Blog: Dalston reimagined

Blog: Dalston reimagined

We created an installation of Dalston signage in the Type Tasting studio and invited participants to create customised Dalston letters. A wide range of people joined in, from graphic designers and visiting design students to grandparents and children. It was a creative and colourful weekend. Click on the main image twice to see all the detail at full size.

Above is the Helvetica ‘R’ from the chatty cinema sign over Ruby’s Bar and below is the neon ‘A’ from Dalston Superstore.

The neon ‘S’ from Voodoo Ray’s and the Dalston letter installation in the Type Tasting studio before and during the weekend.

The big display type ‘B’ from the Birthdays Bar window and the New Baskerville ‘H.’ from the HUH. shop and magazine.

The Art Deco ‘A’ from the Jazz Bar’s sign and the roman serif mosaic ‘R’ from the Reeves Factory building which houses the Dalston Roof Park.

The Art Deco ‘R’ from the Rio Cinema and a customised Moustache Bar sign.

Participants: Claire Burton, Tricia Patel, Tony Harms, Luke Smith, Tim Amos, Isabella Amos, Tom Nurse, Leo Adjage, Sophia Subliff, Sarah Johnson, Mimi Johnson, Ananda + PB, Felix, Camilla, Anna, Elena, Pablo, Elena, Kieran O’Keeffe, Bea Pinol Starling, Elena Pinol Starling, Maya Paterson, Elsa Marianelli, Frida Marianelli, Fleur Peck, Juan Pinol, Raquel Torres, Leonie Edelman, Eli Angelova, Marina.

Background

This is a fun project that is underpinned by information about type history and classification. Each letter template includes the name of the venue the sign comes from along with a brief explanation of the origins of the typeface. These Dalston signage letters have been arranged into a type classification sheet which explains type history using letters from our physical environment (click to enlarge). Printed A3 sheets are available from Type Tasting.

The letters used for the installation are all taken from signage which features in the Type Tasting Dalston Type Safari. This is a guided tour through Dalston in which participants discover how the social and cultural history of an area is revealed through the lettering and signage to be seen along the way.