We all know those YouTube videos in which students imitate their idols and end up reaching a larger audience with their song than the original artist. Well, it's possible that this video of a London design student might cause a dam-burst. Are type designers tomorrow's pop stars? I don't mind that Fran Marchesi did not purchase FF Meta for this video but drew the text entirely by hand. I guess private Font Karaoke* does not resort under commercial use. :)

A different type of Font Karaoke can be found on Unzipped.

Fran Marchesi is a first year student at Central St Martins, studying BA Graphic Design. Currently in her first term at college, her class were given one week projects in lots of different subject areas, one of which was typography. For the project, they were each assigned a typeface and had three days to come up with a visual representation of it. This would introduce everybody else in the group to the font and provide background information about it, as well as present each one's own personal take on it – which is why she made this video.

As Erik Spiekermann commented on her Flickr page, "(…) very entertaining and a great approach at learning how a typeface feels." By the way, the single weight of FF Meta needed for this video would've set her back $44 to $65, not $286.43 as is mentioned on one of the pages. Plus some distributors offer extra student discount. Yet Tiffany Wardle is convinced that "Sure a single weight could've been licensed for [$44], but imagine how much was learned, how much is appreciated!". Truer words were seldom spoken.

(*) Karaoke (カラオケ) from Japanese kara(空), "empty," and ōkesutora, "orchestra", lit. "EmptyOrchestra") is a form of entertainment in which amateur singers sing along with recorded music. Font Karaoke is a form of type design in which amateur designers draw letters after a professional template.