This evening, there’s a talk on typing taking place. But if you’re thinking this sounds a bit too much like work, you might be surprised. There’ll be history, mystery, art and fun.
Shift Happens: The abridged history of having fun \/\/ith keyboards is this year’s Justin Howes Memorial Lecture at the St Bride Foundation in London. And it’s the 150th anniversary of the QWERTY keyboard and typewriters, so what better way to celebrate?
The talk takes place with Marcin Wichary, who’s a design manager at Figma and the author of Shift Happens, an upcoming book about the history of keyboards. He’s previously worked as a designer at Medium, Google, and Code for America. So, he knows his stuff.
For almost exactly 150 years, keyboards and QWERTY have been used not just as data entry devices and literary partners, but as instruments of creative expression. And as part of this event, you’ll solve a typewriter mystery, learn the basics of artyping and chat with Eliza and friends. You’ll also figure out the difference between ANSI, ASCII, and PETSCII art; meet the extended family of the Emoji Sheriff; and see what we can learn about ourselves and our relationship with machines in the process.
This quirky — or should we say QWERTY — talk takes place at the lovely St Bride Foundation. One of London’s hidden gems, it regularly hosts events and workshops for creative hands and minds. Not in London this evening? You can hit the keys and watch online.
When: 11th May 2023 at 7pm (doors and bar at 6.15pm, email links sent out at 6pm)
Where: In person at St Bride Foundation, 14 Bride Lane, London EC4Y 8EQ and Online via Zoom
£: Tickets cost £4.50 – £12
More info: sbf.org.uk
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