Welcome to Minnesota: Home to 10,000 Lakes and Some Pretty Darned Good Typefaces — Carolyn Porter
Channel: TypeCon
Date: 2020-08-14

Recorded during TypeCon2019: “Nice” in Minneapolis, Minnesota

Minnesota is home to the Mississippi headwaters and farm fields that stretch to the horizon. We may talk with long vowels, eat hotdish, and wear plaid — but we are also home to world-class art and theater, and cutting-edge research. We invented Post-It notes, pacemakers, the pop-up toaster, waterskiing, Cheerios, the Honeycrisp apple, and Bundt pans. We are the home of Prince, Bob Dylan, Betty Crocker, and The Jolly Green Giant. We are home to eleven Native American nations, immigrants from across the globe, and the largest Hmong community in the nation. This means you can find lutefisk, mole, phở, pirogies, even a Juicy Lucy (which was also invented by a Minnesotan).

Minnesota is also home to a vibrant community of type designers whose names and (type)faces may be familiar. From sweeping cursives to sharp-cornered sans to display fonts brimming with personality, the typefaces born in Minnesota represent styles as varied as our landscapes.

This talk will provide a humorous and information-packed introduction to the great state of Minne“snow”ta combined with a visual celebration of the contributions of Minnesota-based type designers.