Learn to think systematically about type and make your own font in 10 weeks! (In the San Francisco area? See the in-person version of this workshop.) During this 10-week online workshop (Thursdays from June 13 through August 22. No class on July 4), you'll learn what it takes to create your own original typefaces and gain an […]
with Fer Cozzi ¡Hacer fuentes es divertido! Este taller le presenta las múltiples posibilidades creativas que implica el diseño tipográfico. Este curso en línea de 5 semanas (cinco sábados: 15 de junio, 22 de junio, 29 de junio, 13 de julio, y 20 de julio) busca ser un espacio de aproximación lúdica al entendimiento de […]
with Saad Khan Explore historical print media from Iran and Pakistan. Join us on an interesting trip through the world of old print media from Iran and Pakistan. This lecture will explore Farsi and Urdu magazines, movie posters, typography, and the importance of preserving neglected cultural materials in the face of rapidly changing technologies. Letterform […]
Around the turn of the 19th century, a revolution left the world of typography utterly different from what it had been. The explosion of new type styles during this period—including the modern face, the fat face, the slab serif, and the sans serif—reflected new technologies and ways of thinking that set the stage for modern […]
In this Member Nerd Out, we’ll guide you through our favorite examples of concrete poetry and asemic writing in the Letterform Archive collection. This presentation will be followed by an opportunity to show some objects from your own home with fellow letterform Nerds across the globe.
Letterform Archive’s fifth gallery exhibition, Amos Paul Kennedy, Jr.: Citizen Printer, explores the bold language, graphic typography, and colorful layering in a wide variety of printed artifacts such as broadsides, maps, church fans, handbills and oversized posters produced throughout his career. Encompassing the evolving trajectory of Black liberation in the United States, from growing up in the ’60s during the […]
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 […]
There is more to the texts of type specimens than the ubiquitous "Quousque tandem abutere…" of Cicero’s first oration against Catiline. Careful reading of type specimens, especially those of the nineteenth century, reveals widespread patriotism, jingoism, and cultural chauvinism; historical and literary allusions; references to topical events; wordplay, sophomoric humor, and parody; and bald self-promotion. […]
William Addison Dwiggins (1880–1956) was among the most influential and innovative designers of his generation. A master calligrapher, type designer, illustrator, private press printer, and a pioneer of advertising, magazine, and book design, Dwiggins was the quintessential maker — fabricating his own tools, mastering traditional skills, inventing new techniques, and experimenting with design in a wide […]
The text block is fundamental to creating any typographic system, whether on the page or on screen. But what typeface to use and at what size? How do we determine line length and leading? And what about readability and hierarchy? Over the course of two days (Saturday to Sunday, September 14–15 from 9am–5pm), we will […]
Learn the basics of Python in the free MacOS application DrawBot. Create and animate vector art, set type with code, and save your sketches as vector and raster images, videos, and .pdfs. As designers, we use tools to help complete our work but often don't consider how these tools can box us into certain processes […]
Data graphics are magical. Come learn how to make pictures that can help us discover and discuss otherwise invisible phenomena. We will dissect the elements that make data graphics spectacular, ranging from choosing effective visual metaphors to picturing uncertainty and the subtle art of color-encoding. We will critique and we will make. Our emphasis will […]