Typographica is Twenty Years Old

This website just passed its twentieth birthday. In web years, that’s more like a centennial. At the risk of waxing nostalgic, I’m posting a few highlights from our first year.

Jul 2022

A Grammar of Typography: Classical Book Design in the Digital Age

Argetsinger aims to teach a new generation of designers how to uphold the standards and principles of the printers of old, in this strange new era when the composing stick is a text frame and the ink stone is a menu of swatches.

Jan 2022

Nadine Chahine & Ksenya Samarskaya Cochair the TDC’s 25th Typeface Design Competition

Can the world’s longest-running type design competition reimagine itself as a truly global display of abundance? Tanya George interviews this year’s cochairs.

Dec 2021

Now Open: the Typographica Library

We just launched the Typographica Library, a digital bookshelf of type and lettering resources to aid research and selection.

Oct 2021

Type Design in the Museum: Acquiring the Immaterial

Craig Eliason explores how the peculiarities inherent to type design shed light on the purpose and practices of the design museum in the contemporary world.

Apr 2021

Sandoll Chilseong Shipyard

In 1952, toward the end of the Korean War, Chilseong Shipyard was established in Sokcho, South Korea. The humble family operation built ships and served as a local fishery for generations. In 2017, third-generation owner Choi Yoonseong and his partner Baek Eunjeong restored it as a cultural space to preserve the shipyard’s legacy for future generations,...

Mar 2021

Elfreth

I can count the number of times I’ve used a blackletter (unironically, anyway) on one hand. But something about Elfreth caught my attention and held onto it like a Brockhaus-Heuer Schraubstock.

Mar 2021

Tomasa

Anyone who is from or has lived in Spanish-speaking countries will be familiar with the concept of perreo. It’s a word that describes how we dance to rhythms like reggaeton or funk carioca. The way perreo flows through Tomasa is palpable.

Mar 2021

Carolina Laudon

Swedish typographer and type designer Carolina Laudon is the first woman president of the ATypI. Ksenya Samarskaya caught up with her after last year’s conference to discuss her role in, and vision for the organization.

Mar 2021

Elizabeth Carey Smith

“I hope that we can have more frank discussions about the problems of industry inclusiveness and the approach and sense of responsibility around design, specifically in the world of type. With that in mind, I had a candid conversation with Elizabeth Carey Smith, a design director in New York and a past president of the Type Directors Club.” —Agyei Archer

Jan 2021