Font ?? Friday and Other Designery Things #15

Hello and welcome to new readers.

And who here’s been around since newsletter #1? I appreciate you sticking with me, I hope you find it useful.

What have I been up to since we last spoke…? Well, I met the most awesome type of people in real life. I went to the talk “Adventures in Episodic Type Design” at St Brides. If you love the history of type, you must visit when you’re in London. The evening was with David Jonathon Ross, or “DJR” to his pals.

DJR (yeah, we’re mates now) gave a clever and witty talk on how he started the Font of the Month Club. He finds inspiration for his designs from the past and what he sees around him. I loved what he said, “is it a font or a typeface? Pah, it doesn’t matter… so let’s not get hung up on it.” True say!

Throughout the presentation, he used the font Megascope. Let’s look at Megascope designed by DJR?:

It’s inspired by the geometric sans serif Deco-type forms of the 1970s. DJR says, “This style graced many a sci-fi book and album cover in its day, some of which I recently had the opportunity to sift through thanks to a moving sale held at a local used bookstore. The typeface is characterised by little circles in letters like B, P, and R that combine geometric roundness and exaggerated proportions. It also features tight spacing, a consistent diagonal stroke angle, and a variable axis that enlarges the circular forms.”

Technical!

I find the descenders and ascenders on the lowercase a and e are extended, so we have to concentrate on the word. Makes you look more at this fun font. It comes in various weights and you can download this font from David’s site or Adobe Fonts. As always, check the licence for usage.

Cool types to follow

So while I was there, I also met these type designers. Well, we know Jamie Clarke as he featured in issue #25 (but don’t worry, I’m not going to give you a test!), Toshi Omagari, Kristar Adoeva , graphic designers Jeni and Sofia (not pictured). Here we all are in ye old pub The Old Ship next to St Brides.

Pen History

I wanted to find something that tied in with Black History Month here in the UK.

I found this poster. The Afro-American graphic designer Archie Boston helped shape the redesign and packaging of the Pentel Pen. This was way back. Before computers, designers had to hand draw scamps etc. Archie was also known for being part of the advertising industry in the 60s which was a predominantly white industry. He broke those barriers and set up a firm with his brother. He then went on to design for other agencies where he designed this ad for Pentel. And he featured himself right in the centre of it! Bold, brave move. I love it.

It’s a nice-looking poster with great copywriting, using different heading point sizes to get the message over. Read a little more here on Archie’s work.

Cowork Crew????

Penni and Jo Pickering have set up the Cowork Crew and they’re launching new locations. There’s one on 22nd November in South London with Molly Scanlan as the host. Bring your work, meet other small biz/freelancers and eat cake. Just before lunch, I’ll be doing a talk called “Showing up and looking good: creating a consistent brand”.

You Are The Media ??

The marketing community set up by Mark Masters in Poole, is coming to London. YATM Lunchtime Club is on 6th February, to celebrate the opening of the Foundry in Wandsworth. They say: ‘We’re all about that sense of creating a space for people to join and enjoy. Our events bring together like-minded creative business people.’ The overall theme of the event is Creativity and I’m on a panel (see – a speaker!) with three awesome creative people. We’ll have an open conversation around… well, creativity. Tickets for 6th February 2025 are here. And it’s only a tenner!

I’ve done it! I finally got my act together after two years of “hmm… will I, won’t I?” well now I’m doing it. I’ve launched my podcast! Well, the trailer is ready. You can listen to it here and when the episodes are live I can mail you about them. Please sign up. Don’t worry, I won’t bombard you! But I’d love it if you would join me and share.

It is called ‘Creatives Like Us’. ?Spotlighting creatives of colour, I’ve always wanted to do something around sharing and helping people be heard - sharing their work. Also to pass on knowledge and inspiration to the next generation.

I have designed the cover art with the help of a student I mentor. I’m not too sure of the font I used for CREATIVES. If you feel like suggesting a font for the word creatives let me know. But I kind of like the grungy 90’s feel. But hey reply – what should I switch it out to?

Have a good one!

Ange

P.S I met Clive Myrie and Chi Chi Izunda at the UK The Black Business Show. I was so pleased! I think I can rest now as I have had my fix of selfies for a while. Well, until next month! Don’t forget to share anything (or anyone!) that you’ve spotted out in the wild.