Interview with tactile typographer Dominique Falla
Some of you may know Dominique already, as she convenes the design program at the Queensland College of Art (QCA), Gold Coast campus. She has inspired thousands of students to pave creative lives for themselves over the past few years, and has also been paving her own way, with over 20 years as a practicing designer.
More recently, Dominique’s love for design and typography, has led her to begin a doctorate in tactile typography. If you’re a design and type fanatic (like myself!), her blog Tactile Typography is definitely one to bookmark. She delves into each project with photos and videos of her ideas coming together, and the magnificent finished projects.
Dominique explains…
After 20 years of using the Adobe suite on an Apple Mac computer, I’m starting to tire of the computer screen and I’m craving a return to the craft of typography … literally. I’ve been combining the craft skills I learnt as a child, with the typography skills I’ve learnt as a designer and I’m having a blast. The overwhelming response I have received from designers and non-designers alike has encouraged me to keep going.
By lifting typography from the computer screen or the printed page, I find the letterforms are given new life, as are the words themselves, and people respond in such a positive way to the haptic nature of the pieces and they are drawn to touch them and re examine the letterforms and I get such pleasure from their reactions.
See more in depth photos on the projects featured here, and many more, on Dominique’s website, and follow her Tactile Typography adventures here.
Ideas are 1% Inspiration … 99% Perspiration.
This project is hundreds of little map pins on a black foam core.
The edible tactile typography project (yes this is a cake!) to celebrate the
40th birthday of Griffith University. Dominique worked with chef Brett McAuliffe to colour and roll all of the little quilling pieces.
