The first step in making better type choices is learning how to see it in a new way. Develop your typographic eye with @stewf.com (Anatomy of Type) & @slye.bsky.social (Fontstand) in our weekend “Crash Course in Type Selection”. Oct 25–26 at Letterform Archive letterformarchive.org/shop/a-crash...

@slye.bsky.social and I are bringing back our type selection workshop to @letterformarchive.org, Oct 25–26: letterformarchive.org/shop/a-crash...

See you soon! 12:00pm PT letterformarchive.org/shop/type-we...

Letterform Archive is a living archive, a perpetual project to not only preserve historic design, but to inspire new work. To mark our 10th anniversary we teamed up with COLLINS to create 100 Tens: 50 interpretations of the number “1” from the collection, paired with 50 contributions living artists.

The latest major donation to Letterform Archive made the local news: www.sfgate.com/local/articl... #Neon #SanFrancisco #Lettering #Wonderlite

Making type is fun! Learn how to create your own font, from sketch to screen (and everything in between) in this 10-week online workshop with Fer Cozzi. Introduction to Modern Type Design Wednesdays, Sep 17–Nov 19, 2025⁠ 5:00pm–8:00pm PT (10:00am–1:00pm AEST)⁠ letterformarchive.org/shop/introdu...

Đức Cao, Homecooked type specimen, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, 2021⁠ ⁠ Homecooked is a casual sans-serif typeface exploring the warmth and expressiveness of the flat brush.⁠ The French foundry Blaze later released Đức’s typeface as Swirl: blazetype.eu/typefaces/sw... #TypeDesign #Fonts #TypeWest

Just noticed the Ephemera Society of America posted my 2024 talk about our @letterformarchive.org Strikethrough exhibition. www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7bL...

@sfneon.bsky.social's Randall Ann Homan & TLM's Katie Conry appeared on @ktvufox2.bsky.social to talk about the upcoming annual #NeonSpeaks Festival & Symposium — of which the Tenderloin Museum is a proud sponsor — as well as the Museum's plans for a neon gallery in our upcoming expansion project.

not much of it is authentically Bauhaus really i went down the "what typefaces did the Bauhaus actually use?" rabbit hole recently; there are some great resources online letterformarchive.org/news/bauhaus... letterformarchive.org/news/bauhaus... Also, join @letterformarchive.org !

It’s been a joy trawling @letterformarchive.org with @typozon.bsky.social for this salon. See you next week in person or online. letterformarchive.org/shop/the-pas...

Joe Caroff, West Side Story movie poster, United States, 1961⁠ ⁠ Caroff, designer of book covers, posters, and logos, including the “007” for the James Bond franchise, died on Sunday, just before his 104th birthday. Among his iconic creations was this poster often misattributed to Saul Bass.⁠

I’m honored to share that I’ve completed the inaugural Donald Knuth & Charles Bigelow Type Design Incubator (KBI) course. KBI is a groundbreaking program launched by @stanfordsilicon.bsky.social, @letterformarchive.org, and @wordsoftype.com! 🙌🏽 #TypeDesign #LanguageJustice #KBI #KnuthBigelowIncubator

New Job Opening: Editorial Assistant letterformarchive.org/news/new-job...

TypeCon2025 happens this week in Portland, and Letterform Archive will have a table at the first-ever Volumes Market (www.instagram.com/p/DMGG9HNP2eG/) which is free and open to the public. Aug 8–9, 11am–6pm at Revolution Hall. See you there? #VintageBooks #BookFair #Books #TypeCon #Typography

This [1901] Bruce catalog has a rather odd title page layout, but we love two things: 1. A fairly early halftone photograph of the New York building. 2. “BRUCE QUALITY BEST QUALITY” #TypeFoundries #BruceTypeFoundry #TypeHistory #Typography #TypeSpecimens

Join us for an online collections tour with Tanya George and Sidharth Jaishankar. “A for Akshar: India through its Letterforms” celebrates the linguistic diversity of India through its rich typographic heritage. Aug 7, 2025 8:30am–10:00am ET 6:00pm–7:30pm IST letterformarchive.org/shop/collect...

making visual connections researching @letterformarchive.org online archive. I really love their interface/discovery experience. Villa Park Santa Catalina hotel program (1934) oa.letterformarchive.org/item?workID=... Sneaktip zine (1993) oa.letterformarchive.org/item?workID=...

My wife and I went to @letterformarchive.org this afternoon for a tour by founder, Rob Saunders. What a great org they are.

Inside Calligraphic Menagerie: Of Swashbuckling Scribes and Cursive Critters From centuries-old writing manuals to our new notecard set, flourishing shows the playful side of early modern Europe’s masters of the pen. letterformarchive.org/news/inside-... #calligraphy #animals #birds

Jim was as good a storyteller as he was a letterer. At the TYPO SF 2012 conference he was in top yarn-spinning form. We’re proud to preserve the TYPO Talks archive, including this recording: vimeo.com/1098216690

Jim Parkinson died today. He was a prolific and astoundingly gifted lettering artist, type designer, and painter. I feel lucky to say he was also my friend. typographica.org/on-typograph...

(1) Four transit passes from the Milwaukee Electric Railway and Light Co., from a collection of 300 of them from 1932-1969, held by @letterformarchive.org.

Cover, Dutch sales booklet Olivetti 82 Diaspron Typewriter Giovanni Pintori, designer c. 1965 Source (and lots more about Pintori) at the Online Archive of @letterformarchive.org; letterformarchive.org/news/giovann...

Hanns Lohrer and Walter Krafft, Folio type specimen, Bauersche Gießerei, Frankfurt am Main, ca. 1959. #FolioTypeface #BauerFoundry #TypeSpecimens #1950s #HannsLohrer #WalterKrafft

A wonderful, prodigious type designer to learn about and celebrate. His bio "A Life in Design" can be purchased from @letterformarchive.org letterformarchive.org/shop/w-a-dwi... #typography

Recently we hosted a tour of Arabic calligraphy and type with Sabiha Basrai, Letterform Archive docent and co-owner of Design Action Collective. Sabiha’s next tour is Design and Social Justice on July 11: letterformarchive.org/shop/collect... #LetterformArchive #DecolonizingDesign #DesignMuseums

Martin Venezky (Designer), Appetite Engineers (Agency), The 18th San Francisco Lesbian and Gay Film Festival brochure, United States, 1994⁠ See this and other work by Venezkyy in our Online Archive: oa.letterformarchive.org?dims=Collect... ⁠ #PrideMonth #SanFrancisco #MartinVenezky #LGBT

Thursday at the Archive! letterformarchive.org/shop/type-we... #TypeDesign #TypeRevivals #TypeWest

Lucille Tenazas, a Filipino designer whose work focuses on lithography and typography layered with photography, created this piece. Title: California College of Arts and Crafts Adopt-a-Book poster (1992) Archived by: Design without borders #peoplesGDarchive 
#GDHistory 
#FilipinoDesigner

Just walked by another solid window by Meng. See her (with Damon Styer of @nbsigns.bsky.social and Sam Roberts of BLAG) at @letterformarchive.org on June 16. letterformarchive.org/shop/a-sign-... #SanFrancisco #Signs #SignsByMeng #LetterformArchive

This is a stunning collection of ephemeral print for every day stuff. Y’know, tickets, flyers and labels. The typography, the creative and the history is fascinating. letterformarchive.org/ephemera/

Ganzeer, Justice for Mona (from “Of Course the Army Protected the Revolution”), 2011⁠ ⁠ Dive into the rich history and future of the Arabic script. Join Sabiha Basrai for a special tour, in person at the Archive. Fri, Jun 13, 2025 1:30pm–3:00pm PT Register: letterformarchive.org/shop/collect...

fierce pussy, For the Record, 34 × 22.75, New York⁠, 2013 From its appearance in our 2022 Strikethrough exhibition (exhibitions.letterformarchive.org/strikethrough/): “In 1991, at an ACT UP meeting in New York, activists announced the formation of a new group— ⁠ #PrideMonth #HIVAIDSActivism

With more than 600 images, Growing Up in Alphabet City traces Doret’s influences from 1950s Brooklyn to 2000s LA, showcasing his clever logo, signage, and poster projects along the way.⁠ ⁠ #AlphabetCity #BookDesign #BookPublishing #MichaelDoret #Kiss #Disney #NYKnicks

Want to learn type design but aren’t quite ready for a yearlong program? Intro to Modern Type Design with @keltroughton.bsky.social is the ideal 10-week online workshop to get you started. The summer session starts June 12. letterformarchive.org/shop/intro-t... #TypeDesign #Workshop #FontWorkshop

We’re partnering with Stanford to keep languages alive through type design education. Learn more about the Knuth-Bigelow Type Design Incubator: letterformarchive.org/news/the-knu... #TypeDesign #KBI #LetterformArchive #StanfordSILICON

Joker BA Sticker, Walnut Creek, California, 1993⁠ ⁠ Part of the Skills Archives, Greg Lamarche’s collection of materials from the making of Skills magazine in the 1990s. ⁠ #Graffiti #SubscriptionToMischief #JokerBA #JokerTranscend

Introducing Calligraphic Menagerie✨🖌️⁠ ⁠ Twenty charismatic creatures from the quills of 17th- and 18th-century writing masters celebrate the playful art of flourishing in this set of colorful notecards with accompanying envelopes.⁠ ⁠ Available now in our shop: letterformarchive.org/shop/calligr...

really enjoyed this interview with licko & vanderlans letterformarchive.org/news/emigre-...

Letterform Archive’s “10 x 10 for 10 exhibition” opening happened last Saturday to celebrate their 10 year anniversary! ✨ ✨ So I threw my so far 65 LfA portraits into a half head-turn (used to be really cool ca. 8y ago) to showcase them. Didn’t work as well as I thought, but you’ll get the gist. ✨

Jan van de Velde, Spieghel der Schrijfkonste [Mirror of the Art of Writing], 9.25 × 13.25 in, Rotterdam, 1605. “As a kid, viewing the pen strokes of masters up close unlocked a new way to perceive letters. I wanted everyone to have that experience.” — Rob Saunders⁠

ALSO GREAT NEWS There are FOUR spots available here too, to join the workshop of the KBI 2025, with Stanford University @tsmullaney.bsky.social and @letterformarchive.org The 2-sessions workshop for the Arabic group will be lead by Abeera Kamran. +info and details: wordsoftype.com

MORE GREAT NEWS Do you want to join the Donald Knuth and Charles Bigelow Type Design Incubator? (KBI for short) There are FOUR spots still available to the Arabic group. More details and tickets: wordsoftype.com Partnership with @tsmullaney.bsky.social and @letterformarchive.org 💖

Do you want to join the Knuth–Bigelow Incubator full program? There are FOUR spots available to the South East Asia group. More details and tickets: wordsoftype.com Partnership with @tsmullaney.bsky.social Stanford University SILICON program and @letterformarchive.org 💖

GREAT NEWS There are 4 spots to join the workshop of the Knuth Bigelow Incubator, in partnership with @stanfordsilicon and @letterformarchive The workshop for the South East Asian group will be lead by @typespecimint The 2-sessions workshop on its own is 220€. + info, tickets: wordsoftype.com

Specimen for Brush, (Typeface by Robert E. Smith), Lanston Monotype, Philadelphia, 1942. More commonly known as Brush Script in its digital version, Brush is one of the more successful examples of mid-20th-century script lettering translated to metal type. #Typeface #Font #TypeSpecimen

Lloyd Reynolds, Woodcut interpretation of Neuland (typeface by Rudolf Koch), United States, date unknown. Calligraphers have long used Koch’s iconic typeface as a model for strokes made with a broad nib at different angles. In this case Reynolds cut it into wood. ⁠ #TypeHistory #LloydReynolds

NKF: Piet Zwart’s Avant-Garde Catalog for Standard Cables, 1927–1928 Zwart’s innovative use of bold typography, dynamic layouts, and photomontage transformed otherwise dull topics into avant-garde masterpieces.⁠ Grab the facsimile: letterformarchive.org/shop/nkf-pie... #PietZwart #ModernistDesign

NEW: ALA salutes Dr Carla Hayden for her exceptional service to the nation as the Librarian of Congress. We are deeply disappointed in Dr Hayden's abrupt & unjust dismissal last night, an insult to the scope & breadth of her work. Read ALA Pres. Cindy Hohl's statement: www.ala.org/news/2025/05...