Tag Archives: type safari

Drawing the typography of London with the Google Fonts team

The team from Google Fonts joined me to draw along with a Virtual London Type Safari. We explored the culture and history of a vibrant area in East London, discovering the secrets hidden in the signs over shops, pubs and buildings.

Some of the signs have been hidden for decades and tell stories about the area’s rich history. Many reflect the fashions of different eras—the 1800s, the 1920s, the 1970s and today. Some are practical and utilitarian, others are painted by hand. Look a little closer and many have revealing telltale characteristics for you to spot.

We paused at each sign to do a quick four-minute sketch of its letters. Each sign was paired with a song to bring its atmosphere to life. There were also sniffables and a surprise London-themed snack for one of the participants to try on-camera.

Would you like to book a draw-along Virtual London Type Safari with your team?
Start your journey here

Students do you wish you could study abroad this summer?

Join talented international students from USA, Canada, India and Australia who’ve had the unique experience of a virtual tour with Sarah Hyndman discovering the secrets hidden in London’s typography

Just because you can’t travel in person this year doesn’t mean that you can’t experience the culture, history and design inspiration that London has to offer. On a virtual Type Safari you’ll hear the stories behind the signs, discover the secrets hidden in the letters and you’ll find out what they reveal about centuries of London’s history.

Download a pdf brochure of live online sessions for colleges and universities.

Join Sarah Hyndman, author of the bestselling Why Fonts Matter for an immersive and creative tour of Dalston, a vibrant area in East London steeped in history.

•    You’ll learn about design history in the real world.
•    You’ll discover that typography is vibrant, exciting and it’s all around you (not just in academic books).
•    You’ll see how signage reflects changing cultural attitudes and what trends are popular today.

Private events from £600 (education discounts available).
Book a call to discuss your session.

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These are highly interactive sessions that take place live on Zoom. Participants are encouraged to engage with the virtual tour as they explore letterforms and the associations that have been baked into them. Type Safaris are suitable for all, no prior knowledge (or interest in) fonts is needed.

•    Compare East London with your local neighbourhood.
•    Spot the clues that tell you the history of the area.
•    Discover ornate signs previously hidden from view.
•    Find out whether you judge a shop by its sign.

Find out more.

 

Adobe MAX

Sarah took Adobe MAX delegates on a 20-minute virtual Type Safari through East London. 5,321 people watched the talk and gave Sarah a speaker score of 4.9/5).
Watch the talk on demand.

 

Sketchbook Type Safari

A Type Safari with a sketchbook challenge is available for colleges and universities, book a call to discuss your session.

Workshop clients

Sarah has created online workshops for students at Birmingham City University, Design Ventura, Design Museum London, Ecole Intuit Lab Mumbai & Kolkata, Elon University, North Carolina, Merrimack College, Massachusetts, Ravensbourne University London, Shillington UK & Australia.

She has created in person workshops for students at Arts University Bournemouth, Birmingham City University, California Polytechnic, CIS Abroad, Design Ventura, Design Museum London, EASD València, Ecole Intuit Lab Mumbai & Kolkata, Portland State University, RMIT Melbourne, Shillington UK, University of Bedfordshire, VIA University College Denmark, Wolverhampton University.

Sarah also taught Experimental Typography at the University of the Arts London for six years and has been a judge and jury president for the D&AD New Blood Awards.

Private events from £600 (education discounts available).
Book a call to discuss your session.

 

 

Sunday Type Safari for The Design Museum

Take part in #FontSunday for The Design Museum

Every week The Design Museum hosts #FontSunday on Twitter. I’m excited that I’m hosting this event on Sunday. I’d love to see the wonderful fonts that represent your activities for the day. What eye-catching logos, packaging, labels or signs do you plan to interact with?

Post your photos on Twitter from 12 noon with #TypeSafari @DesignMuseum. I’ll be chatting and sharing photos throughout the afternoon and The Design Museum will be retweeting their favourites. Take part and you could have your photos shared by The Design Museum!

We’d love to see the beautiful fonts that represent your activities for the day. What labels, mastheads or wrappers reveal your Sunday rituals? Post your photos from noon on Sunday.

Creative Lockdown Project: Music alphabet

Creative Lockdown Project: Music alphabet

Challenge
What music has been the soundtrack to your time in lockdown? Draw, photograph or take screengrabs of the letters from the names of your favourite bands or album covers. Combine these to make up a word or phrase that describes how the music has made you feel at this time of social distancing.

Results
Share your finished project on social media with #CreativeLockdownProject. Tag #TypeTasting as I’ll be sharing some of the results.

These challenges are designed to be a bit of fun and to document our time collectively spent in lockdown. Please share it with friends and post your final results on social media with #CreativeLockdownProject. If you also tag #TypeTasting I’ll be sharing some of the results.

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Creative Lockdown Project: Letter hunt

Creative Lockdown Project

Creative Lockdown Project: Letter hunt

We’re all starting to look forward again as we plan our way in a very changed world. At first, I really missed seeing everybody but I’m constantly amazed by how adaptable humans are as we find new ways to interact online.

This week’s challenge comes from Heidi Robinson of TGSA Creative Arts & Design technology, who also took all the photos.

These challenges are designed to be a bit of fun and to document our time collectively spent in lockdown. Please share it with friends and post your final results on social media with #CreativeLockdownProject. If you also tag #TypeTasting I’ll be sharing some of the results.

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Creative Lockdown Project: You & me colouring together

Creative Lockdown Project: You & me colouring together

This week I’ve really missed being able to hug my family and friends. While it might not be the same as a hug, I’ve found that spending time doing something together creatively over Zoom or Facetime has really helped me to feel less separated from them. This is the inspiration for lockdown challenge number seven.

These challenges are designed to be a bit of fun and to document our time collectively spent in lockdown. Please share it with friends and post your final results on social media with #CreativeLockdownProject. If you also tag #TypeTasting I’ll be sharing some of the results.

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Creative Lockdown Project: Rainbow alphabet

Creative Lockdown Project: Rainbow alphabet

This is the sixth creative lockdown challenge. These challenges are designed to be a bit of fun and to document our time collectively spent in lockdown, this one is also intended to say a huge THANK YOU to everybody who is working to keep us safe. Please share the project with friends and post your final results on social media with #CreativeLockdownProject. If you also tag #TypeTasting I’ll be sharing some of the results.

This week’s project is inspired by the wonderful rainbow alphabet (shown above) created by my very talented friend Miho Aishima for the children’s ward at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Woolwich and community group @NunheadKnocks. She designed a rainbow typeface and created posters for kids who can’t get outside to see the rainbows out there. You can download Miho’s rainbow fonts here.

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Virtual Dalston Type Safari & sign spotting pub quiz

Discover the messages hidden in London’s street signs
1-hour Type Safari + 15-minute pub quiz + Q&A
Check out all the virtual talks and events here

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Creative Lockdown Project: Everyday display letter

Creative Lockdown Project: Everyday display letter

In the 1820s Louis John Pouchée created decoratively extravagant letters which were based on a fat-face style typeface. The letters featured imagery of things that were popular at the time like flowers, farmyard scenes, musical instruments and Masonic symbols.

Challenge
To create your own modern-day version of an ornamented letter that illustrates your everyday life while we’re in lockdown. Please share this project with your family and friends so you can all compare your letters.

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Creative Lockdown Project: Type Safari in your home

Creative Lockdown Project: Type Safari in your home

The combinations of type found on street signs reveal a great deal about a city, town or specific area. They reflect the social, economic and historical development of the area and create their own, unique typographic DNA.

For a number of years, I took people on Type Safaris through Dalston in East London. These are guided walks exploring the signage with a photography challenge to create a phrase using letters from Dalston signs, as shown above. We often ended the tour by going for drinks in a quintessentially Dalston-style bar with a chequered lino floor (from its previous life as a furniture shop), a glitter ball and lampshades made from plastic vegetable colanders.

I’ll be inviting you to join me on a virtual Dalston Type Safari, dates to be announced soon. In our lockdown lives, we’re instead finding ourselves navigating our way around the rooms in our homes. This is the inspiration for this week’s Creative Lockdown Challenge.

Creative Lockdown Project: Type Safari in your home

This week’s challenge is to create a typographic composition to reflect your lockdown life at home.

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