Type Tasting created a large-scale multisensory installation for Adobe Fonts at the Adobe MAX conference in Los Angeles from 2nd to 6th November 2019.

“F!ing genius!”

Visitors were immersed in the mood of different typefaces through all of their senses. At each station they were invited to put on headphones, to smell a scent in a jar or by flipping the pages of a book, to eat a small taster and to feel a texture. Each set of stimuli was designed to bring a mood to life in the participant’s imagination. There was curiosity and intrigue as the first visitors arrived and they were soon returning with groups of friends saying “you have to try this”.

This is a multisensory installation featuring a selection of booths designed for participants to experience the emotional impact of type. Each booth immerses you in the mood of a typeface with sound, smell, texture and taste.

The large back wall was a display area for a growing collection of postcards created by visitors to the booth. This was a creative exercise designed to generate a large-scale data visualisation of the links between typefaces and mood for all to see. This data will also be used to inform Adobe Fonts’ new ‘choose by mood’ feature.

“The experience that Type Tasting designed for the Adobe Fonts booth at Adobe MAX was such a fun, intriguing way for people to explore how their reactions to fonts relate to other sensations” Dan Rhatigan, Adobe Fonts

Sound designer Rob Taliesin Owen created bespoke sounds and a bespoke scent was created by 4160 Tuesdays. The installation was produced and run with the wonderful Adobe Fonts team.