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About Letterform Archive

Established in 2015, Letterform Archive is a San Francisco nonprofit center for inspiration, education, and community. We preserve over 100,000 artifacts of calligraphy, lettering, typography, and graphic design, and make them radically accessible to the public through exhibitions, publications, hands-on tours, and the Online Archive. We offer a yearlong certificate program in type design, accompanied by public workshops, lectures, and salons on the letter arts, both in-person and online.

About Type West

Type West is an educational program offered by Letterform Archive consisting of a Postgraduate Certificate Program in Type Design, public workshops in letter arts, and a free lecture series. Learn more at letterformarchive.org

Thank You from the In Person cohort

The 2024 In-Person cohort just wrapped up a year that was equal parts thrilling, intense, and eye-opening—a feat made possible by an extraordinary cast of humans who shared their knowledge, time, and patience. To our teachers, teaching assistants, the incredible Letterform Archive staff, workshop leaders, guest instructors, lecturers, and critics: thank you. You challenged us, guided us, and kept showing up, even when we were drowning in type proofs and existential crises. Your generosity extended far beyond the classroom, and we felt it.

Tuesdays were something else. Flipping through type history, handling original specimens, and watching centuries-old letterforms mess with our brains—it was a real privilege. A weekly dose of creative fuel. Thursdays, on the other hand, were short but sweet. Logging in, picking up a few tricks to smooth out our workflow, and most importantly, remembering that we weren’t alone in the strange, obsessive act of drawing typefaces. A brief moment of connection, but a meaningful one.

And, of course, a massive thank you to our families, partners, friends (both human and animal) who kept us sane, cheered us on, and forgave the ink-stained fingers, late nights, and occasional typographic rants. We couldn't have done it without you.

Thank You from the Online cohort

We couldn’t have done it without you! The Type West Online Cohort of 2024 would like to express our heartfelt gratitude to everyone at the Letterform Archive, as well as to all the instructors, teaching assistants, guest speakers, friends, and families who have supported us throughout this journey.

To say it’s been an incredible experience doesn’t even begin to cover it. We've had the opportunity to explore the vast treasures of the archive, learn about the many techniques and tools of type design, and dive deep into the history of type from all corners of the world. While each of us came into the program with different backgrounds in type design, our instructors — Sahar Afshar, Michele Patanè, Ro Hérnandez, and Fer Cozzi — have guided and helped us grow as designers every step of the way. A huge thank you to our TAs Allie Schmitz, Nora Warschewski, and Kurt F. Shaffert, for their constant encouragement and insightful advice throughout the year. You've all helped us navigate the jungle of serifs, axes, spacing, and so much more!

A special thank you to Ewan Clayton, Briar Levit, and Grendl Löfkvist for their in-depth lectures on type history, the tools of the trade, and for introducing us to the extended languages and scripts. We’re also incredibly grateful for the hands-on workshops with Gen Ramírez, Cyrus Highsmith, and Rob Saunders, which pushed us to explore the roots of type design and take our own work further. Thank you, Anna Khorash, for opening our eyes to the exciting world of italic design. We are forever grateful to Aleksandra Samuļenkova for her expertise in diacritics and for helping us incorporate them into our designs. A big shout-out to Colin M. Ford for guiding us through the complex world of font engineering. We’d also like to thank all the guest speakers who generously shared their knowledge and experiences with us. Last but not least, a huge thank you to everyone at the Letterform Archive, with special thanks to Priscilla ‘Skilla’ Zaccalini and Stephen Coles for always being there for us.

It’s hard to believe it’s already been one year since we first started Type West. As we move on to the next chapter in our journey, we look forward to being a part of the type design community. Thank you all for believing in us and supporting us along the way!