Shapes for Cash is the shop window for Timothy Donaldson’s latest typefaces (it’s actually him typing this). I have been designing typefaces since The Olden Times (the late 1980s), with the first few produced for dry transfer lettering sheets. This means I am vintage; old skool; someone who remembers what it was like back in the day ¶ Now then, as I was saying, I’ve been at this lark for a while, my designs have been published by Letraset, ITC, Adobe and FontShop. Most of these are still available. However, this is the first time I am offering my stuff for sale myself. In recent years, all of my time was dedicated to full-time teaching and although I was always producing ideas for typefaces, I wasn’t finishing them off. I did manage to write a book during this wilderness period: Shapes for Sounds – out of print but still highly esteemed. I have stopped full-time teaching now, and although I occasionally get asked to visit universities to do lectures, workshops, performances and suchlike, most of my time is spent tending the lettershapes.

##thank you## this collection of baubles would not be possible without the kindness of a collection of people, who must now be thanked: *. Colin Brignall, for his faith in commissioning my first typeface; Tony Forster & Phill Grimshaw (The Master & The Apprentice) for a joyful decade of lettertalk, taking the piss in the way Northern lads do, and their love; Linnea Lundquist for belief, challenge, poetry and solid encouragement; Steve James for daring me to make the typeface that became Manchester/ Donaldsans/ This/ That, and for gently kicking my arse; Carolyn Puzzovio for being constant in support, love and belief (and for banging the desk); Carol Twombly, for her gentle shepherding and teaching me the difference between lettering and typeface; Jeremy Tankard, for always answering my questions patiently, with his delightfully honest humour; Jessica Jenkins for recognising my thrall to orthography and loving it (and buying me ink); Erik van Blokland, for the joy and workmanship of risk he brings to the world of letterwork, but also for patience, kindness and a workmanship of certainty (and a couple of other things I can’t remember at the minute); Callum Dean, Dan Prescott, Gregor Cowling and Craig Oldham, for using early versions of my typefaces in work; Lana Zoppi, for looking, responding and reading (and for making me think); Aaron Chiffers, for goading, chiding, encouragement and making me feel embraced by Kernow (Nicole Stephens is also guilty of encouraging this emmet); Luke Charsley, for purity and a different kind of goading (a kinder, gentler machine-gun hand); Rutherford Craze, whose type design skills long ago eclipsed mine, and whose kindness and generosity in helping me to create this shop window is a form of redemption and salvation.

in addition to some people already mentioned, I would like to thank the following for responding to prototypical pages for this site: Gemma Audus; Maria Beardall-Rabbini; Armelinda Beqiraj; Therēze Brence; David Pearson; Albertas Valecka.

*I did have a list of famous people here, all of whom helped the young, autodidactic version of myself on this road, but I decided that it seemed boastful, so I have removed it. Many of them no longer inhabit the realm of mortals, but as a wee tease, their initials are: HZ; VT; KH; WS; G SE B; RS; BW; WC; MH; NG