I recently discovered the charming video below – a paper-letter animation about the history of fonts and typography. Using stop-motion technique Canadian designer Ben Barrett-Forrest breezes through the history of typography in a little over five minutes. After patiently cutting out almost 300 letters plus some extra elements, Ben took a total of 2,454 photographs to piece together the animated short. The finished piece amounts to 140 hours of work. The History of Typography is an excellent casual primer for the layman which draws upon familiar visual examples. In a jovial yet knowledgeable tone of voice it touches upon the major historic events and type classifications. Ben gives a nice overview of the evolution of type and typography from Gutenberg to computer-designed fonts, and along the way takes the time to examine the characteristics of the main type categories. Definitely one to show to your friends and family next time your admission "I am into typography" results in blank stares. ; )

The History of Typography – Animated Short from Ben Barrett-Forrest on Vimeo.