Extreme Typography: 160,000 Granite Letters Encased in Concrete
If you’ve ever agonized over the precise kerning and leading of a few stubborn letters, just be thankful that you didn’t have to do it with over 160,000 3-dimensional letters that are then embedded in concrete. For most people, such a daunting endeavor would be a one-way ticket to an acute case of typography-induced psychosis…
Gordon Young and Why Not Associates were tasked with creating the Comedy Carpet, a celebration of the work of more than 1,000 comedians whose quotes and punch lines were spelled out with individually cut granite letters. After the letters were carefully positioned, they were encased in concrete slaps that were assembled to form a 2,200 square meter plaza in the town of Blackpool in the UK.
I don’t know about you, but seeing this typographic monstrosity really makes me appreciate how easy it is to design on a computer!
martin
