Type Tasting for The London Design Festival at the V&A

The above words are: ‘London’ by Sarah & Lotte, ‘Design’ by Martin Cahill (photographed by Qian Yuan) and ‘Festival’ by myself, Zoë Chan

The 2013 London Design Festival came to a close yesterday and it was another amazing year full of awe-inspiring work, but especially for graphics.

As you know, I had my own work on display at Type Tasting – ‘Festival’ (see my last post about it here). But I was also part of the Type Tasting exhibition and workshop team, led by founder Sarah Hyndman. The question posed to everyone: What’s your creative London?

Saturday’s workshop kicked off amazingly well with the tables and even the floor being covered with creative pieces after only the first hour. And by the close on Sunday evening the remaining wall space had been covered and looked glorious alongside the artwork hanging from the ceiling – it really was a typographic feast for the eyes! You can see participants proudly holding up their words here.

Oli Frape came in to do ‘Live Lettering’, where he interpreted conversations he overheard during the workshop. Ruth Rowland, hand drawn lettering & calligraphy expert, was in to advise and encourage.

Oli Frape ‘Live Lettering’

After the workshops were over, everybody’s pieces remained on display until the exhibition closed. What I found particularly inspiring throughout the process from the start of the project right till the end of the display was that we had a really great mix of participants – from young to not so young, and from designers to non-designers. It truly was very democratising and helped to diminish the concept that typography can be elitist, accessible only to those who choose or have to know.

So many thanks to all the amazing people who took part by sending their work in the first submission round, and to all those who came along to join in the workshops. And a big thanks to Sarah for leading another educational, fun and inspiring project! Plus to all my fellow team mates, Ruth, Oli, Lucy P, Lucy M, Qian, Eunjun, Peter, Lissy and Nicola. What an amazing week, I certainly had a great time meeting everyone and was really excited by how eager and enthusiastic everyone was to let their creative side loose so honestly and openly.