From the Street to the Sky

Taxi stand, Leiden

I gave my talk “From the Street to the Sky” at the Hochschule RheinMain / University of Applied Sciences in Wiesbaden on July 6th for students in the Design Informatik Medien department. The talk was at the invitation of Prof. Gregor Krisztian. “From the Street to the Sky” is a survey of the many places that lettering can be found in the urban environment—from manhole covers in the street to neon signage on the rooftops of buildings. It is a guide for those who want to do their own letter sleuthing in cities. The talk uses examples from New York City, Philadelphia, Boston, San Francisco, Seattle, London, Rome, Venice, Amsterdam, Leiden and other cities in the United States and Europe to make its point.

Prof. Krisztian and the school welcomed me with a special poster and wine bottle. The talk was attended by about forty students and several special guests including calligrapher and type designer Werner Schneider, typographer Indrid Kupferschmid and book designer Roland Stieger (who came all the way from St. Gallen, Switzerland!). It was a fabulous afternoon.

Paul Shaw Designer, Typomaniac, Kalligraph, Autor, Preisträger, Dozent, Blogger, Historiker, Kurator, Spurensucher und New Yorker.