You know that moment when your mind is a blank, creatively? Nothing’s speaking to you. So you sit quietly and wait for it to come. Wait for it…. Wait for it… Nope. Still nothing. That’s the time to look outside your own head for inspiration.
While these 15 Instagram accounts concentrate on found type, they’re also excellent sources for color, design, and texture ideas. (To convert any image to a texture, open it in Adobe Shape CC.)
Eduardo Hache (@photoplastika)
Eduardo, a photographer and graphic designer in Mexico City, finds strong shapes and colors that are like a punch to the palette.
Signs of the Shore (@signsoftheshore)
This account features vintage signage along the New Jersey shore.
Travel from sun-faded signs to Irish typography. You’ll see a lot of mosaic doorways and shop names in this account.
Memphis Type History (@memphistypehistory)
Another Instagram account that focuses on one city. If you like what you see, you may want to buy the related book, Memphis Type History: Signs and Stories from Just Around the Corner.
I especially appreciate the textures in this account, which is about street typography and signage in the Ukraine.
Jesse Ragan (@seriousletterforms)
Jesse is a professional type designer (Hoefler & Frere-Jones, House Industries, Darden Studio) and co-founder of Type@Cooper, a postgraduate certificate program at the Cooper Union.
If you have a thing for vintage packaging or distressed type, you’ll spend a lot of time on this Instagram feed.
Carrie Hamilton (@carriehamilton)
Carrie has developed her eye during her career as a designer and art director and as a faculty member at City University of New York.
John Worthington (@johnnyfoxrocks)
This UK designer has a knack for spotting tasty type on floors, doors, walls, and just about everywhere else.
Another good repository of vintage signage.
Marguerite lutton (@whateverdesign)
Marguerite is a self-proclaimed “curator of visual delights,” which includes album covers, packaging, and other ephemera.
The scenes in this account, many of which were shot in Boston, have a grungy authenticity.
You’ll find vintage cars mixed in with vintage type in this account.
This designer and art director turns his camera on typography at home in Brooklyn and while he travels.
Tipograficapty (@tipograficapty)
The fantastic colors of Panama shine in this account, as do the found signs.
June 11, 2015
