Welcome back to the second installment of TYPEfaces, a FontCrafts exclusive feature! On TYPEfaces, we talk to our fave crafters, illustrators, and bloggers about their font expertise, fun stories, and their love/hate relationship with all things type.
This time we sit down with the wildy talented Jennifer Perkins! Jennifer is the beauty and brains behind the Naughty Secretary Club blog, jewelry line, and brand. She’s also been host of the awesome craft shows…Craft Lab and Styleicious! In fact Craft Lab is back on the DIY Network Monday mornings at 8am e/p and HGTV Wednesday mornings at 6:30am e/p., so tune in and see Jennifer on the tube while you’re cradling your cup o’ joe! Jennifer is also an exclusive blogger for iLoveToCreate.com, which is also where I happen to work! So it’s only fitting that we would pencil her in for a fun FontCrafts interview. Here we go!
Jennifer, here’s the question everyone who uses fonts has an answer to….what is your favorite font and what is your least favorite font? (OK, I cheated, that’s actually two questions!)
I am really not font savvy enough to have a favorite font, I find I resort to Ariel quite a bit. I am starting to kind of get into it since I am dipping my toe into the world of Digital Scrapbooking. Cute fonts can make or break your layout. I am not a big fan of Times New Roman.
One of Jen’s digi scrapbook pages.
OK, I want to jog your memory. What was one of your first experiences with fonts/lettering at an early age?
Once in grade school we did a craft where we wrote our name in cursive in paint and then folded the paper to make a monoprint. Once the paint had dried we adorned what our teacher referred to as a “cursive bug”.
A similar idea crafting up skeleton ribs with names as seen on GardenofPraise.
I know you have made a LOT of crafts and continue doing so. Do you have any memorable FontCrafts that you’d like to share with our readers that are your faves?
With Halloween fast approaching I have recently busted out two of my fave font crafts. There are my Baby Blocks that go Boo and my Black Cat Hiss Banner.
What quote art, lettering art, or FontCraft projects are you totally crushing on at the moment?
I keep eyeballing this Found Object Mosaic Letter on the Crafty Crow . Keep your eyes peeled for a version by yours truly coming soon.
S Toy Letter from the Crafty Crow by guest blogger Renee of I Love My__ Life
I know you love to thrift shop. What are your favorite typographic finds you’ve picked up over the years?
I have two answers to this question.
1) Oddly I am in love with the font used by my favorite thrift store (Thrift Town) in Austin and wish I knew where to download it.
Thrift Town sign via Google Maps.
2) I have a large sign in my living room that was an ad for an aftershave called Hai Karate. It has a cool Asian inspired font and I love the little blurb at the bottom that says “be careful how you use it”. Picked this baby up at a garage sale years ago for $5 and I heart it so.
I’ve never been to Austin, but I can only imagine that it has to have some of the best vintage signage on the planet! Are there any signs there that are a must see?
Todd Sanders from Roadhouse Relics does some really cool signs and has a fun studio. I love the vintage look of his neon.
Now that you have youngsters of your own, are there any books/toys that they read/play with that you totally have a font appreciation of?
I watch quite a bit of Nick Jr and Yo Gabba Gabba. Both have some really fun graphic design and cool fonts. I find myself inspired by color combinations on the shows.
If you had to pick a font to describe your style and personality, what would it be and why?
I don’t have a font that I think describes me since I am relatively new to this world o’ fonts. I have a few that I will always have a soft spot for. When my website was still live it had several incarnations that used various fonts such as Dragonfly. I once had a bumper sticker done in Heart Land Regular.
Thanks Jen for playing along with us in this fun, font interview. We look forward to seeing what FontCrafts you make in the future!
You can follow Jen on her Facebook Fan Page, Twitter stream, and Pinterest.
DIY Hand Lettering from A Pair and A Spare
DIY Painted Canvas Quotes
Typography Planter
How to Use Downloaded Fonts for Scrapbooking
My new Font quilt
Quote luminaries + free download
Comments (48)