Minneapolis Mini-Tour Next Week

Amidst the excitement caused by the successful launch of the public beta of the new FontShop website I would like to quickly announce my Minneapolis Mini-Tour next week – very bummed I am missing the terrific TYPO San Francisco "Rhythm" though. I have been invited by AIGA Minnesota to be a judge for their Design Show 2014 on April 9 and 10. Because I am coming over anyway I offered Craig Eliason to speak at the local Type Tuesdays on April 8, and also volunteered for a CreativeMornings talk on April 11. Whatever little free time is left I will try to visit local type designers and foundries like Mark Simonson Studio, Process Type Foundry, Font Diner, Teeline Fonts, … Come over to any or all of these events to hear me talk about type, typography and design, and say hello!

OnTuesday, April 8, I will barely have landed when I take the stage at Minnesota Center for Book Arts where I will present Two Decades of Trajan in Movie Posters. My popular and ever-evolving examination of typography in movie posters is entertaining yet informative (the first one to say "edutainment" gets punched in the face). I hope to see you there at 19:00; it's free!

The AIGA Minnesota Design Show highlights the most exceptional design work being produced in the upper Midwest and showcases the power of design in today's culture. This annual competition is independently judged by leading design professionals from across the country and is structured around the entry's ability to solve the problem of communicating both design's effectiveness and aesthetic appeal. Selected entries are presented at the Design Show's opening reception and are showcased online for the following year.

The reception premiering and displaying the winning entries and celebrating the Minnesota design community will be held onThursday, April 10at the Northrup King Building and will feature a panel discussion with the esteemed judges. Note that limited tickets will be available for the panel discussion – secure your spot by registering early.

Now this should be interesting. European, freethinking (typo)graphic designer gets dropped in front of an American audience to talk about sex. This month's CreativeMornings theme proves to be extremely challenging, because I try to approach sex from a purely typographic angle. I am still hard at work preparing my presentation, but you can already expect naughty alphabets from the late 19th century and film poster typography from the Golden Age of Porn, love declarations to typefaces and pure typographic lust. Yet most of all I will examine how certain emotions or a specific atmosphere can be suggested purely by typographic form, and how you can quite literally shape your message by choosing the right typeface.

My CreativeMornings MSP talk is onFriday, April 11, and starts at 8:30am. Registration will open up on Monday at 11AM CST – stay tuned for further information about the location. As always CreativeMornings are free!