The legendary Sir James T Edmondson was kind enough to lead our battalion into the jungle of San Francisco. We found some pretty amazing typography to say the least. I'm excited about what the team can accomplish as we begin to explore our typographic interests and collaborate with one another.

Beginning the third day of Field Trip SF and it's been a whirlwind of an experience. From the sign-spotting sidewalk safari to late grocery store runs, couch surfing to joint working sessions around the watering hole (a la beer fridge), San Francisco has proved a worthy host for this first ever documented type extravaganza.

We commandeered a bus for a flavorful account of San Francisco's transit authority and waded our way through an army of weekenders to party hearty with Dropbox, courtesy of the gentlemanly Morgan Knutson. Believe me when I say that should I ever have to live in an office permanently or fortify myself for the eventual zombie apocalypse, Dropbox is where I'm doing it. Between scootering about the office like a real-life Mario Kart challenge to chowing down on the most eclectic spread of food, drink and everything in between, these guys played the part of the most epic hosts to date. Can't thank that crew enough.

But while the type has been inspirational and the beer has been ever-flowing and refreshing, the only thing better has been the company we've kept. The people we've interacted with, the friendships that we've built. Watching this group excel as masters of their craft has been all but dwarfed by the mere interactions and time we've spent together as a group of people united by more than just our love of pixels and points. Working and living in a design bubble has the potential to limit our conversations with those we co-labor with to a strict "all work, no play" approach to our interactions. Being here, living communally, I find I've been most inspired in the more mundane, unstructured moments of simple human connection. It's in the evolution of our relationships from bouncing chat icons in our docks or screenshot sharing portals to a time where we're creating new stories and digging into more than technique and takeaways.

Looking forward to the remainder of this trip, dreading the end, excited about what's to come.

Today we took a stroll through the mission with James Edmondson as our guide. We saw lots of lovely type and hand-painted signs, we ate sandwiches, visited 826 Valencia, and a disabled person was even kind enough to lift my dress up for me while I was distracted documenting signage. Needless to say, our long walk through the Mission was eventful! Here are some highlights.

James leaving a note for 826. The note previously left, as seen to the right of his lettering, reads "-I love jerks." "-I am a jerk."

 

It’s a very bad idea to create a typeface in three days. Most self respecting type designers would agree it’s an overly ambitious goal. Why rush something as delicate and inherently time consuming as drawing letters from scratch?

Group projects are another shitty idea. Most often, the group you’re assigned to is made up of one third slackers, one third dummies, and one third people like you. You’re forced to pick up the slack, making sure everything doesn’t come out like a steaming pile of dog shit.

What the hell Riley? What have you gotten us into here? Yeah this is a “field trip,” but a miserable one where you get poison oak, a wedgie, and you’re really starting to miss your parents.

Though this weekend has the makings of a shitshow, there is one saving grace. Each one of the folks involved are capable of seeing a project of this scope through to the end, and I couldn’t be happier to be a part of it. Being around talented creatives you trust and admire is rare, and with this three day type design experiment, I’m confident we’re making the most of it.

Could it all be a huge failure? Of course, but there’s beer here, so I’m gonna stick around to see how it goes.