Letterform Archive facts for kids
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| Established | 2014 |
|---|---|
| Location | 2325 Third St Floor 4R San Francisco, CA 94107 |
| Founder | Rob Saunders |
The Letterform Archive is a special museum and library in San Francisco, California. It's a non-profit place, which means it's not trying to make money. Instead, it collects and shares amazing things about letters, fonts, printing, and graphic design.
Think of it as a treasure chest for all things related to how words and pictures look on paper or screens! Rob Saunders, a graphic designer, started the museum in 2014. He began with his own huge collection of books, magazines, posters, and other cool items. The museum first opened its doors in February 2015 with 15,000 items. It moved to a bigger space in 2020. You can visit the gallery to see exhibits or book a special tour or research visit.
Contents
What's in the Collection?
By 2020, the Letterform Archive had collected over 100,000 items! That's a lot of history about letters and design.
Special Additions
In 2015, the Archive got a huge collection from a Dutch collector named Jan Tholenaar. The next year, in 2016, they received over 200 wood type prints. These are like big wooden stamps used for printing, from a local printer named Jack Stauffacher.
Emigre Graphics, a famous design company, also gave a large collection of their work. This included interviews, printed pages, posters, and all the issues of their magazine, Emigre.
Digital Treasures
In 2019, the Archive made nearly 1,500 of its works available online. This means you can explore about 9,000 images from their collection right from your computer!
Cool Exhibitions
The Letterform Archive often hosts exciting shows that display items from their collection.
Past Shows
From January to April 2016, the Archive presented an exhibit called "Without Type: The Dynamism of Handmade Letters." They did this with the San Francisco Center for the Book.
New Gallery Space
In 2020, the Archive moved to the Dogpatch area of San Francisco. This new space was built just for them and has a special gallery. Now, visitors can see highlights from the collection during regular open hours. The first three shows in this new gallery featured Bauhaus typography, protest graphics, and graffiti zines.
Publishing Books
The Archive also publishes its own books. These books are about the amazing materials found in their collection.
Books About Designers
In 2017, they published a full story about the work of W. A. Dwiggins. In 2019, they released a book about the work of Jennifer Morla, which she also designed. A book about Jack Stauffacher's prints came out in 2020.
Other Publications
They also published The Complete Commercial Artist. This book brings together a Japanese design publication from 1928–1930. Letterform Archive Books also creates catalogs for their gallery shows. These include Bauhaus Typography at 100 and Strikethrough: Typographic Messages of Protest. In 2023, they started a series of exact copies of old design books. The first one was Die Fläche (Facsimile Edition): Design and Lettering of the Vienna Secession, 1902–1911.
Learning and Education
The Archive has a great education program to help people learn about design.
Programs and Workshops
Their program includes Type West, which is a full-year course to learn how to design typefaces (fonts). They also offer workshops on lettering (drawing letters) and typography (arranging type). Plus, they have a series of lectures where experts share their knowledge.
Visiting Experts
The Archive often hosts workshops and talks with famous designers. For example, type workshops have been led by designers like Cyrus Highsmith and Sumner Stone. There have been calligraphy workshops with Lynne Yun and sign painting workshops by Better Letters Co. Well-known speakers like Irma Boom, Emory Douglas, Steve Heller, Susan Kare, and Saki Mafundikwa have also given talks.
