Performance artist, writer, and self-described "professional yearner" Harriet Richardson has partnered with type foundry F37 to create an innovative typeface called F37 Harriet, built entirely from her personal diary entries spanning three distinct periods of her life. The unique collaboration began when F37 reached out to Richardson through Instagram after discovering her journaling videos on her personal account.
The typeface incorporates handwriting samples from Richardson at ages 4, 13, and 30, creating what she describes as both an archival project and a performance piece. Working with F37's Ryan Williamson on production, the font captures not only Richardson's evolving handwriting style but also serves as a historical document of different eras, with early entries notably lacking modern symbols like hashtags or @ signs that characterize contemporary digital communication.
Richardson's teenage diary entries reveal what she calls "angsty urgency" through heavy, pressed handwriting that reflects adolescent desperation to prove something. This emotional intensity translates directly into the typeface design, with F37 capturing the "graphite blitz" characteristic of teenage confessional writing. "This process made me acutely aware of how much we perform even in something as ordinary as handwriting," Richardson explained. "I found myself dissecting everything: past and present selves, the unconscious choices I was making, and the question of who exactly I was performing for."
The collaboration initially explored various concepts, including fonts inspired by protest placards, alphabets stitched from love letters, and even letterforms drawn from body curves. However, Richardson ultimately chose the most personal approach. "All along I had this feeling in my stomach (which wasn't just my IBS) nagging that handwriting is the most intertwined I could be with this project," she noted. "Given how confessional my work has become in recent years, it felt like the most intimate and authentic route."
Richardson insisted on specific details that reflect her personality and experiences, including the inclusion of penis and vagina glyphs for use in corporate projects, at least five variations of em dashes in her age 30 set, and particular forms for frequently written words. Most notably, she created what she calls an "auto-yearn" feature where typing the names of her fourteen former partners automatically switches to how she would have written them during each relationship period.
Rather than traditional font weights, F37 Harriet offers multiple alternates to maintain a natural, flexible appearance that avoids looking like artificial childlike writing. The result is what Richardson describes as "real, messy and lived-in." During her research process, she discovered crucial childhood ephemera including conversations between herself at different ages, which reinforced her artistic vision.
"It reminded me that we're never just who we are in the present. We're layered, carrying every earlier version of ourselves," Richardson reflected. "The evolution of (and even conversations between) the handwriting is such a pure way to capture that." The typeface launched symbolically on Richardson's 30th birthday, adding another layer of personal significance to the project and proving her point about carrying multiple versions of ourselves throughout life.
