Going Global with Sharp Earth

With Sharp Earth, type designer Lucas Sharp sought to answer the question, “Is it possible to design a typeface for the whole world?”

What began as a series of sketches drawn on a road trip through Thailand would eventually become Sharp Type’s largest typeface family to date. Developed in close collaboration with local type experts from around the world over the course of nearly 7 years, Sharp Earth includes Latin, Greek, Cyrillic, Thai, Japanese, Arabic, and Devanagari—with more to come.

In this in-person Letterform Lecture, Sharp will share the development, cultural complexities, production challenges, technical intricacies, and triumphs of a contemporary multi-script design that is still being defined in this pioneering field of type design, adding to the fruitful conversation that is all too relevant in our increasingly globalized world.

Please note that this Letterform Lecture will not be live-streamed; however, you may select the ticketed option to receive the video of the lecture and Q&A after the event concludes.

Letterform Lectures are a public aspect of the Type West postgraduate program. The series is co-presented by the San Francisco Public Library, where events are free and open to all.