36 DAYS OF TYPE IS A GLOBAL PROJECT THAT HAS CHALLENGED DESIGNERS, ILLUSTRATORS AND GRAPHIC ARTISTS TO EXPRESS THEMSELVES THROUGH A DAILY CURATED COLLECTION OF LETTERS AND NUMBERS. THE PROJECT SHOWCASES THE ENDLESS GRAPHIC POSSIBILITIES OF TYPOGRAPHY AND AN INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY CONNECTED BY SOCIAL MEDIA.
Seeing thousands of people’s creative interpretation of each letter of the alphabet is an inspiring way of reimagining something mundane that we see literally every day.
That charming and admiral goal is just what the 36 Days of Type project is accomplishing via Instagram (@36daysoftype). The results, seen in aggregate are pretty stunning (we have to admit, we also loved the coincidence that it coincided with the release of the 36th issue of Modern In Denver magazine).
The project began when Nina Sans and Rafa Goicoechea, graphic designers based in Barcelona, first decided to challenge themselves to design something new every day and later post them on their social network channels. They saw it as a way to experiment with new ideas, setting personal daily design challenges, while still working within their regular routines.
A friend of theirs suggested involving more people in the challenge. After a bit of brainstorming, it was decided they would make the exercise a global one. Ultimately deciding upon utilizing 36 days as a celebration of type and creativity.
We picked some favorites for our purposes. MID letters by: @michfranco, @iampepperbird, @zowhee, @bianca_dumitrascu, @kebammm, @agostino5171, @neilsecretario, @dsierra and @robclarketype.
In each edition, the open invitation is for designers, illustrators and graphic artists to render, one per day, each letter of the alphabet plus the numbers zero through nine. Participants upload their works to their own Instagram profile using the hashtag #36daysoftype. Each day’s collection on the 36 Days of Type page is then curated and published.
Participants are welcome to try and meet the big challenge of creating all 36 days in a row, or simply doing what they want. The idea though, is to get creatives out of their routine. And as you can see from the results, no matter how you spell it, it has been an international success!
