Inside NKF: Piet Zwart’s Avant-Garde Catalog for Standard Cables, 1927–1928
The new facsimile from Letterform Archive Books brings a Dutch design classic into the present.
News / Publishing
Hot off the Press: New Books, Just in Time for the Holidays
Letterform Archive wraps up a banner year in publishing. Here’s the latest on our final releases of 2024 — plus a limited-time deal for members.
At Letterform Archive Books, the team has the honor and the privilege of crafting books that tell the story of our collection. This year, we have been delighted to deliver up a dozen beautiful titles — ranging from an entertaining and visually splendid autobiography by lettering artist Michael Doret to a dynamic facsimile edition of Piet Zwart’s famed 1928 catalog for a Dutch cable company to Letter Love, a pleasing sampler of letterforms presented in a pint-sized postcard booklet.
Staff Picks: Letterform Archive’s Holiday Gift Guide 2024
Got a discerning designer on your shopping list? We asked our team for their favorite gift ideas from the Archive.
This holiday season, Letterform Archive staff members bring you their favorite gift ideas from our shop. From letterpress postcards printed by hand to colorful design books and cozy, type-forward blankets, we’ve got unique ideas for every type and design lover on your list.
Every purchase you make helps support the Archive’s education, exhibition, and preservation programs. Dive into our favorites and find something for everyone you love.
Order your gifts now! Thursday, December 19 at midnight is the last day for delivery by December 24.
Inside the Type By series: Bernhard, Excoffon, and Novarese
Three volumes of rare specimen facsimiles lift the curtain on twentieth-century type, gathering essential documents of trendsetting faces as they were first meant to be seen.
Inside Emigre Fonts, Type Specimens, 1986–2024
With 40 complete type specimens packed into 5 pounds, this compendium documents the output of one of the earliest (and most prolific) digital type foundries. Here’s a peek at the book’s foreword.
When Rudy VanderLans and Zuzana Licko donated the Emigre papers to Letterform Archive not long after we opened our doors in 2015, we were spoiled for all collections to follow.
It wasn’t just that their archive was rich with material that defined an important era in design—one in which the new digital tools of the 1980s and ’90s created a surge in independent publishing and type design, with VanderLans and Licko’s innovative Emigre magazine and digital foundry at the forefront.
Behind the Scenes with Licko & VanderLans
We connect with the duo responsible for Emigre Fonts, whose specimens are reproduced in the latest title from Letterform Archive Books.
With cutting-edge fonts based on the bitmap as well as digital revivals that transcended the screen, Emigre Fonts pioneered type design in the early days of the pixel. But it was their formidable commitment to print that documented—and helped affirm—their contributions to twentieth-century visual culture.
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.
A Primer on Letterform Archive Books
Revenue Director Grace Tsai reflects on what she’s learned about the range of titles published by Letterform Archive.
Letterform Archive is home to all who love great design. The Archive is also home to all of us who love letters, art, and books, and nowhere is that more apparent and alive than in our publishing program. I joined the Archive’s team as Revenue Director last June. Since then, it’s been a pleasure for me to learn not just about our immense collection, but about the exquisite books we publish. As a lay person new to the world of publishing, I’ve learned so much from our knowledgeable and talented Letterform Archive Books team, led by Lucie Parker.