The Unexpected Journey of a Passion Project | Carolyn Porter | TEDxMahtomedi

Have you ever done something anticipating no reward except the sheer joy of doing it? After spending years developing a typeface based on letters written by a World War II French forced laborer, Carolyn Porter found and visited the man’s family, then wrote a book about the entire experience. In her TEDx talk, she explores the value of passion projects — things we do outside of work that provide an outlet to explore, create, think and “Think Again!” about new ways to approach problems.

Carolyn Porter is a graphic designer, type designer, and author. Her first font, P22 Marcel Script, garnered four international honors, including the prestigious Certificate for Typographic Excellence from the New York Type Director’s Club, typeface competitions by Communication Arts and Print magazines, and selection for the 2015 Project Passion exhibition. In the book Marcel’s Letters: A Font and the Search for One Man’s Fate, Carolyn recounts her obsessive quest for information about Marcel Heuzé, the World War II French forced laborer whose beautiful handwriting inspired the font. The book was awarded gold medals from the Military Writers Society of America and Independent Publisher and was a finalist for a 2018 Minnesota Book Award. Carolyn Porter is a graphic designer, type designer, and author. Her first font, P22 Marcel Script, garnered four international honors, including the prestigious Certificate for Typographic Excellence from the New York Type Director’s Club, typeface competitions by Communication Arts and Print magazines, and selection for the 2015 Project Passion exhibition. In the book Marcel’s Letters: A Font and the Search for One Man’s Fate, Carolyn recounts her obsessive quest for information about Marcel Heuzé, the World War II French forced laborer whose beautiful handwriting inspired the font. The book was awarded gold medals from the Military Writers Society of America and Independent Publisher and was a finalist for a 2018 Minnesota Book Award. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx