It may be a grey and gloomy Friday here at PrintWeek Towers, but an uplifting finish to the week has been provided by Monotype UK and their Pencil to Pixel exhibition. Went to the opening last night and it was a delight. Like GF Smith’s Beauty in the Making event, which inspired this Monotype outing, it’s the sort of thing that will warm the cockles of anyone with even a fleeting interest in the art of typography, design and print. It’s great to see items not generally available for public view, such as original typeface drawings by Eric Gill and Frederic Warde. And also the modern-day work of Toshi Omagari and his re-working of Metro for the digital age. Loved the video wall too, and the limited edition ‘typographic miscellany’ one-off edition of The Times - it garnered lots of attention on the train home. The display of Monotype Recorders – including the first new edition for 17 years (available to purchase, by the way) is an absolute visual feast. Also new is a beautifully designed (by SEA) and printed (by The Colourhouse) new collection of booklets on lovely paper (from GF Smith) featuring ‘personal playlists’ of fonts by a stellar selection of designers. Really like the ‘Z’ saddle-stitching format, too. Take some spending money as there’s all sorts of goodies, including a lovely postcard book and limited edition posters. In short, if you’re within striking distance of E1 get yourself along there. It will be good for your soul.