Above is Club Labrynth by Sam Roberts from Ghostsigns who came along to Sunday’s Dalston Type Safari. He explains that “For me, Club Labrynth is the earliest memory I have of Dalston as a destination. Back in the mid-1990s it was the weekly hardcore/jungle night at the legendary Four Aces nightclub… The provocation of memory was an unexpected aspect of the Type Safari, and there were other long-term Hackney residents on the walk sharing their own recollections.”
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Dalston Type Safaris: typography is all around us
Take a tour of Dalston* and learn about the signage and lettering along the way. What does the typography reveal about the rapidly transforming area? How do fonts influence your choices? Explore signage and end up in a quintessentially Dalston bar.
Upcoming Dates:
Sunday 19th January, 6.30-8.30pm (sold out)
Sunday 2nd February, 6.30-8.30pm (sold out)
*In winter this is a longer talk with slides and a glass of wine in the warmth of the Type Tasting studio, followed by a quicker walk through Dalston. As we’re walking through Dalston you’re invited to take photographs of the letters you see to make up a saying or phrase.
We’re surrounded by type and we use it to navigate our lives. The look of the fonts we encounter as we walk down the high street influences our choices before we’ve even read the words. These also transmit a great deal about the social, economic and historical development of the area.
Type Tasting global typography at SXSW
Type Tasting Global Lettering Workshop
SXSW Interactive, Austin, Texas
Saturday March 8th
“Get creative whilst exploring and reinterpreting the typography found in street signs and signage from around the world.” We’re expanding on the Dalston Reimagined idea from last summer and take it global. Are there patterns to be found on a larger scale, what does the signage reveal about an area, a city or a country when compared?
Typography bingo: cities
Typography bingo: cities
Can you recognise the three capital cities from the signage typography above? What landmarks or typefaces give you clues and what are they? Hints to help you below…
Sign painter workshop
This is a sneaky peak for Type Tasters before public booking, but shh don’t tell…
To coincide with the London screenings of the Sign Painters movie, Mike Meyer, one of the film’s stars, is coming to town to deliver an intensive two-day sign painting workshop.
The workshop will be hosted in the Type Tasting studio and is brought to you by Ghostsigns.
A Type Tasting thank you and here’s to 2014
Thank you to everybody joined in with Type Tasting’s first year…
To all of you test pilots who threw yourselves into the unknown so enthusiastically, the brilliant volunteers, everybody who came along to the big public Type Tastings, or booked bespoke tastings for your organisations. To those of you who submitted such beautiful work for the exhibition at the V&A, and everybody who tweeted, blogged, reviewed and wrote about it. Thank you also for all the encouragement, enthusiasm, commissions, challenges and the invitations. Cheers! Sarah.
Type Tasting launched officially on Valentine’s Day 2013 with an evening of Typographic Swearing ‘n’ Cussing. By contrast 50 year six kids participated in a typographic tour of Hoxton Hall’s history in with Hackney Wow.
You’ve taken Type Safaris through Islington and Dalston, talking typography and booze making for a perfect combination. And at the busy workshop at Pick Me Up at Somerset House we created a wall of inventively customised letters which had great feedback.
The question ‘what’s the future of type?‘ prompted diverse responses on Twitter, in Design Week, Creative Review and at the event at the St Bride Library. The next event was Type Tasting with the London Design Festival at the V&A with stunning submissions for the exhibition.
What does Typography taste like?
At Type Tasting I’ve been posing the question “what would type taste like?” I’ve put together a tasting pack to kickstart the discussion featuring Impact as dark chocolate laced with chilli, Helvetica as plain biscuits and Comic Sans as candy melts with popping candy.
The tasting pack comes complete with a chocolate box style description sheet introducing each typeface along with the suggested flavours. What do you think? What would your favourite typefaces taste like? Details of my suggestions with recipes are below…
Sixty years of BBC One idents
Today is 60 years since Abram Games designed the first BBC ident, nicknamed the ‘bat’s wings’. Click on the image above (or here) to see the BBC’s film of the idents from then to now.
The BBC logo has transformed through a range of styles and typefaces, sitting again today in the three square boxes that first housed the initials in the 1961 ident (can you namecheck the typefaces?).
Gift Vouchers & new Dalston Type Safari Dates
Gift Vouchers & new Dalston Type Safari Dates
Sunday 19th January, 6.30-8.30pm
Sunday 2nd February, 6.30-8.30pm
(book early as spaces are limited)
Safari ticket 1 person £20, includes souvenir map on the day
Safari ticket + gift voucher in a presentation card for 1 person £25, for 2 people £45 (UK). Please order by December 10th to receive the gift voucher before Christmas.
Type Tasting November News
Check out the latest Type Tasting newsletter announcing the new suite of Type Tastings…
Type Tasting Blog 