seduced by a Q - a meander through Brussels

Through a comedy of errors involving an absent passport and a surprise birthday trip, I found myself on a weekend jaunt to Brussels a couple of weeks ago. My only previous visit to the city was a sad, grey tale of a group of rugby fanatics having their hopes dashed as the Les Bleus demolished Les All Blacks in 2007. I was looking forward to updating my Belgium anecdotes with something a little more positive.

I was already overly excited by the prospect of a weekend dedicated to moules frites, waffles and beer, but was not expecting Brussels to be a typographic haven.

It was a chocolate box of design. A thousand references for inspiration. Like running around in a Wes Anderson film, only I wasn't dressed in pastels and I got conned into exorbitant paella at a tourist restaurant. On second thought, maybe it was like a Wes Anderson film.

But from the elegant twisting of the fluorescent signage, to the elaborate box shadows on a shop facade, in every corner there were examples of beautiful typography. Both old and new. Proof that good design is infectious.

While some parts were a bit tourist-twee, the intention to beautify was everywhere.

All photos taken on my iPhone as, like the fool I am, I took my SLR but forgot the memory card.

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It's the little details that grab you.

We stopped in at the Delirium Cafe, and it was like the mothership of vintage beer signage.

This Q for example, I was transfixed by this Q.

I tend to work in more muted shades, so the bold colours and sharp shadows seduced me from across the bar (definitely nothing to do with the four pints of 8% Red Cherry beer).

I recreated it with a few favourite words* below, and the style seems delightfully adaptable to font and palette. I'll be nabbing that for a future project.

*I like the way you kind of roll the word amalgamate around your mouth to say it...
ah-MAAAAL-gAH-mayte