Wake up and smell the fonts

Sarah shares with us a story of type and invites us to consider our emotional response to the printed word. Each font/typeface has a personality that influences our interpretation of the words we read by evoking our emotions and setting the scene. We all understand this instinctively but it happens on a subconscious level. Sarah shows us that conscious awareness of the emotional life of fonts can be entertaining and ultimately give us more control over the decisions we make.

This talk was given at a local TEDx event, produced independently of the TED Conferences.

We are all type consumers and typefaces, or fonts, play a vital role in our everyday lives. They help us to navigate, they help us to make choices, they help us to shop, they keep us safe and sometimes they even play a game of sleight of hand. It is hugely important as the world involves that all of those involved in the future communication and technology understand the power of type.

Just because I’m talking ‘typography’ there’s no need for me to be all serious and ‘Times New Roman’ about it.

“A brilliant #type talk. Loved your transformation from Times New Roman. True show it not say it.” Sandra Dartnell @mdh_sandra

Typography is storytelling and in the corporate world these are powerful brand stories with influence. As a graphic designer I’ve started to question the responsibility of my role as the storyteller.

“You have a great talk today @TEDxBedford, and using your heart to make choices is the best compass you’ll ever have” Andy Middleton @gringreen

“If fonts tell stories then we must be conscious about the stories we choose to tell” @TEDxBedford

Fonts turn words into stories, to demonstrate this Sarah shows the story of Star Wars in 15 fonts.

“That was great Sarah, the garbage crusher made me giggle!” Eugenie Smit

“Fantastic talk from the fantastic and very talented Sarah Hyndman. A type talk favourite” Geraldine Marshall

Typefaces communicate with our subconscious, leaving our conscious brain to read what the words are actually saying, this is why we sometimes think we are not aware of fonts.

“You would have loved @TEDxBedford Sarah Hyndman shows how type can alter experiences” @mdh_sandra

“That was BRILLIANT” Renaud C Haslan, “That was awesome!” Lisa Kent

If you would like to know more, Sarah is publishing a book in February 2014:

First edition of The Type Taster: How fonts influence you by Sarah Hyndman
Limited edition of 2,000 books
Publish date: 14th February 2015, £18
Click here to pre-order and find out more…

Thank you
Thank you to my wonderful cheerleaders and coffee rescuers Caryl Jones, Theo Stewart and Gaynor Maher. Photos by @gringreen, @gaynormaher, @TEDxBedford and brightsideimagesphotography.com. Thank you to Monotype for their extensive type library.