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Before design historians became enamored with husband-and-wife creative teams like Charles and Ray Eames, Dorothy Shepard and Otis “Shep” Shepard created some of the most iconic American designs of the 1930s through the mid-20th century. These two powerfully talented commercial artists spearheaded a transition to modernist aesthetics in American advertising. From chewing gum packaging and beer ads to a luxury island, they designed major brand campaigns and experiences across the country.

Spanning stylistic and topical boundaries, Letterform Archive’s collection often invites unexpected and evocative connections. Seen Together is a new blog series featuring our favorite object pairings—works that may come from very different times and places, yet sit next to each other in dialogue on a tour table.

Donated along with their collection in 2016, Emigre’s font development files represent a rare comprehensive view of a digital type foundry’s process. After two years of work, the collection is now digitized in full, a world’s first for such an archive. A selection of objects will be made available to the public through the Online Archive.

We are excited to announce a meaningful way to support Type West students through accessible and high-impact giving. What’s Type West? Type West is a yearlong, postgraduate certificate program in type design available in person in San Francisco or online to students worldwide. We are exceedingly proud of this program, which is now celebrating its tenth year!

How can you support the future of type design through historically grounded, accessible education? Consider joining the Small Foundry Fund.

यह लेटरफॉर्म आर्काइव पर प्रकाशित होने वाला पहला हिंदी लेख है। इसमें दुनिया भर से आई वस्तुएँ शामिल हैं, और यह लेख उनके कुछ चुने हुए उदाहरण प्रस्तुत करता है। इसे लिखने का उद्देश्य सिर्फ़ नए पाठकों तक पहुँचना नहीं है, बल्कि रॉडिकल एक्सेस के विचार को आगे बढ़ाना है, जिस पर लेटरफॉर्म आर्काइव की नींव रखी गई है।

Letterform Archive is honored to welcome author, artist, educator, designer, and podcast pioneer Debbie Millman as a guest curator for our latest reading room exhibition. Tristram Shandy, The First Modern Book showcases a book that, in many ways, feels astonishingly modern—even though it was first published 266 years ago in 1760.

In 1972, the editorial board of Typografische Monatsblätter (TM), one of the leading trade journals in Switzerland, approved a series of cover designs intended to lay the groundwork for the publication’s new artistic direction. Enlisting newly appointed board member Wolfgang Weingart (1941–2021) to produce fifteen covers for the 1972 and ’73 print runs, the outcome inspired both high praise and harsh criticism from a design milieu accustomed to the quiet precision of former art director Robert Büchler (1914–2005) and regular contributor Emil Ruder (1914–1970). Weingart’s provocative covers invited an unprecedented level of controversy by appearing to flout the fundamental principles of modernist design. Instead, his iconoclastic approach struck at the very heart of the Swiss tradition.