for the love of type

Peppermint Magazine

2011-12-13T12:48:00.016+11:00

Hailing from my hometown IN Brisbane, Peppermint magazine is a green fashion magazine that celebrates eco-ethical style. They were looking for a fresh masthead this Summer and I was super excited to create fresh new type for them. It hit the newstands last week which is rad!

Paper Mill Residency Exhibition

2011-11-16T17:00:00.012+11:00

This Tuesday November 22nd, FOURXFOUR will open as the last show(ever!) at the Paper Mill gallery in Angel Place, Sydney. The show features the work from the four residencies this year. The beautiful alphabet created by the workshop attendees will be on display along with other typographic musings from my residency in September. Hope to see you there!

The Designed Grammar of Type Specimens

2011-09-06T08:29:00.001+10:00

My good friend and fellow typophile Jesse O'Neill is doing a talk today at 11am at the State Library of New South Wales. His presentation will draw on research into the design and language of Australian type specimens at the turn of the twentieth century. For more information or to book a place checkout the SLNSW page.

Paper Mill Residency

2011-08-16T15:33:00.007+10:00

Starting next Monday 22 August, For the Love of Type will be setting up shop for a month-long residency at The Paper Mill Gallery in Angel Place, Sydney. Inspired by Nicolete Gray's (1960) text Lettering on Buildings, I will be examining letterforms as they appear on buildings and signage in the immediate surrounds of the gallery. The window space of the gallery will then become a live "screen" which will act as a live blog for a week - with all the content created in hand lettering and photographs from typespotting adventures. Would love for you to escape the screens for an afternoon and come visit! I will also be hosting two public workshops: the first is a walking tour looking at letters from my observations and the second is a drawing letterforms workshop. For more information or to book a place visit The Paper Mill website or email me for more information at info@fortheloveoftype.com.au.

Flowers & Fire

2011-08-11T11:52:00.011+10:00

Toby & Pete have grown

2011-08-09T17:00:00.008+10:00

Well, the two tall guys who brought you the coolest typographic jumping castle in history have grown! Toby & Pete have expanded their creative craftshop to include a new posse of seven designers, directors and creatives with a mixture of different talents. I am joining these talented fellas – Piotr Stopniak, Toby Pike, James Jirat Patradoon, Angus Forbes, Simon (Esjay) James, Lukasz Karluk, & Aaron Kuswara – to be collaborating on a host of new projects! You can check out our combined body of work here. This collection of type treatments are the result of our first efforts to create a body of promotional cards that present a variety of not-so-infamous duos such as Butch & Mason, Eva & Teddy and Randy & Fez. Taking ownership of the "and", each is a new persona of Toby & Pete. The approaches included laser etching on leather, embossing, 3D illustration, photography, vector illustration and even a magic eye! A taste of what's to come.

A Type of Show

2011-08-09T16:43:00.004+10:00

This is probably the most epic line up of letterers, typographers and artists all in one show in Sydney...EVER! Hosted by Like Minded Studios A Type of Show coincides with the two amazing talents Alex Trochut & Tony DiSpigna being in Sydney and opens at Kind Of Gallery on Oxford Street, Darlinghurst at 7pm on August 17th 2011. Hope to see you there!

Brisbane Semi-Permanent

2011-08-02T22:50:00.006+10:00

Time has whizzed past since Sydney Semi-Permanent and it's already time for the Brisbane conference. Tickets are sold out and I'm getting pretty hyper about Friday! See you there Brisbane!

Frankie is your friend

2011-06-25T21:24:00.009+10:00

For the love of type was lucky enough to be featured in this month's Frankie magazine (Issue 42, p122) with typespotting pics from Rose Bay & Elizabeth Bay (Sydney), Lake Wanaka (New Zealand) and my favourite giant "T" from LA. There are also some seriously rad campervans on page 105 that will make you wanna road trip and a pretty-yet-peculiar woman with a mop for a head on page 28. Plus there's nan and pop's "Get Well Soon" guide...although it doesn't feature carrot cake ;-)! Frankie is your friend...cute and classy as always!

Rediscovered type

2011-04-19T09:35:00.004+10:00

Title design from the Australian mystery film Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975)...simple but beautiful.

Semi Permanent 2011

2011-04-17T13:13:00.003+10:00

The super cool design conference Semi Permanent is back for another year and i'll be speaking at the Sydney conference alongside We Buy Your Kids, Reg Mombassa, Michael Leon and more...so why not pop in!

V is for Verity

2011-03-13T13:04:00.001+11:00

Canon: Inspires to Achieve More

2011-03-13T11:04:00.000+11:00

Hand drawn type I created for Canon's masterbrand campaign creatively led by Leo Burnett.

Typespotting LA

2011-02-27T14:13:00.005+11:00

oh K!

2011-02-27T13:57:00.005+11:00

The lovely Kitiya with our combined type-craft creation and a

'K' spoke card I made for her new bicycle!

Pink Curly Nausea

2011-01-04T11:55:00.004+11:00

Sydney Bicycle Film Festival Street Fair

2010-12-23T16:19:00.004+11:00

Freestyle chalk type at the BFF Street Fair in Surry Hills a few weeks ago. Woo! Check out footage from the event here.

Tel Aviv Type

2010-12-23T16:17:00.000+11:00

Earlier this year I created a type installation for the talented photographer Mikaela Burstow's solo show Tel Aviv at galleryeight. The collection was inspired by the unique spaces, architecture and crumbling Bauhaus buildings she spotted as she wandered and rode throughout the city. I decided that I wanted to work on the entire project without using a computer at all. The result was geometric wooden lettering which I drew (and re-drew and re-drew) then cut out with a jigsaw.

Type Props

2010-12-23T14:20:00.005+11:00

Here are a couple of my favourite recent internet type sightings.: jumping-castle-type from Toby & Pete (equipped with a gorilla "V"!) and building signage for Museo Italiano Cultural Centre in Melbourne by Design by Pidgeon. The letterforms are designed to be read from either side. Nice!

Borges' Jaguar

2010-11-15T23:01:00.006+11:00

Here is the final work I created for the Stereotyped (Sound & Typography) exhibition at Object gallery in September 2010. The jaguar with letterforms in its fur was inspired by Argentinian writer Jorges Luis Borges' short story "The Writing of the God". Incarcerated in a hollow cell opposite a jaguar, Tzinacán believes he sees a divine message in the jaguars coat and realises it may only make sense if he speaks it aloud. The work was accompanied by Jared Underwood's audio collage which was created in response to our inital letterform marking recordings in the studio.

ABC Art Nation's Font Revolution

2010-11-15T22:56:00.003+11:00

Wherefore l'amour...

2010-11-15T15:37:00.006+11:00

San Francisco Street Poet

2010-11-15T00:48:00.005+11:00

Nearly-forgotten sketch books

2010-08-24T02:07:00.005+10:00

Elemenopee

2010-08-23T13:02:00.018+10:00

I'm sure many typographers and graphic designers often let their mind wander away from the ocularcentric nature of their craft and into the world of sound! Object gallery's upcoming exhibition, Stereotyped, may fulfil the gap between the seemingly distant fields of sound and typography. The show brings together musicians, sound designers, composers, typographers, illustrators and animators to look at the overlaps between these fields and challenge the conception of a 'designer' today.
When I was first asked to participate in this exhibition my mind was filled with sound/type concepts including phonetics, expression without words and the alphabet song(which I recently learned is sung to the tune of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star!). The nature of communication design often changes if the content is intended to be spoken rather than read. For instance, El Lissitzky's design of Mayakovsky's For the Voice (1923) used pictorial treatment of the words and a thumb index, allowing the poet to quickly reference different verse while reading aloud.

There are many recent adventures in expressing song lyrics through illustrated type or fonts too. Slanted magazine recently released the publication TypoLyrics: The Sound of Fonts and there is the series of type exhibitions initiated by Timba Smits, Lyrics and Type: A different kind of Verse.

And has anyone entertained the thought of what one may sound like if they "spoke in italics" (swiftly or with a certain intonation?) or "spoke in Helvetica" (monotonous and familiar perhaps?). Well, this ridiculous concept was perfectly consolidated earlier this year with Typotheque's Phont Library: a system linking web fonts to voice data:

The development process included months of casting to find voice actors who could capture the true qualities of the fonts. “The biggest challenge was to find the right articulations for Roman and Italic fonts. This was simply new territory for the actors and type designers alike,”

While it's safe to assume this was a typo-prank (it was posted on April Fools Day and claims Barry White to be the voice of Klimax!), it's entertaining nonetheless and elaborates upon many-a-thought about translating the visual attributes and ineffable qualities of fonts into the intonation, tone and tempo of speech.

So with these examples in mind, it will be interesting to see what the Stereotyped collaborators come up with. The artists include: Ellen Lupton and Amanda Cole, Stephen Banham and David Chesworth, James Cecil and Tin&Ed, Nils Crompton and Brooke Trezise, Jay Ryves and Nathan McLay, Jared Underwood and myself.

The collaboration with Jared began in the studio recording the "sounds of letters" – not how they are pronounced, but rather how the strokes sound as they are created using different mark-making devices and materials (see images above).

The show opens Friday September 3rd from 5-8pm at Object Gallery (417 Bourke Street, Surry Hills) and continues until 26th September 2010. Some type cupcakes may even make an appearance at the opening! Be sure to also check out the Pop-Up Alphabet Co-Op also at Object on September 4th and 5th.

Go Font Urself* Five

2010-08-11T21:34:00.003+10:00

After two successful shows in Brisbane and Melbourne, the fifth instalment of Go Font Urself* will open this Thursday 19th August in Sydney. The line-up includes We Buy Your Kids, Jeremyville, Friends of Type, Morning Breath and one of my personal favourites - Alejandro Paul. The show starts at 6pm at Lo-Fi Collective, 383 Bourke Street, Taylor Square (above Kinsellas).

A Typographer's Garden

2010-05-17T23:51:00.009+10:00

This hedge type is by far one of my typespotting favourites. These giant leafy letters are about 2 metres high and were spotted along the Pacific Highway in Northern NSW at the Melaleuca Station Memorial Gardens. If there are any topiary artists out there who are well-versed in the art of trimming hedge-letters let me know how it's done!

Hello Tasmania

2010-05-17T23:25:00.003+10:00

Anyone who is in Hobart this Wednesday evening (May 19th), I will be doing a talk for the Australian Graphic Design Association. The talk begins at 6pm and will be held at The Australian Institute of Architects, Hunter Street, Hobart. For more information contact AGDA Tasmania. Look forward to meeting some Tasmanian typomaniacs!

Multi-dimensional Type

2010-03-03T14:01:00.011+11:00

This must be the place was published this month in Incubate's 3D issue. Equipped with glasses this issue has many of the illustrations and photographs converted to 3D. Considering it's already three-dimensional in the 2D plane when you pop on the glasses it is a multi-dimensional-typographic experience! Also, lend your ears to Naive Melody by Talking Heads – the inspiration for the piece (the lamp shade dance at the end of that clip is definitely one to keep in mind for your next party). The magazine is designed by Christine Messinesi and you can down an online version here.

Oh Mr Eaves!

2010-02-23T15:12:00.001+11:00

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

2010-02-23T12:21:00.001+11:00

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

2010-02-19T23:09:00.003+11:00

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

2010-02-17T12:00:00.004+11:00

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

2010-02-15T22:22:00.006+11:00

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

2010-02-15T20:47:00.000+11:00

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.

Typespotting in New Zealand

2010-01-24T22:26:00.006+11:00

There is a myriad of instances of Archer in Christchurch...you can't turn a corner without spotting those charming little ball terminals on the the city's summer posters and retail windows. Of equal charm are the remnants of old hand-drawn signage lingering in alleys and on brick walls high above new shopfronts.

Fruits of my Labor

2010-01-05T15:24:00.014+11:00

Australia's favourite Prime Minister, Bob Hawke, turned 80 this year and here are the invitations I created for his party. Black detailed type, a gold foil 80, and hand written names to match the main text on the invites, envelopes and name cards. Bound together with a fine gold thread and envelopes finished with a red wax seal.

Withered & Spongy Helvetica

2010-01-05T14:09:00.006+11:00

This was a cute find in a Bondi second-hand store. What was once a labelling alphabet set is now a group of withering characters which nearly dissolve when touched. Poor Helvetica! Needless to say, the unassuming sales assistant endured my stories of the typeface and let me save these little guys for $3.

Things

2009-12-19T20:16:00.006+11:00

Brick wall in Surry Hills

My wallpaper design from book cut-outs

My apartment floor

Body Type @ TYPO Berlin 2009

2009-12-09T12:43:00.002+11:00

Nothing New Under the Sun

2009-11-26T12:58:00.007+11:00

Following on from Yves Peters' Font Shop blog post earlier this year which discussed the Esquire cover, Australian surf magazine Stab has jumped on the body-type-bandwagon. The cover is causing concern in the media today over the age of the model, and I'm sure this would be equalled among the type/design community over blatant imitation and the quality(or lack there-of) of the lettering.

This must be the place

2009-11-20T12:33:00.001+11:00

Mulberry Type

2009-11-15T16:52:00.004+11:00

Hibernation is Over

2009-11-15T16:07:00.004+11:00

Hearty Type

2009-09-21T12:42:00.003+10:00

The quickest way to a man's heart is through his stomach...in Affair : inspiration for wallpaper designs of repeating anatomical orange hearts.

Some Type of Wonderful

2009-09-10T14:01:00.005+10:00

Lifelounge's Annual Type Exhibition:

What do you think of when you think of home?

2009-08-29T14:39:00.001+10:00

The Salvagers: Part 1

2009-08-26T01:57:00.003+10:00

Love for For the Love of Type

2009-08-15T19:05:00.005+10:00

Thank-you to my mystery tree-lopping-type-loving fan!

Belated Berlin Type

2009-07-31T20:56:00.009+10:00

Marilyn & My Brother

2009-07-27T05:35:00.008+10:00

The lovely guys at Happenstance magazine recently hosted Fresh Meet in the gallery space underneath Marsu Homme in Darlinghurst, Sydney. Eight artists were given a mannequin part and told to go wild. For my arm my 1970s orange Brother typewriter was at the whim of my destruction to create and Edward Scissorhands-esque set of fingers. Marilyn Monroe wraps around the arm to a full head of type at one end, and a woodblock 'R' at the other. More pictures from the show here plus I believe the latest edition of the magazine should be out soon

Never Give a Pretty Girl a Hand Grenade

2009-07-27T05:08:00.000+10:00

My work for the Print Matters exhibition which opened last week: Never Give a Pretty Girl a Hand Grenade. A little bit of Hoefler Text Italic, ten illustrations and 3 hours worth of hand-sewn binding, it folds into a neat 150mm x 150mm book.

Print Matters

2009-07-27T04:23:00.007+10:00

Print Matters is a salon for independent publishing, artists book and various forms of printed matter. Hosted by the General Store (soon to open in Potts Point, Sydney) and curated by Ben Gavin it continues until August 2nd at The Chauvel in Paddington, Sydney. More details and list of full artists here. Worth a look!

Everything Together Carefully Descending

2009-06-17T08:49:00.001+10:00

Carefully Descending

2009-06-17T08:48:00.001+10:00

This latest work – Carefully Descending – was created in three days for the second Go Font Urself* exhibition. It was inspired by an E.E. Cummings poem titled Somewhere I have never travelled and by textures and detailing of hand-drawn maps I found in some cute little books in Berlin. After mapping out the initial lettering the time spent illustrating the individual characters was made more entertaining by watching around 17 consecutive episodes of Seinfeld! The work has been at Peer Gallery, Sydney this week and will be at Dont Come gallery in Melbourne until June 25th.

Go Font Urself* 2

2009-06-17T01:52:00.033+10:00

Go Font Urself* 2 is back for its second show after its popular debut earlier this year. The exhibition, curated by Marty Routledge, kicked off at Peer Gallery in Sydney last Wednesday night and will open tomorrow night in Melbourne at Don't Come. This time round the fish tank was filled with floating letters and the giant foam Gotham characters survived the last show and were back again to be joined by silver helium alphabet balloons. There was definitely a greater focus on type and lettering compared to the last show with a cohesive collection of both digital, video and hand-generated works from 16 international graphic designers, graffiti artists and typographers. Some of my personal favourite pieces were Peter Sunna's Past/Future featuring beautiful pastel-coloured 3D type, Douglas Lee's 'bathroom-hand-rail-type' Hard and Toko's perfectly symmetrical maze on a T-shaped canvas.

I had an artwork in this round of the exhibition and have included some process pics in a separate blog post above. While I thought the fine point pen detail in my piece was time-consuming, this was nothing compared to the amazing patience which must have been involved in Old Kent Road's Shanks for Nuthin'. The work was neatly illustrated with lead pencil without a smudge mark in sight.

While I'm quite fond of Jim Parry's art direction in Dumbo Feather, Pass It On, in the work his pink and grey extruded type didn't really add much interest to the moderately funny play on words of the 1980's Indeep song: Last night a BJ saved my life. I however did quite like Luca Ionescu's lettering and ornaments in Peerless painted on what appeared to be an old-school wooden desk top. The easily recognizable work of Mike Perry was also quite fun and Emil Kozak's Acid Rain was simple yet effective.

Whether the reference was intentional or not, I'm sure I wasn't the only one who thought of the 'Chk Chk Boom' girl when viewing Nicolas Alexander's work, Boom. Thankfully the absence of the "Chk Chk" and the comic-book-aesthetic appeal will give this artwork popular longevity beyond that of the Sydney bogan who coined the phrase last month.

Overall the show was a successful and diverse collection of artworks which embraced letterforms as their main mode of expression. Peer Gallery was once again packed with type enthusiasts and gallery-goers who I'm sure – like myself – are looking forward to the next installment of Go Font Urself* later in the year. Hopefully those in Melbourne who see the show this week will be equally impressed.

Types they are a-changin'

2009-05-27T02:58:00.004+10:00

TYPO Berlin Body Setting

2009-05-21T08:27:00.004+10:00

Mrs Eaves in Berlin

2009-05-20T05:51:00.002+10:00

Hallo! TYPO Berlin begins this Thursday with my presentation on Saturday (see full program here)... but if you're in Berlin tomorrow look out for a different kind of body text setting around town :-).

Ampersand Castle

2009-05-05T00:07:00.006+10:00

The ampersand is usually the object of experimentation and creativity in type design. More broadly it often become a source of excitement to designers and readers alike, with "sweeping curves, flirtatious finishes and bold statements" as Huw Wilkins at Smashing Magazine describes in "Ampersands with Attitude". There's a blog dedicated solely to the ampersand, House Industries' cast-iron ampersand and Stephen Banham's book which shares the name and of course the neat article posted last year by Jonathan Hoefler with a concise history of the symbol and stories behind some of the finest.

But if it's not cast in metal, flowing from the nib of a pen or from a collection of pixels, how else might an ampersand take form? On the plane of the beach and constructed from sand, the ampersand castle could fulfil all your outdoor-lifesize-conjunction needs. The first prototype is reminiscent of Jason Walcott's Cabernet with bulbous ball terminals which take on a new form from the material of their creation. Unfortunately the first trial was unsuccessful, with the thinner strokes constructed with sand unable to hold their shape when the mould was removed.

However, if you're in Sydney for Summer 09/10 look out on the Eastern beaches as I will hopefully have mastered the creation of my ampersand mould (or collection of moulds) and will be creating numerous ampersand castles in the early hours of the morning before the beaches get packed with sun seekers!

Adriana

2009-05-04T04:15:00.007+10:00

Wander in Reverie

2009-04-22T00:24:00.003+10:00

Filming begins

2009-04-19T12:50:00.004+10:00

America's Merriest Magazine Type Collage

2009-04-01T13:47:00.001+11:00

Three reasons to attend agIdeas

2009-03-30T03:06:00.008+11:00

agIdeas is happening in Melbourne from May 4-7th 2009. With conference presenters including Stephen Banham, Stefan Sagmeister and Tobias Frere-Jones, design workshops and studio visits, it should be a fantastic four days.

Where have you been all my life?

2009-03-30T03:00:00.000+11:00

Ditto

2009-03-11T00:14:00.004+11:00

Moleskines revisted

2009-03-07T18:10:00.003+11:00

I think you're neat, like Helvetica Light!

2009-03-04T21:49:00.005+11:00

Roses are red,
Daisies are white,
I think you're neat,
Like Helvetica Light.

Pardon my ignorance,
I should have been coyer,
And checked how to say,
Helvetica Neue!

Thanks to Eye Douche (see comments below) I now have a poem that actually rhymes (sigh!) and has been re-sent to all my Valentines. They will all now also know the correct pronunciation of Neue!

Here's the original post for those who want to see Mrs Eaves' font faux pas:

Despite the fact that Valentine's Day was over a fortnight ago, a little love in general is allowed on any day and if it's a love of type even more so! I forgot to post this earlier, but on February 14th I sent this little poem...

Roses are red
Violets are blue
I think you're neat
Like Helvetica Neue.

In response to this I received...

Letters best read
When printed in blue
The fleurons are pretty
And so are you!

Arial's dead
No matter the hue,
Mrs Eaves still rocks on,
And I dig you too.

Oh you're so sweet,
Like a strawberry lollipop,
I'm your Illustrator,
And you're my Photoshop.

But of course my favourite one, was the least complimentary

Roses are red,
Violets are blue
I think you're boring, overused and cold
Like Courier New.

How lovely.

Reading into The Reader

2009-03-03T03:47:00.011+11:00

Yesterday I saw the award-winning film The Reader and – without giving away too much of the film – in one of the most pivotal scenes I couldn't help but find myself jumping into font-identification-mode. Sans...geometric...the ascender of the lowercase 'h' sitting just above cap-line of the 'T'... it's an easy one...Futura. Futura Medium(1927) for the title and I'm guessing the lighter weight body-text is perhaps Futura Book (1932)?

The novel is Anton Chekhov's The Lady with the Dog (referred to in the film as The Lady with the Little Dog). It was published in 1899 with the first translation from Russian to English published in 1903. So obviously it's not intended to be the original English version (pre-Futura-era!) but one between this and the latest editions released in the Penguin Classics series. Anyone have more insight?

The book covers (Michael's and Hanna's copy each slightly different) may have been made as a variation of the actual copies, specifically for the film?

It is an amazing film but I think I can safely say that for the five minutes following this scene, my mind was occupied elsewhere.

I Moleskine Therefore I am

2009-02-27T20:21:00.002+11:00

Go Font Ur Self*

2009-02-26T01:17:00.027+11:00

Last night was the opening night of Go Font Ur Self*, "an exhibition exploring type based artworks that reinvent the uniqueness of our alphabet" at Peer Gallery in Glebe. It was definitely an exhibition to tantalize all typo-senses of any font fanatic: giant foam letters lurking around ever corner, a typewriter at the bar with a unique script typeface, and a fish tank with the words "& Chips" overlayed. If only the Krispy Kreme's served on arrival been custom made into Fat Face letterforms.

As Peer Gallery's debut show it seemed a fitting venue for a type-related exhibition. The space is also home to Peer Group Media, and seemed to be the perfect playground for blurring the lines between the traditionally commercial craft of typography and art. The blurb on the show's website was a little dubious with phrases like: it "is common for the written word to lack personality," and "over time, their(i.e letters') simplicity has out ruled unnecessary detail due to their need for direct functionality." Nonetheless I appreciate the concept for the exhibition and the was impressed by the enthusiasm for the first of a series of Go Font Ur Self* shows.

With a roll call of 13 artists, Dave Foster's work titled A-Z was definitely a standout. Among many illustrative pieces where type appeared to be an after-thought or a token inclusion, his work was a visually striking composition formed by interconnected letterforms which made you look twice to recognize the alphabet. With letterforms as the primary subject matter it responded aptly to the notion of "reinventing the uniqueness of the alphabet" grounding it firmly as an artwork distinct from a functional typeface or poster design. Andreas Linnell's Helvetica Regular was a nicely-resolved look into the internal workings of a capital A and the simplicity of Roach's Hollywood put it among my favourites.

Despite the apparent absence of type in Edward Woodley's untitled work, the sneaky presence of the N,D and A from the Honda logo in the left corner cleverly reiterates the ability of the human eye to recognise letterforms from very little information and the power of branding and visual identity. The wall-mounted wood type which became interactive stamps were fun but perhaps more successful if their arrangement was more considered.

Overall, my predisposition to excessively loving typography leaves me just a tiny bit dissatisfied. I would have loved to see just a few more letterforms in the works and more in the same vein as work on the blog. However, solely typo-centred shows are few and with a huge turnout to Go Font Ur Self* I'm optimistic about a Sydney which will now be filled with more people obsessed with those 26 shapes that occupy 98% of my attention.

I am, however, still unsure of the meaning of the asterisk after Ur Self* in the title, perhaps its means *male artists only, or *if you don't like type, come for the free booze....

Let me lick your ligature

2009-02-21T05:46:00.004+11:00

Type Gun & the B B Bird

2009-02-20T14:32:00.006+11:00

Diorama Drama opened on Wednesday night at Somedays Gallery. The B B Bird diorama was accompanied by this type gun made from metal type from a Ludlow & Linotype machine, wood type letters, dress pattern paper, a 'G' trigger and a pencil sharpener for the barrel: all to scale & size of a Glock 22! Get out of town! Any type criminals, bad kerning culprits and Papyrus-lovers should beware. The show is on until the end of February so be sure to check it out if you're in Sydney.

Typewriter on material

2009-02-16T02:52:00.000+11:00

Two too cute types & Valentype

2009-02-12T23:13:00.004+11:00

Two too cute type discoveries! Firstly, I bought a some sewing machine patterns last week and opened it to find transfers for letters for embroidery enclosed. A lovely little surprise :-). Second is this gorgeous little invite for an exhibition which starts tomorrow night at China Heights. Oh! There is only a day left to enter the FontShop's Valentype competition! I'm going to have to put my type-love hat on and get to it! You should too....

B is for...

2009-01-29T03:21:00.001+11:00

You're not my type

2009-01-28T01:01:00.006+11:00

Typographic pick-up lines, love letters, hate letters and lots of kerning. These little gems were printed in the COFA letterpress studio on handmade paper made by my grandmother. They are part of a small collection of sweet cards to be made just in time for Valentine's Day. There was no apostrophe in the metal type font of News Gothic on You're Not My Type so an upside-down full point had to suffice. Nothing like Morris Fuller-Benton's neutral early 20th century typeface to deliver the message straight ;-).

Back in the Letterpress Studio...

2009-01-20T22:06:00.001+11:00

Typo-rama

2009-01-14T01:13:00.005+11:00

Diorama Drama is a group exhibition being held at Somedays Gallery through February 2009. It belongs to the program of the inaugural Glorious Undead Festival. As part of the show I will be creating a life-size diorama...an imaginary world of type and lettering. More progress to be posted as I go. The show opens in Sydney on February 18th. Let's start with a journal...

Beach Type

2009-01-06T02:07:00.005+11:00

Giant Type

2009-01-03T22:14:00.001+11:00

Who knows the typeface? Or better yet, the location....

TYPO Berlin 2009

2008-12-30T12:00:00.004+11:00

See you at TYPO Berlin 2009

Holiday Type

2008-12-30T11:39:00.004+11:00

Phonetic Alphabet Project: Alpha

2008-12-13T21:40:00.000+11:00

The start of the phonetic alphabet project. The original letterforms based on the alpha symbol. More coming...

Leitura Display Swash 'H' for Afternoon Tea

2008-12-11T14:49:00.001+11:00

FontShop just released their top twenty typefaces for 2008. I made an H cake from my personal favourite – Leitura designed by Dino Dos Santos. Still to be iced.... Yum! Now, a week or so after posting this I received a peculiar Leitura letter in the mail...from Dino Dos Santos or an avid reader of for the love of type? Have a read below...

(A message from Dinos Dos Santos)
The Swish Swash Cake

Mrs Eaves, O Mrs Eaves,
I see that you did bake
A wonderful, yummy, golden, buttery
Leitura swash H cake.

You acknowledged me, Dino Dos Dantos,
But Mrs Eaves, O Mrs Eaves
I'd rather have a piece of the cake,
For this I am truly aggrieved.

Surely you would have sent me a piece,
In prompt and efficient manner,
My typographical friends agree
Even the famous Zuzana.

I sit here in Matosinhos,
Waiting for cake to come,
But Mrs Eaves, O Mrs Eaves
I've received not yet a crumb.

Then suddenly the answer came to me,
To this perplexing paradox,
You probably did send some swish swash cake,
In a FedEx courier box!

Human Typewriter Project

2008-11-29T14:10:00.001+11:00

A friend of mine recently ran this awesome type project.
When each person's assigned letter was hit, they had to
run, jump and stamp their inked up letter onto a 20m
ream of paper. I was there to take some pix. The best!

Mrs Eaves in Action

2008-11-26T12:30:00.001+11:00

The poetry book Dead Dad Bye/Soul Healing Afoot which I designed is being launched this Sunday in Brisbane. Typeset in Mrs Eaves (which recently had a Bold Italic weight added to the family). Can't wait to see the final printed copies :-).

Same Same but Different

2008-11-26T12:22:00.003+11:00

Same poster, different text...6 times as big.

Type Sharpies

2008-11-25T01:03:00.000+11:00

I recently saw this lovely Sharpie which writes in Helvetica and I hope I get a few for Christmas. Turns out Microsoft has jumped on the bandwagon and released the Arial Sharpie. Doesn't quite have the same effect unfortunately.

Broken Blogger Type

2008-11-25T00:34:00.000+11:00

Blogger isn't letting me upload videos and it is making me angry.

Australian Decorative & Fine Arts Scholarship Exhibition

2008-11-24T23:27:00.003+11:00

Paper Pen Scalpel Scanner

2008-10-28T01:28:00.000+11:00

Light Type

2008-10-27T11:04:00.000+11:00

2008-10-01T00:49:00.000+10:00

A sneaky homage to The Fleuron (the journal of typography edited by Stanley Morison in the late 20s) with the "Advertisements" title page placed in Tharunka, the publication sans ads! Plus, some backwards back-cover letters and a marker running out of ink to write the theme "global" on the cover.

Type Scandal

2008-09-30T22:51:00.002+10:00

Who knows who stars in Gill's woodcut? There is a a hint in the second spread from The Fleuron (1930).

Rainbow type

2008-09-18T15:48:00.000+10:00

Long Time No Type

2008-09-18T14:57:00.003+10:00

Sexually Healthy Type

2008-09-18T14:57:00.002+10:00

Spinal Type

2008-09-18T14:57:00.001+10:00