Folk Typography

Discussion (11 posts |  Only members can post. Join?)

Title	Author	Replies	Latest Post
South African Township Typography Blog	Desmond & The Tutus	1	9 months ago
New group icon	otherthings	5	12 months ago
Parachute @ Adobe D-DAY 2008	til01	0	14 months ago
Hidden Ornamental Treasures unearthed	til01	0	21 months ago
3rd International Conference on Typography and Visual Communication	tsevis	0	35 months ago
pool cleaning by otherthings	otherthings	4	40 months ago

» More

About Folk Typography

Folk Typography, aka "outsider typography". Surprising, original letterforms created by people who are not designers, typographers, calligraphers, or graffiti artists-- in other words, people outside of all traditional schools of typographic influence. The unschooled world is full of unwitting innovations. Let's find them and celebrate them!

This group is not the place to put your pictures of any old bad typography, or hand-painted signs, or faded signage. That's what those other groups are for. This group is just for letters that are unique and different in some surprising way.

Images must show at least one example of an unwittingly innovative letterform. What I mean is: a letter with a surprising shape, created unselfconsciously by someone who is not a professional typographer. (Accidental innovations by semi-pros are okay too. But they have to be innovative.) Here are a few examples:




Or see this page for another example.

Single letters or entire words are okay.

Handmade letters are preferred, but machine-made ones are okay too, as long as they're original and unprofessional.