Developed by researchers and designers specializing in typography and behavioral science, Sans Forgetica is a new font designed to help readers better remember the information they read by forcing them to spend a bit more time on each word.

The design of Sans Forgetica is based on a font called Albion, but with substantial modifications to reduce familiarity and attain its goal of engaging the brain more and helping the reader retain more information. It was developed by scientists at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia, who believe it could help students studying for exams.

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California-based artist Phil Vance spends hundreds of hours creating typography portraits of historical icons entirely out of handwritten words and phrases.

From afar, Phil Vance’s typography portraits look like expertly drawn artworks, but as you draw nearer to them, you start to see that every feature is actually made up of handwritten text. Once you start deciphering all the words, you realize they are famous quotes of the subject written over and over again. The talented artist describes his art as “cross-hatching but with words.”

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Erin Smith is a young Australian artist who deconstructs entire passages of text and uses the thousands of individual letters to create beautiful detailed artworks.

The 29-year-old from Queensland moved to Melbourne a few years back, to study graphic design, and has recently moved back to her home state. It turned out this wasn’t the right career for her, because “I find it difficult to sit in a chair inside for any period of time…and I’m hopeless at deadlines so I wasn’t very good.” But it was during her studies that her fascination with typography began. “A few years ago at university we were learning about typography, how different weights of a font can help create emphasis etc. About a year later, I was looking at the intricacy of the engracing of a smith and wesson pistol (on the computer, not my own) [and] I thought about this image in relation to typography then started using the computer to creat the image. I did a series of these for a project”

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Chui Xianren, a disabled street beggar from Shangdong, China, has recently become an online star after photos of his beautiful handwriting were posted on a popular Chinese site. Now Founder Electronics, the biggest Chinese font supplier in the world has decided to acquire his unique typography.

There are many talented font designers out there, but the case of Chui Xianren is a special one. The 49-year-old from Hei Longjiang province, northeastern China, was seriously injured when a barrel of fuel exploded at his work place, 18 years ago. His face and hands suffered severe burns and all but his fore and index fingers were paralyzed. Although he was unable to work, Chuy somehow still managed to practice his handwriting and started supporting himself by begging in the streets and showcasing his amazing talent by writing with colored chalk.

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