Atlanta exhibit highlights typographer’s social justice-inspired work
Social justice and fonts meet in MODA exhibit
Guests have one last day to Museum of Design Atlanta's current exhibition, ''CHARACTERS: Type in Action.''
ATLANTA - Admission to Midtown’s Museum of Design Atlanta is free on Monday, thanks to a special partnership with Black Voters Matter in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.
Guests are invited from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. to experience several special events, along with getting a final chance to explore the museum’s current exhibition, "CHARACTERS: Type in Action." Ending its four-month run at MODA today, the exhibit showcases the work of Tré Seals, one of only a handful of Black typographers in the world today. And just in case you don’t know, a typographer is a person who actually designs the fonts you use when creating e-mails and documents every single day.
"As a kid, he was always very talented at hand-lettering, and he sold signs and nameplates to the other kids in his class," says MODA executive director Laura Flusche. "So, he began to design typefaces, but he found really interesting inspiration for them."
That inspiration includes social justice leaders like Ruby Bridges and Harriet Tubman; Seals takes a deep dive into history, pulling design elements from their lives and legacies and then condensing them into crisp, impactful typefaces.
"The beauty of what Tré has done in his work is that it allows for education in the most subtle of ways," says MODA designer-in-residence David Tann. "It’s like an onion; as you begin to kind of understand and peel back the layers to all the work, there’s just constant education and learning."
One of the typographer’s best-known fonts is called Martin — designed, of course, in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
"Tré found inspiration in the signs that were carried in the 1968 Memphis Sanitation Workers’ Strike, which MLK was attending when he was assassinated," says Flusche.
The exhibit’s interactive element challenges visitors to use the fonts to make their own protest posters.
"I think type is a great way to just kind of express what you’re feeling and emotions," says design student Jada Fleming, who created a poster focused on economic equality. "Some are bold, some are more quiet, but it’s definitely a way to express."
MODA is located at 1315 Peachtree Street Northeast in Midtown — click here for more information on the facility.