Presentation:
The term Urban Graphism tries to describe, here, all the elements of design aimed at the public that can be found in human construction, particularly in cities or lived area. It includes signs, logo, advertisement but also sometimes special architectures...

My research:
Signs
Urban signs are interesting in so far as the represent a quest of universality through simple, basic shapes/drawings.
Here are some examples coming from Spain, China & Japan.

Logos
Logo of companies or symbols used in signs and advertisements usually try to be talkative and to evocate universal concept. Example of a zoom from an advertisement in Barcelona, and a logo of a Japanese company taken in Osaka.




Advertisements
Most of advertisements are pollution. Nevertheless, sometimes they can be appreciated, when they are simple & meaningful. A example from Barcelona.




Tags
Graffitis are similar to advertisement. They're often noxious, uninteresting, and with no art touch at all. But sometimes, taggers are real artists and you would pay them to paint your walls. An example shot in Barcelona:




Japanese style
When it comes to organize wide spaces aimed at being quiet and peaceful, Japanese style is definitely a must. Here an example of the famous RyuuanJi Zen garden, in Kyoto, a lantern in the Himeji Castle, the entrance of a Hachiman-shrine temple near Kyoto, and the papers telling you your destiny in the Temple of Sonezaki (Osaka).

What made the Japanese style so effective and so successful is maybe the importance given to details. For instance these tyles at Himeji castle.

Chinese style
Much more complicated than the Japanese style, the Chinese style is also ruled by tradition. These rules are often explained in the Feng Shui (wind-water) guides. A typical exemple is the "Beijing courtyard", traditional family house of North China, where each building is dedicated to one generation, the main entrance does not go straight into the courtyard (walls prevent "bad spirits" to get in easily), etc. :

The modern Chinese style is unfortunately much less attracting, buildings became big & vulgar. But when communism go beyond its rules, it gives original things like this statue in ChangChun.

Urban lights
Lights are seldom original in big cities. Shanghai decided to enlight in blue the bottom of its numerous suspended highways, and the result is pretty nice!