Font of Coincidence
This is a story of my trip to teach in India. While I was there I met up with family of friends and discovered, to my surprise, that my book cover had been redesigned by a whole class of students for their typography exam that week.
By Sarah Hyndman
Do You Judge a Wine by its Label?
Would you like us to host a wine & type tasting for your Christmas do? Find out more.
We had a fantastic Wine and Type Tasting event at Laithwaite’s Arch with Bankside Design District for the London Design Festival. Here is a glimpse of the evening, all the photos are by David Owens. There will be a second tasting on Tuesday 27th September and a Christmas one is planned on 8th December. Find out more here.
“Surprising and very interesting” Richard, “Fascinating” Cherry, “Illuminating” Piers, “Intriguing” Clare, “Very different but rewarding” Lee, “Fun and informative” Sara, “Really interesting! Surprisingly scientific” Rachael, “It was fabulous, surprising and delicious!” Syd.
“More than an excuse for weeknight drinking, wine was a clever example of the influence of typeface … don’t worry; you don’t need to be a typography nerd” Digital Arts
“It was certainly an eye-opener to realise that so much of what we taste is influenced by our other senses” SEEN London
By Sarah Hyndman
Type Tasting founder Sarah is on a mission to make typography fun and engaging for everybody, not just designers. She specialises in making the complex topic accessible with originality, humour, a dash of theatre and lashings of audience participation. She delivers interactive talks and events with games and demonstrations that inform, entertain and challenge your preconceptions.
What’s Your Type?
Learn how to choose fonts with confidence in an intensive and fun one-hour workshop. Take part in experiments as you create your own set of tasting notes based on latest research results. Become part of the discovery process as we prove that a typeface can transform the meaning of your words—that it’s not just what you say it’s the way that you say it. Continue reading
The theme of Grafik’s Letterform Live this week was ‘Experimental’, and it was an exciting evening to be a part of. My aim for the evening was to bring a bit of ‘bonkers and magic’ at a time of so much anxiety. We filled the bar with jellybeans and asked the 130 audience members to guess each flavour from the style of the typeface on the label. If you weren’t at the event you can still take part in this experiment here.
I spoke about how amazing the human brain is for the skilful way it creates a ‘sub-programme’ to perform the complex task of reading, which your subconscious performs automatically. Your eyes simply glance over a series of marks in a huge array of shapes and sizes and—as if by magic—stories, ideas, memories, songs, smells are conjured up right there in your mind.
In celebration of the official launch of Why Fonts Matter in the US today: Liz Stinson from Wired played the Type Dating Game via Skype. “20 percent of women said they’d pick Franklin Gothic as their typographic beau, the winner by a landslide. I know it sounds weird.”
Wired
If You Love That Font So Much, Why Don’t You Date It?
By Liz Stinson
In celebration of the official publication of Why Fonts Matter in the US today we’re looking back over articles and interviews that give a glimpse of the impression we’ve made on the world at large.
Jake Wallis Simons from CNN came to the Type Tasting studio and played a selection of Type Tasting Games. “As bizarre as it sounds, my job is to match up the bottles and fonts using only my sense of smell.”
CNN
What’s your type of lover? How fonts could help you find the perfect date
By Jake Wallis Simons
Take a walking tour of Dalston in East London with author Sarah Hyndman. See how the signage reveals that the area dates back to the 1800s with its own grand department store, pie & eel shop, Art Deco cinemas, a factory that sold paints to JMW Turner, and the market that inspired Eastenders.
Update. There are no Type Safaris departing this year as Sarah focuses on new and exciting projects. If you would like to arrange a private tour for your company please get in touch with sarah(a)typetasting.com.
“Fabulous tour of Dalston… Exploring the urban fabric through type” Sarah Stewart, Londonist
“A unique & interesting way to ‘read’ the city.” Sophie Nellis
“Fun” “Brilliant” “Inspiring” “Eye-candy” “Enlightening” Amazon reviews
“A fascinating insight into how type can influence our feelings, our senses, and even our taste” Professor Charles Spence, University of Oxford
Bookseller 10 titles not to miss
Why Fonts Matter by Sarah Hyndman is out now, published by Virgin Books (Penguin/Random House).
