W. The endless life of letters

lecture postponed | lecture + workshop

What is the essence of a letter and its recognisability? Is it possible to expand the formal boundaries of letters while preserving what makes them so?

Leonardo Sonnoli, one of the most popular and well-known Italian graphic designers, explores the most incisive aspects intrinsically and formally connected with typography, which have always been investigated in his research and graphic expression.
Known to the public in particular for his poster design, Sonnoli's design activity also includes visual identity for private and public companies, communication programmes for cultural events, book design and signage systems.

Vectors, pencils and pens

april 22 | online lecture

Laura Meseguer will present her work as a continuous exploration of the rela-tionship between calligraphy, lettering, typography and type design, as a fusion between all disciplines. Laura is a freelance designer, educator, typographer, and type designer based in Barcelona, Spain. She specializes in any kind of project based on typography, from lettering for monograms and logotypes to custom typefaces and book design.

No romantic fetishism.

True contemporary design meets traditional printing technology

may 27–28 | lecture + workshop

The typographic poster work of Dafi Kühne is visually magnificently diverse and technically profoundly un-nostalgic. He uses materials and tools—old and new—in the most flexible way with the main goal to push the boundaries of his designs.
Dafi Kühne is a Swiss designer and letterpress printer who dynamically and originally mix analogue and digital tools in his print shop to produce cultural posters. With this one main rule in his studio «No PDF ever leaves the studio as a final product», he prints all posters with letterpress printing presses.

Stop the press!

Content design in the digital age

june 24–25 | lecture + workshop

What is editorial design in the age of printing and the internet? How is a daily newspaper different from a fashion magazine? There are many questions that should stimulate interest in editorial design and typography.
Simon Esterson is an internationally renowned editorial designer and art director. He is best known for his art direction of newspapers and magazines (Blueprint, The Guardian, Domus, Eye) which remain milestones in editorial design.

A great future behind us.

In search of the lost character

september 16–17 | lecture + workshop

Digital type design is currently experiencing a period of great attention to historical tradition, with countless revivals giving new life to forms designed for lead and wood type. For Zetafonts, the challenge is to rediscover the forgotten masterpieces of Italian typography, reinventing them for digital, variable and multilingual technologies. Working on ancient specimens by Nebiolo typefoundry or making digital designs by Aldo Novarese released only for dry transfers are exciting opportunities to ferry them into the contemporary global market and keep alive a tradition of excellence.

The Voice of Brands

september 30 | online lecture

Typography has multiple personalities. As well as identifying and imparting information, it stimulates associations, and designers use it to influence the vision of messages to be read. That's why, in contemporary visual grammar, the ability to use typography to create distinctive and cohesive design systems that build brand recognition has an incisive role to play.
For Astrid Stavro, an internationally renowned designer working in concept driven design, typography has always remained a privileged and essential form of her creative language.

Wine-Manifesto

october 21–22 | lecture + workshop

A wine label is a "micro-world" that can be told and interpreted in a very personal way. It is a space in which to express ideas, points of view on wine and more.
The expressive use of typography, gestural strokes and collage interventions are means available to experiment with new representations of the character of wine.
Alex Natali and Federica Lasi (Mimicoco) deal mainly with visual identity systems for products or product lines with a particular predilection for Food and Wine design, whose romantic nature they always seek.

The Art of Explanation

november 18 | online lecture

Information design is more than charts and graphs. It is a method of organization and visual presentation.
Michael Newhouse has been involved in information design for over 30 years and has worked for a variety of clients. He will help us understand why style is important and, if properly calibrated, can add warmth and humour to dry subjects, talking about developing brand-cohesive icon and chart styles, and incorporating creative typography and illustrations into designs.