel like.

The identity for the project is based on the idea of using found and reclaimed materials that are available to everybody. If you can find it, and it’s free, you can use it for your own ends.

The typeface Courier is ubiquitous and can be ‘found’ on anybody’s computer. Like the materials used to build the dome, Courier can be re-purposed in the same way, with the glyphs becoming component parts that are broken down to build something new. These component parts were used to build the identity system for The Clearing: a shared graphic language to be used in a dystopian future.

Using the Courier glyphs like sticks and stones, typographic trail signs were made for way-finding and signage (see below). And visa-versa, sticks and stones and found objects were used as glyphs. As the camp grew and evolved over time, anybody could generate new signage.

Importantly, this graphic language can easily be shared, by copying and pasting from one device to another. You can try this yourself using the glyphs below.

FREE COMPONENT PARTS:
Courier.

Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Mm Nn Oo Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt Uu Vv Ww Xx Yy Zz
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0
/|\_-—=+()[]{}*^:.”’'`<>~?!&$£


TRAIL SIGNS:

_..-.._
./_\_/_\_/_\.
./_\_/_\_/_\_/_\.
/\_/_\_| |_/_\_/\
~~~|/_\_/_|_|_\_/_\|~~~

LOGO 1.
SYMBOL


_..-.._
./C\L/E\A/R\.
./T\_/_\_/_\_/I\.
/\H/_\_| |_/_\N/\
~~~|/E\_/_|_|_\_/G\|~~~

LOGO 2.
LOGOTYPE


_..-.._
./G\_/_\_/L\.
./_\O/_\_/_\U/_\.
/\_/O\_| |_/C\_/\
~~~|/_\D/_|_|_\K/_\|~~~

LOGO 3.
MESSAGE: GOOD LUCK


_..-.._
./T\H/A\N/K\.
./_\_/Y\O/U\_/_\.
/\_/_\_| |_/_\_/\
~~~|/_\_/_|_|_\_/_\|~~~

LOGO 4.
MESSAGE: THANK YOU


)
( (
)( ) )
( )( )( )(
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

WORKSHOP 1:
BUILD A FIRE


A
|
\|/
|'''''''|
|xxxxxxx|
|-------|
|~~~~~~~|
|
\|/
B

WORKSHOP 2:
DRINK THE WATER


_____
/___/ \
/ \ /'
| () | |
\____/|/|
| |
|/

WORKSHOP 3:
BUILD A TOILET


/
/
\
\
/ ? //
_/_ //
/ \ (').--.
\___/ _/-_( )*

WORKSHOP 4:
FINDING FOOD


____
|_ _|
||
||
||
||
||
_||_
| ...|
|.. .|
'.__.'
... ...

WORKSHOP 5:
GROWING FOOD


. . .
\()|()/
\()|()/
\()|()/
\|/
|
|
|

WORKSHOP 6:
OUR DAILY BREAD 1


. . .
\()|()/
\()|()/
\()|()/
\()|()/
\()|()/
\()|()/
\|/
|
|
|

WORKSHOP 7:
OUR DAILY BREAD 2

////////
\\\\\\\\
////////
\ /
\ /
\ /
\/
/\
/ \
O O

WORKSHOP 8:
WORKING WITH WOOL


(\ ) (
( \ ( ' >
( \,___) (
(_ ._.- )
`-______'

WORKSHOP 9:
KEEPING CHICKENS


*
* *
* * *
___*__________
/ * /|
/_____________/ |
| | '
|_____________|/

WORKSHOP 10:
SOAP: STAYING CLEAN


.----.
| |
____| |____
| |
|____ ____|
| |
| |
'----'

WORKSHOP 11:
MAKING MEDICINE


o
o
o
oOOOOOOo
,_| oO
// | GROG |
\\_| |
`------`

WORKSHOP 12:
MAKING MEAD


/\
/ \ __ _
/ /\ \ / _` |
/ ____ \ | (_| |
/_/ \_\ \__,_|

WORKSHOP 13:
THE PRINTED WORD


/
/
/
– – – O
|\
| \
| \
|
__|__

WORKSHOP 14:
HARNESSING THE WIND


o
o
___ o
o /
o /
|~~~~/~|
| o |
| o |
| o |
`------`
WORKSHOP 15:
POST APOCALYPSE POP


.
|
|
|
_|__________
|------------|
|o o|
|____________|

WORKSHOP 16:
LISTEN TO THE RADIO


_____||____
| |
| .-. |
| / | \ |
| \ /|\ / |
| ` - ` |
|___________|
||
||
||
||
||
||

WORKSHOP 17:
REBUILDING DEMOCRACY


*------* *
\ |
\ |
* -------*
/ \
/ *
*
\
*

WORKSHOP 18:
ASTRONOMY FOR SURVIVORS


+
.___|___.
| |
| 2017 |
| 2086 |
| |
\\\\\////////\\\/\\\

WORKSHOP 19:
HOW TO DIE IN THE FUTURE


|\
___ | |\
| | ()| |
| | ___ ()|
()| ()| |___|
| |
()| ()|

MAKING MUSIC


.
.
'. : .'
'. : .'
( ( ( (o) ) ) )
.' : '.
.' : '.
.
.

USING THE SUN


_ _ _
___| |____| |____| |___
___| |____| |____| |___
| | | | | |
~~~|_|~~~~|_|~~~~|_|~~~

BUILD A FENCE


(
( ) )
) ( (
|~~~~~~~~~|
|---------|
'._______.'

MAKING FOOD


/|_|\
\ /
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
/ _ \
\| |/

MAKING REPAIRS

_
| \_..
| _||
|_/ ||
||
||
||
||
||
''

CHOPPING WOOD