We've written about fonts and typefaces made from all kinds of things over the years. We've seen typography inspired by mushrooms and even a boob alphabet. But letterforms in found objects have their own unique appeal.
It's always fun to find signs and images in the natural world, from faces in wood whorls to accidental optical illusions. So it made by day to discover that an artist has collected an entire alphabet (and then some) in pebbles. As you would hope, it totally rocks.
Crystal Reed of Crafts by Cris, LLC makes pebble art, including ornaments and framed collages, using the stones she finds. She tells me she began collecting rocks when her son was little and showed an interest in them.
"We would collect cool rocks that we found. Eventually, we painted some of the rocks to gift to people or hide around town for others to find," she says.
In 2017, she learned about pebble art, and began to create her own pieces with rocks. "I was always drawn to rocks with cool shapes, patterns and colors," Crystal says. "Eventually, I started finding some letter shapes. Once I found a few letters, I just continued to look for more."
Last week, she found a K and an X – the last two letters she needed to complete a full alphabet. She says her goal is now to find uppercase and lowercase forms for every letter, along with the numbers 1 through 10 and even punctuation. I'm thinking that curly brackets may be tough, but perhaps the ultimate challenge would be to find an entire set of italics!
And when she has the full set? Crystal says she hopes to use the rocks in her work as a school-based occupational therapist. "I see students in first through fifth grade," she says. "A part of what I do is help students who struggle with letter formation and the underlying skills of writing. When I have the whole alphabet in shapes and sizes that I like, I plan to mount the letters on a large canvas that I can hang in my OT classroom."
It's a beautiful project, and it also strikes me as one of those hobbies that makes life worth living – something you can do anywhere, too. The typography fan in me thinks it would be very cool if someone could turn the whole collection into a custom font.
For more type news, see the scandal over the use of a possibly stolen font in anti-piracy ads and how one creative agency got revenge against vandals by turning their graffiti into a font. For type inspiration, check out our pick of the best kinetic typography.
