You may have already seen the first fruits of our new Typesetting project, with images popping up on our Typesetting instagram feed and on the website. The project has been incubating for quite a while (and for 'quite a while' read almost three years!), but finally with expert help from our pals Hungry Sandwich Club and Josiah Craven and support from Leeds Inspired we've been able to finally create an identity for the project along with a website which enables everyone to get involved.
So what is it all about you ask? Well the aim of the project is to create an archive of publicly sourced photographic images of found typography from the Leeds area (that's anywhere within the LS postcode). This could be letters and words painted onto signs, chiselled into stone, stencilled onto walls, built in three dimensions, forged in metal... in fact any visually displayed text that has a particular essence of Leeds to it. For example, a photograph of a handwritten sign found on Leeds Market would be perfect, but a snap of a Greggs shop front wouldn't!
One of the proposed outcomes of this project is the creation of an open-source typeface that takes inspiration from these public submissions to the website. Imagine that, your entry could help inform the development of a completely new typeface, a typeface inspired by the city around us.
What we would love you to do is have a look at the website and then head out with your camera/phone and keep your eyes peeled for examples of typography (letters, numbers and characters) in the Leeds area which you think would be a worthy addition to this ever-growing archive.
We want people to be inspired, to look up at the rooftops and down at the pavements for examples of type that might be missed, or that you've always meant to capture and share. Your photos don't have to just be from 2016, dig into your own archives and let us see your pictures from Leeds' typographic past.
So grab your cameras, get outside, cast fresh eyes on this beautiful city and get snapping. When you've taken your snaps, you can go to Typesetting.co and submit your image via the website (just click on 'submit' and follow the instructions). There are two simple things to remember: 1. that the image is yours (or that you have the owners permission to use it) and 2. that it was taken in Leeds.
We would love to show every image that is submitted to the site, but to ensure that yours has every chance remember to try and submit something unique and which hasn't been posted on the site already, try to get the highest quality image you can, and always remember to try and capture something of the local environment, something that says Leeds! Check the images on the website for an idea of what we're looking for and then... get posting!