Gemma O’Brien is a master of the written word. With over 10 years of experience, her style shifts within the bounds of lettering and typography: sometimes loose, energetic, and calligraphic; other times big, bold, and intricately detailed. Often black and white.
With experience, so came fame. A number of her projects have received the Award of Typographic Excellence from the New York Type Directors Club, and in 2016 she was named one of PRINT Magazine’s New Visual Artists: 15 under 30. She has also collaborated with numerous global brands and publications including Apple, Google, Adobe, and The New York Times. But her typography art also garnered the attention of online fans, with well over 200k followers on Instagram.
But oddly enough, O’Brien didn’t start out as a typography enthusiast. In fact, she originally went to law school before realizing she needed to do something creative. It was only after switching to a design degree that she fell in love with typography, having learned hand-set type in a letterpress studio. “From that point forward I have been developing a practice that sits between art, illustration, design, and typography,” she stated in an interview with PRINT Magazine.
Her art takes many shapes and forms, but the end result is always delighting. Take a look for yourself.
