Bastions of Creativity Disparaged (Part II)

Last month I was castigating D&AD for multiple typographical howlers in the latest Annual. This time, the Bastion of Creativity under scrutiny is no lesser institution than London's famous Groucho Club.

I spent a long, and increasingly cheerful, lunchtime there recently, ostensibly to take a brief from photographer Matt Stuart. As well as being a member of the Groucho, Matt's one of In-Public, a group of brilliant 'street photographers', and he's asked me to help with the words on their website.

Anyway, answering a call of nature brought me face-to-face with the sign above. What's going on with all those capitals?

A lot of business writing is afflicted with a sort of capitalisation Tourette's, with inappropriate Caps appearing Randomly all over the Place.

But I never expected to encounter such a basic gaffe within the hallowed walls of the Groucho. The club was, after all, established by publishers, and is now synonymous with London's literary and artistic set.

Perhaps I'm missing the point, however. Perhaps the sign is attempting to transform base information into golden poetry. Perhaps one can expect an anthology in due course, including such gems as:

These toilets are cleaned
Twice a day.
If you have a complaint
Please
Contact the management.

And the classic:

Now
Please
Wash your hands.

Told you so, told you so

Back in 2004, in a letter to Design Week, I wrote this:

'[Jargon] creates barriers to communication, excluding those who may not be up on the latest lingo. This is when things turn nasty: when jargon is used to make yourself feel big, and others small. The more we demystify this sort of language, and create clearer, more inclusive communication, the better.'

Two years later, on 6 November this year, the BBC reported that: 'Needless jargon in the workplace is baffling employees and widening the divide between management and staff, a survey suggests.'

The survey is by Investors In People (IIP), via YouGov. And it has, in IIP's own rather jargonistic term, revealed a 'potential "desk divide"'. According to their press release, 'over half (55%) of senior managers think jargon is harmless, whilst four in ten (42%) employees think that it creates misunderstanding about roles and responsibilities.'

It goes on: 'Over a third of employees (37%) say it results in mistrust in the workplace and makes people feel inadequate.'

Well, I hate to say it, but...