Inspire Me
The Online Archive
Letterform Archive’s digitized collection of graphic design and typography artifacts, accessible from anywhere in the world.
The Online Archive is your access to Letterform Archive's collection from anywhere with an internet connection. Browse our trove of digitized materials — over 3500 items and counting — by country, designer, decade, or format. Our visual search feature shows instant results as you filter, making it easy to find endless design inspiration at a glance.
Each object is meticulously photographed to produce the most lifelike, dimensional images possible. Unlike a scanner, a camera captures the detail and texture of paper and ink, as well as the relief image of letterpress or engraved printing. The web optimized images retain as much of this detail as possible, even when zooming, while remaining browsable from any device.
The Online Archive is uniquely designed with designers in mind. Our librarians found that existing vocabularies for cataloging fine art or architecture didn't manage to describe our collection in terms that designers would already be familiar with. Rather than borrowing a vocabulary from another discipline that doesn't quite fit, we decided to create a graphic-design-specific one for the most intuitive browsing experience.
Read the latest updates about the Online Archive in our Blog.
A Database Designed for Designers
- Designers discuss the development of the database architecture and UX of the Online Archive.
- Digitization experts describe our process for producing high quality documentation.
- Librarians lay out the challenges of cataloguing our unique collection.
Quick Tip
Experience the Collection
Peruse our ever-growing gallery of high-quality images accessible online from anywhere. See what catches your eye and get inspired!
Join the Community
The easiest way to support the Online Archive is to become a Letterform Archive member. Join our worldwide community and get the exclusive ability to share your Tables.
Explore in Person
There is no substitute for getting to hold a rare book or designer’s original sketch in your own hands. Visit Letterform Archive in person to study items from our collection.
Highlights from the collection
Emigre Magazine Archive
The Online Archive provides access to the complete run of the pioneering Emigre magazine, an early adopter of digital design tools, thanks to a gift of archival material from the co-founders of Emigre, Inc.
Sheaff Ephemera Collection
Richard Sheaff's personal collection of nineteenth- and twentieth-century ephemera offers thousands of colorful examples of typefaces in use from an exciting period for printing and letterform innovation.
Ross F. George Collection
The family of Ross George, sign painter and inventor of the Speedball pen, donated his drawings for original alphabets published in the Speedball textbooks, pens, showcards, and other examples of lettering which are now available in the Online Archive
Counterculture Periodicals
These periodicals produced during an explosion of DIY and independent publishing in the 60's and 70's imagine new ways of living and being through inventive, eye-catching design.
W. A. Dwiggins Collection
The Online Archive hosts drawings, lettering, original art for reproduction, books, book jackets, typeface proofs, and more from W. A. Dwiggins, the innovative and beloved design pioneer.
Type West Specimens
Check out the type specimens designed by students in our Type West certificate program, which draws on research in our collection to teach designers how to make original typefaces.
Tables in the Online Archive
Inspired by the tabletop tours we lead at the Archive, Online Archive tables are a tool for collecting and arranging items for research and inspiration. Anyone with an account can make their own Tables, and members have the exclusive ability to share their Tables they make with the wider Online Archive community.
Make & Share Your Own Tables
Learn how Letterform Archive account holders can make selections of images from the Online Archive to set their own Tables.
Chronological Type History
Tables set by Letterform Archive staff teach you a visual history of the evolution of the Latin letterform, from the days of calligraphy predating the first printed books all the way through to the digital age.
Guest-Curated Tables
We invited friends of the Archive to curate Tables in the Online Archive. Explore their selections of process work, overprinting, displays of blackness, and more.
An Incomplete and Ongoing Index for Emigre Magazine
Jon Sueda revisited the inspirational Emigre Magazine through the Online Archive and created this table to highlight key terms and topics that continue to resonate with graphic design today.
Alternative Design Education
These tables present a more unconventional approach to learning about letterforms through artist books, women designers, objects that break the Swiss Grid, and more!
Highlighted Tables
Here's a selection of some of our favorite tables curated from the Online Archive.
