Gemma O’Brien (1987) is an Australian artist specialising in lettering, illustration and installations.
Sydney based Gemma O’Brien is a lady with unquestionable passion and enthusiasm for what she does. A self-confessed type nerd, you could say Gemma went a little too far when she celebrated her 21st birthday by insisting everyone who came dress as their favorite typeface. This injection of energy and infectious passion Gemma demonstrates led her from the traditional forms of wooden and metal type, where she learnt her craft, into more experimental mediums; from guns made out of type to hand rendering lettering expressing her anger with FedEx after her book submission failed to arrive for a competition in time.
Going by the alias Mrs Eaves, Gemma set forth on a journey of discovery, blogging as she went, which resulted in a very critical article by Font Blog accusing her of ‘how it was bastardising the original type’s true form.’ To prove the critics wrong Gemma was then to be invited by the very same reviewer to speak at the Type Berlin conference.
In between crafting letterforms, exhibiting her typography at galleries and doing the odd lecture / talk Gemma’s talent doesn’t stop there. A love of all things hand crafted saw her refresh the title sequence for Play School and more recently an animation for the Taronga Zoo campaign For the Wild.
She dropped out of law school to move to Sydney and get a degree in design. At university she was allowed to work with a letterpress, which got her interested in the world of typography. She gained prominence with an experimental short film in which she inscribes her body with hand lettering.
© 2019. All images are copyrighted © by Gemma O’Brien. Apart from fair dealing for the purpose of private study, research, criticism or review as permitted under the Copyright Act, the use of any image from this site is prohibited unless prior written permission is obtained. All images used for illustrative purposes only.
Sydney based Gemma O’Brien is a lady with unquestionable passion and enthusiasm for what she does. A self-confessed type nerd, you could say Gemma went a little too far when she celebrated her 21st birthday by insisting everyone who came dress as their favorite typeface. This injection of energy and infectious passion Gemma demonstrates led her from the traditional forms of wooden and metal type, where she learnt her craft, into more experimental mediums; from guns made out of type to hand rendering lettering expressing her anger with FedEx after her book submission failed to arrive for a competition in time.
Going by the alias Mrs Eaves, Gemma set forth on a journey of discovery, blogging as she went, which resulted in a very critical article by Font Blog accusing her of ‘how it was bastardising the original type’s true form.’ To prove the critics wrong Gemma was then to be invited by the very same reviewer to speak at the Type Berlin conference.
In between crafting letterforms, exhibiting her typography at galleries and doing the odd lecture / talk Gemma’s talent doesn’t stop there. A love of all things hand crafted saw her refresh the title sequence for Play School and more recently an animation for the Taronga Zoo campaign For the Wild.
She dropped out of law school to move to Sydney and get a degree in design. At university she was allowed to work with a letterpress, which got her interested in the world of typography. She gained prominence with an experimental short film in which she inscribes her body with hand lettering.
© 2019. All images are copyrighted © by Gemma O’Brien. Apart from fair dealing for the purpose of private study, research, criticism or review as permitted under the Copyright Act, the use of any image from this site is prohibited unless prior written permission is obtained. All images used for illustrative purposes only.
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| Ms Gemma O’Brien |
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| Lecture |
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| Gemma at work |
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