TORONTO—A Toronto graphic designer and instructor has taken her love of type to the walls.

Zab Hobart lives in Toronto's Parkdale neighbourhood and has appropriately named her new wallpaper venture Parkdale Wallpaper Co., launching recently with three initial designs that include repetitive 5s, 7s, and manicules (pointing hands). The hand graphics are from the 1500s to early 20th century, she added.



She didn't design all the fonts for the wallpaper, but her goal is to represent all the major type families. "Think of it like I'm cooking, I'm the chef. I don't have to use my own ingredients to make a nice meal," she said via Skype from Montreal. "The idea is that I'm putting [the fonts] together in a new way in a new environment." The fonts she's using are ones she's purchased, she said.

She told the National Post the inspiration behind the wallpaper is Victorian architecture in Parkdale, "and since wallpaper was having a heyday in that era ... it seemed a natural fit."

The wallpaper is printed on demand in custom colour combinations, and sells from $10 per square foot, currently available from MADE at 867 Dundas St. W. in Toronto. She plans to sell the wallpaper through the website soon. 


There could be other design variations of the wallpaper in the future. "Because it's print on demand, it has infinite possibilities," she said.

Hobart teaches typography at OCAD U and the York/Sheridan design program, as well as being the principal of Zab Design & Typography.