1 Comment// Posted in About Me, Random, Thoughts by Nielfa Hanifa on 03.04.10.

Yesterday I stumbled upon this poster. I liked it so much, I impulsively bought a print and thought it would be apt to put up in the office, since I DO work with type on a daily basis.

I spontaneously thought of sharing the link and really didn’t expect the response it got. In South Africa, typographers are a hidden minority that put together libraries of information, in an appealing form to read yet not many people know they exist. Recently, I finished typesetting my first dictionary and when I sat in Exclusive Books marveling at lines and lines of black and white; and seemingly ordinary words, I felt so proud, because I knew of the hard work that went into getting it to look like an ACTUAL dictionary…so I learnt that compiling a book isn’t simply just typing it all and printing it out.

At primary school, I always put in a tremendous amount of effort to present my assignments prettily. In retrospect, typed out in a way too fancy font and the most silliest of formatting, but thinking back, I realise I already had the love for typography then, just lacked the vast amounts of knowledge thereof.

After finishing high (home-)school, I wasn’t particularly sure what career path I’d take but I knew I wanted to do something in design or DTP. I didn’t have the opportunity to go study because at that time, my parents couldn’t afford it. I grew up with a computer in our household, so thankfully, I had the resources and aptitude to teach myself how to use the current design software using trial versions. Then I found a job and I worked here and there and everywhere, I learnt many valuable life and employable skills, made many friends and contacts, and until I could afford to, I went to City Varsity to do a course in Graphic Design. My love for typography came to light so brightly, that I couldn’t ignore it.

I want to share one of the simpler assignments I had to do, but honestly enjoyed the most. We had to choose four words and visually define it’s meaning by using the word only, tracing the type as we went along. It’s very amateur and knowing what I know now, I probably would’ve done a lot differently, but here goes…

A little way down the path of life, I kind of lost my job (that I blogged myself through, so you can read all about it in my archives,) and even though I was despondent about finding a new job, I was blessed to get into contact with a highly acclaimed book designer, mentored by a German typographer, who had some of the largest publishers in SA as her clients… and she wanted to interview me. We met at her house, she made me tea, I showed her my portfolio and we spoke. After she told me about the position she was offering, she asked me why I wanted the job and my response was honest and unfrilled… that I had no logical reason, but I felt it was right for me, in my heart. I guess it was a good enough answer, because I got the job :)

I’ve learnt so much and am constantly learning even more, every single day. I’ve come to the point where my skill has improved from the simple assignment to where I’m able to provide my own personal touch that became apparent to me personally, when I designed the book, cover and poster for Shafinaaz’s anthology, Memoirs for Kimya.

Needless to say, my love for typography has grown immensely and after reading the response to the link I shared, I reflected on where I am now. So this morning I just felt the urgent need to buy my boss a bouquet of flowers and make her a card to say thank you for introducing me to the depths and vastness of the wonderful world of typography.

I can’t count my blessings enough!

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