Because I’m always more interested in the art than the article.
Beautiful type in Vanity Fair by Marion Deuchars.

Index cards, tape and type are calling my name and this time the theme is contrasts.

I finished up these Faces of Type cards just in time to take them to Indiana over Thanksgiving and have my über-talented sister-in-law photograph them.

One of my favorites in the set is “R” which was convenient since my 3 year-old nephew — whose name starts with “R” — took an interest in them. It made me incredibly giddy to watch him rearrange, play, and ask me to help him spell words with the cards.

Perhaps my true calling is creating flash cards with faces and tape…

Continuing my exploration of words, type, faces and tape.

Last Friday I stood in front of approximately 75 students to give an artist lecture and lead an experimental type workshop. Here’s a taste of the awesomeness that ensued.

In short, it was amazing and I’ve got a few hundred pictures to edit. More to come.

It was a little more than a month ago that I purchased my ticket to TYPO on a whim. Yep. Lots of money out the door for a design conference. But as my husband said (read: justified the purchase to me after experiencing a spell of buyer’s remorse) “We live in San Francisco. You need to take advantage of things like this.” And he’s right.

For those of you who may not be familiar with names like Neville Brody, Erik Spiekermann, Tina Roth Eisenberg, Michael Bierut, Jessica Hische, and many others, they are the Steve Jobs’ and George Lucas’ of my design world. I’m going to see these people talk. In person.

To make things more exciting, a couple of weeks ago, I answered a call for volunteers for the TYPO Press Team. So now, not only do I find myself attending TYPO, I’ll be blogging / tweeting throughout various sessions at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts during the 2 days. And I get a free ticket for next year’s conference. Worth it? I think so.

If you’re sad to be missing the action, you can follow my tweets at @bfrancesi or catch me on the Font Shop blog.  I’ll be in design heaven.

Word Poem #2: An experiment in human typography

These word poems are part of my Human Typography Experiment. An effort to revitalize appreciation for the ordinary.

Word poem #1: An experiment in human typography

These word poems are part of my Human Typography Experiment. An effort to revitalize appreciation for the ordinary.

The most successful book is that which inspires you to put it aside and create.

Thank you to my sweet, thoughtful husband who surprised me with Typography Sketchbooks, curated by Steven Heller and Lita Talarico.

After a short, unannounced hiatus on the Commute Design Project, I’m ready to go again. Admittedly, last week and most of this week I’ve been tired and uninspired on the commute home. Maybe it had something to do with the cold rainy weather?

But that’s so yesterday. Today the sun is shining, I’m bursting with motivation, and am loving me some bright color.

Today is a quirky leftover from my Sketchbook Project drawings, then next week, I’ll be announcing my new challenge for March. If you have any challenge ideas, I’m taking suggestions!