Type tarts

Archer, Caroline; Rooney, John

Abstract

Type Tarts is a travelling exhibition organised by Dr Caroline Archer, Reader in Typography at Birmingham Institute of Art and Design.

Tart cards are the means by which many London prostitutes advertise their services. Step into almost any central London phone box and you can contemplate up to 80 cards inviting you to be tied, teased, spanked or massaged.

Even if a police crackdown, the internet and the increasing use of mobile phones suggest their days are numbered, tart cards are still so pervasive they are now regarded as items of accidental art and have something of a cult following. Once on the periphery of design, tart cards have influenced the work of many mainstream artists such as Royal Academician Tom Phillips and Sex Pistols designer Ray and Nils Stevenson.

In conjunction with St Bride Library and Type, we asked designers – from students to superstars – to find the tart hiding in every type and create their own graphic numbers.

• Exhibition Performance Type: Exhibition
• Start Date: Feb 16, 2012
• End Date: Feb 24, 2012
• Deposit Date: Feb 21, 2012
• Publicly Available Date: Feb 21, 2012
• Related Public URLs: http://usir.salford.ac.uk/20836/
• Additional Information: Corporate Creators : Dr. Caroline Archer, John Rooney; Number of Pieces : 300