Dalston Type Safari

What does signage along a high street reveal about an area? How do fonts influence your choices and what are they really telling you?

Join author Sarah Hyndman for a walking tour of a dynamic and fast changing area in East London. Learn about the signage along the way and how it creates the area’s own unique typographic DNA. During the safari there will be a letter hunt challenge and at the end you’ll receive a Font Fortune goody bag.

We are surrounded by type and we use it to navigate our everyday lives. The letterforms we encounter as we walk down the high street influence our choices before we’ve even read the words. These also reveal a great deal about the the location, reflecting the social, economic and historical development of the area creating its own, unique typographic DNA.

Dalston in East London is a vibrant area in which bars and shops are constantly popping up and the signage is ever changing. The signs along the main road, Kingsland Road, reveal layers of history dating back to when it was a London outpost in the 1800s. Signs from the Art Deco cinemas have been preserved alongside the vernacular D.I.Y. signage of the market stalls and the lettering over the shops and restaurants that reflect the different communities who have made the area home over the years. Many venues, along with their signage, have become iconic landmarks.