Letterform Lecture with Marta Bernstein

More is More: In Defense of Display Typefaces

Tonight, special guest Marta Bernstein — designer, educator, and co-founder of the CAST foundry — visits us from Milan via Seattle to offer a new perspective on experimental and ornamental type. Through a mix of historical touchpoints and current trends, Bernstein will celebrate fonts that embrace the spirit of their time.

Lecture at SFPL Main Library
Tue, Mar 3, 2020
6:00pm–7:30pm

Letterform Lectures Online

Watch Ellen Lupton, Silas Munro, Sabiha Basrai, Irma Boom, John Stevens, and More

Thanks to support from Adobe, our Letterform Lectures are recorded so you can watch and learn from anywhere in the world. Recently posted: The Book is Not a PDF with Irma Boom, Designs on Democracy with Sabiha Basrai, Beyond Exemplars and Ductus with John Stevens, W.E.B. Du Bois’s Data Portraits with Silas Munro, and Touchy Feely with Ellen Lupton.

Letterform Archive in NYC

Preserving Design at SVA, Center for Book Arts, and Parsons

We’re participating in three events in New York City this month. Rob Saunders will join a panel, Archives by Design: Preserving the Work of Designers and be in conversation with archivists and curators of graphic design. The following week, as part of a series of seminars curated by Dr. Nadine Chahine, Stephen Coles will present A Brief Typographic Trip Around the World with highlights from the Archive’s collection of global scripts, including an in-person look at some objects from the collection. Finally, Stephen will talk about our concept of “a learning archive” at the TDC’s one-day conference, Type Drives Culture.

Archives by Design: Preserving the Work of Designers
Panel Discussion at SVA, NY
Wed, Mar 11, 2020
5:30pm–9:00pm

A Brief Typographic Trip Around the World
Lecture & Pop-up Exhibit at Center for Book Arts, NY
Thu, Mar 19, 2020
6:30pm–8:30pm

“A Learning Archive” at Type Drives Culture
Lecture at Parsons School of Design, NY
Fri, Mar 27, 2020
8:30am–7:30pm

Images: David Klein, TWA — San Francisco, ca. 1957. David Klein, TWA — New York, ca. 1956. As seen in M.C. Hühne, Airline Visual Identity 1945–1975, Callisto, 2015.

Type West Workshop with Angie Wang

The Text Block as Building Block

The text block is fundamental — 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? Learn text typography principles with award-winning designer and CCA professor Angie Wang. This two-day workshop is ideal for beginners, or for any designer who needs a refresher.

Workshop at Letterform Archive
Sat–Sun, Mar 28–29, 2020
10:00am–5:00pm

Workshop & Lecture with Hope Meng

Creative Monograms / Typography is a Meditation

Whether you’re seeking new techniques for branding or simply want to jumpstart your lettering skills, Hope Meng’s monogram workshop will teach you the skills to get started on thinking about the relationship between two letterforms. She will also present a Letterform Lecture at the end of the month, “Typography is a Meditation”.

Workshop at Letterform Archive
Sat, Apr 18, & Sat, Apr 25, 2020
10:00am–5:00pm

Lecture at SFPL Main Library
Tue, Mar 31, 2020
6:00pm–7:30pm