House numbers are important signifiers. They guide us around our neighbourhoods and up to friends’ doors. They tell the world where we are. They help posties deliver our postcards and online buys.
Too often, they’re dull but serviceable. But a new collaboration between iconic homewares maker Mud Australia and graphic designer Vince Frost changes all that with bold and playful typographic numbers designed to add style to the front of our homes – and decorate the insides, too.
Known for its minimalist aesthetic and functional design ethos, Mud Australia has produced fun and elegant porcelain household objects since 1994.
Founder and creative director Shelley Simpson says the new house number collaboration is about bringing joy to the front door. Your entryway “should make you feel happy you’re home”, she says.
As founder of creative agency Frost Collective, Frost has a track record of creating typography for commercial uses. He created the playful graphic font with Mud Australia’s style in mind, he says, leaning into fun and simple forms.
“I wanted to instigate a signage system we could make available to everyone,” Frost says. “The font needed to be rounded, as is the nature of Mud Australia’s design aesthetic … Actually, they remind me of jelly babies.”
Frost’s font has been interpreted by the Mud Australia team and hand-carved into plaster moulds for porcelain slip casting. Each number is handmade to order in Sydney.
They come in in two sizes ($85 for small, $145 for large) and are mounted on stainless steel to create a striking two-millimetre shadow line. Numbers can be made in all 19 signature Mud Australia colours, plus unglazed zero-waste recycled clay.
