The women who design words
“I want to inspire more women to have a career in type…” Amber Weaver is the author of Femme Type, an all-female publication about type design and typography. While studying graphic design at university she noticed that the type projects covered in the books she found in the library were invariably created by men, so she started her own list of great work done by women. The list continued to grow after she left university and joined People of Print, and she saw the opportunity to create the book she had longed to read.
The resulting publication features more than 40 women working in the type industry, funded by a successful Kickstarter campaign that raised over £10,000 – more than double its initial target. In this conversation, Amber speaks about how she ran that campaign, and explains that with her list still growing, there are lots of opportunities for building on the book and doing more to support the community that has gathered around it.
We’d originally intended to record this episode while the Kickstarter was still live, but the hectic realities of actually running the campaign got in the way of that, so instead if you want to pick up a copy for yourself you can pre-order one at the Femme Type site. And if you use the code FEMME10 before 6 June you’ll save 10% off the regular prices.
We’ve got lots more conversations with people working in print, so check out our archives on Soundcloud or iTunes to trawl through hours of editors, designers and publishers speaking about the things they do. And if you follow us while you’re there we’ll be able to deliver our future episodes as soon as they’re ready.
