Oh Mr Eaves!

Despite his absence on Valentine's Day I knew I would meet Mr Eaves sometime soon. Since Emigre's Zuzana Licko designed the sans-serif companions to Mrs Eaves late last year (Mr Eaves Sans/Modern), it was only a matter of time before I would meet the families. These guys were voted among I Love Typography's Favourite Fonts of 2009 and I would have to agree with John Boardley that the italic version is most charming indeed. However, it was the XL companion – released by Emigre shortly after – which caught my fancy. The lowercase characters in Mr Eaves XL Sans Ultra Italic in fact are very suitable for cupcakes. With a large x-height and short ascenders and descenders they fit quite nicely on a round, chocolate surface. Now I'm just waiting for a ridiculously good looking, intelligent and funny type-lover to start a blog under the pseudonym Mr Eaves and sweep me off my feet!

Tuscan Type

Here is some background behind the Make Friends with the Alphabet poster for the type presentation last Monday. I found a 1970s kitchen wallpaper sample with some cute Tuscan lettering for part of the word 'omelette'. I used this as a reference point for creating the other letters required. Tuscan letterforms – as Jonathan Hoefler nicely describes – are "those that have bifurcated (fishtail) serifs, and more often than not, some sort of ornamentation midway along the stems". They're not perfect yet and will keep on working on the rest of the alphabet. In the mean time they worked their Tuscan magic and lured 30 people to join For the Love of Type!

Make Friends with The Alphabet

For the Love of Type is hosting a presentation on Monday... it will essentially convince you(if you're not already convinced) that letters make your life better. Come by if you're in Sydney there will be type cupcakes! Details here.

Font Aid

The Society of Typographic Aficionados has just released Coming Together: a collection of ampersands designed by participants from all around the world including Alejandro Paul, Jean Francois Porchez and John Downer. The font is for sale for $20US from Veer, Ascender Fonts, Fontshop and MyFonts with all sales going to Doctors Without Borders to help with the relief efforts in Haiti. This is the fourth project part of Font Aid, an initiative started by Swedish designer Claes Källarsson, which facilitates the creation of collaborative fonts to raise funds for those affected by natural disasters, war and other tragedies. Get on board and buy the beautiful collection of ampersands for a great cause.

Typespotting from Sydney to Tel Aviv

Here are some cute and quirky letterforms and numerals on the houses in the eastern suburbs of Sydney. I want to live at number 347! And while we're in a typespotting mood, get your fix of Tel Aviv signage type here and here from photographer Mikaela Burstow.

Get Your Font On Again

The Go Font Urself* team are at it again with the fourth show lined up for March this year. It will be exhibited in Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney with 14 artists including a couple of my faves – Timba Smits and Sarah King. Get in quick and RSVP to the shows here. Go Font Urself* have also just released a limited edition book showcasing the works from the previous three shows of 2009.