Letterform Archive

Letterform Archive A nonprofit center for inspiration, education, publishing, and community in graphic design and type. We are open to all who love letters.

Letterform Archive is a nonprofit center for inspiration, education, publishing, and community.

Richard Deighton, The Posture Master, Carington Bowles, London, England, 1780-1800⁠⁠The Posture Master, is a reproductio...
05/31/2026

Richard Deighton, The Posture Master, Carington Bowles, London, England, 1780-1800⁠
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The Posture Master, is a reproduction of a 1782 curio created by Richard Deighton, commissioned and sold by British print dealer Carington Bowles. ⁠
In these illustrations, Deighton was at liberty to use contortions, perspective, and clothing to make legible letters. They’re accompanied by a rhyming text that is the regular companion of educational alphabets.⁠
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Learn more about the interaction between letters and bodies in our blog post Letterforms / Humanforms: https://letterformarchive.org/news/letterforms-humanforms/

Join us and discover different regional styles from Los Angeles, Tijuana, and Monterrey during this choose-what-you-pay ...
05/31/2026

Join us and discover different regional styles from Los Angeles, Tijuana, and Monterrey during this choose-what-you-pay Letterform Lecture.

Placas, Trepes & Ganchos: Graffiti Transcends Border with François Chastanet
Tue, Jun 30, 2026
12:00pm–1:30 PT (8:00pm–9:30pm GMT)
Online via Zoom

This lecture examines three phenomena of public name-writing within a Mexican-American dialogue on cultural identity. Through an analysis of suburban Los Angeles Placas (Cholo script), Tijuana Trepes (hybrid border culture), and Monterrey Ganchos (cumbia- and metal-influenced monograms), this session traces the evolution of the Latin alphabet, its chronology, and its typographic and calligraphic influences.

Sign up here: https://letterformarchive.org/shop/placas-trepes-ganchos-three-mexican-graffiti-hands/?sku=EVENT_LL_26-06-30-FR

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Jean Midolle, Oeuvres de Jean Midolle: Escritures Modernes, France, 1834–1835⁠⁠Jean Midolle was a 19th-century French ca...
05/28/2026

Jean Midolle, Oeuvres de Jean Midolle: Escritures Modernes, France, 1834–1835⁠
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Jean Midolle was a 19th-century French calligrapher and graphic artist whose enigmatic portfolio of fantastical lettering styles continues to fascinate designers and historians. Letterform Archive’s Tholenaar Collection includes the Spécimen des écritures modernes comprenant les romaines flueronées, gothiques noveles, fractures, françaises, anglaise, italienne et allemande, one of several Midolle portfolios printed in the mid-1830s by Frédéric Emile Simon at Strasbourg. ⁠
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Learn more about Jean Midolle in our blog post From the Collection: The Alphabet Lithographs of Jean Midolle.: https://letterformarchive.org/news/jean-midolle/
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Michelle Ghiotti, Fringe type specimen, United States, 2025⁠⁠Fringe is inspired by the soft, serrated leaves and velvety...
05/27/2026

Michelle Ghiotti, Fringe type specimen, United States, 2025⁠
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Fringe is inspired by the soft, serrated leaves and velvety texture of the French lavender plant. Its letterforms reflect that natural character, balancing gentle irregularity with quiet structure. A tall x-height, open counters, and soft, bracketed serifs make it well-suited for long-form text, while rounded curves, bulbous terminals, and subtle asymmetries add warmth and movement.⁠
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Michelle graduated from our Type West program in 2025. Learn more about Type West, the only certificate program in type design on the West Coast: https://letterformarchive.org/education/
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The history of the Arabic speaking peoples of Southwest Asia and North Africa (SWANA) is complex—nested in various cultu...
05/26/2026

The history of the Arabic speaking peoples of Southwest Asia and North Africa (SWANA) is complex—nested in various cultural, religious, social, political, technological and economic contexts. Letterform Archive invites you to come celebrate the history of Arabic graphic design across borders with our docent Sabiha Basrai. ⁠
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Collections Tour: Arabic Calligraphy and Font Development⁠
Fri, Aug 14, 2026⁠
4:30pm–6:00pm PT⁠
In-Person at Letterform Archive⁠
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There are a multitude of scripts in the SWANA region—more than 28 languages that use the Arabic script (Persian, Urdu, Ottoman Turkish, etc), and scripts like Tamazight, Hebrew, and Ge’ez, that showcase the rich cultural diversity of the region. This tour will focus on the diversity of Arabic calligraphic styles, and show examples of font development that required transforming a once handwritten art into movable type.⁠
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RSVP: https://letterformarchive.org/shop/collections-tour-arabic-calligraphy-and-font-development-vjvd/

Specimen featured: Uthman b. Umar ibn Al-Hâjib, Manuscript with commentary on Al-Kafiya, 1800s, A 19th century copy of a commentary on Mullâ Jâmi's Al-Kâfiya.⁠
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Edward Johnston (type designer), Johnston Sans Trial Proofs, London Transport Museum, United Kingdom, 1993⁠⁠Commissioned...
05/25/2026

Edward Johnston (type designer), Johnston Sans Trial Proofs, London Transport Museum, United Kingdom, 1993⁠
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Commissioned in c. 1913 by Frank Pick of London Underground Railways for use in signs on the railway system, this influential sans-serif was completed in c. 1916. Nowadays, it’s better known as Underground, Johnston’s Railway Type, and later simply Johnston, or Johnston Sans.⁠
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Paul Rand, Fortune Magazine cover study, United States, circa 1950⁠⁠Collections Tour: Intro to the Archive with Rob Saun...
05/24/2026

Paul Rand, Fortune Magazine cover study, United States, circa 1950⁠
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Collections Tour: Intro to the Archive with Rob Saunders⁠
Fri, Jul 10, 2026⁠
1:30pm–3:00pm PT⁠
In-Person at Letterform Archive⁠
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Explore and interact with a curated selection of books, periodicals, posters, sketches, original art, and related ephemera that chronicle the history of written communications. From the invention of writing and medieval manuscripts to the advent of print and the proliferation of digital type, our collection illuminates humankind’s ongoing engagement with written expression. ⁠

Sign up: https://letterformarchive.org/shop/collections-tour-intro-to-the-archive-ziyw/
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Turn one short sentence into suspense, conflict, or reveal through five typographic moves for building narrative on a po...
05/23/2026

Turn one short sentence into suspense, conflict, or reveal through five typographic moves for building narrative on a poster.⁠
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Typography as Story with Yinxue "Lucy" Zou⁠
Thu, Jun 11 – Thu, Jun 18, 2026⁠
5:00pm–8:00pm PT (10:00am–1:00pm AEST)⁠
Online via Zoom⁠
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How does typography tell a story before we fully read the words? In this workshop, participants will explore how a single short sentence can shift in tone, mood, and meaning through composition alone. By changing hierarchy, pacing, repetition, contrast, and moments of rule-breaking, the same text can read like a warning, a joke, an announcement, or a moment of emotional tension.⁠
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Register: https://letterformarchive.org/shop/typography-as-story/
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