Type Tasting, Type Safaris and ‘tactile exploration’

‘As Ellen Lupton says so perfectly “Typography is what language looks like.”’

Type-fanatic Hyndman is creative director of design consultancy With Relish, and also taught Experimental Typography at the London College of Communication.

Now, her love for lettering has led her to start a series of typography-based workshops open to creatives and novices alike, who are invited to step away from their screens, get their hands dirty and explore the create possibilities of type.

‘I find that tactile exploration, trial and error, and playing with materials allow us to think creatively and develop an idea, rather than taking a short cut to a slick and polished result’, says Hyndman. ‘Often it’s the happy accidents that lead to the most interesting outcomes.’

Previous workshops have included a Valentine’s Day Typographic Swearing & Cussing event, allowing people to indulge in the rudest recesses of the English language, forming some ludicrous, filthy and hilarious phrases – all in the name of typographic experimentation. These were then executed in lettering of their choice – whether traced from existing typography, stenciled or created free-style.

Hyndman also braved working with 50 Year Six children at east London Victorian music hall Hoxton Hall, and most recently ran the Type and Sound workshop, which asked participants respond to different sounds and spoken phrases.

The next open event will be the Islington Type Safari next month, an evening jaunt around the north London area photographing type on signage and shop fronts to inspire participants to create a new phrase or saying. It’s not all hard work though – the session ends in a pub – the site of many a flash of inspiration.

For more information on Type Tasting workshops visit www.typetasting.com