Letterform Archive
The Archive was founded by Rob Saunders, a collector of the letter arts for over 40 years, as a place to share his private collection with the public. We opened to visitors in February 2015 and now offer hands-on access to a curated collection of over 50,000 items related to lettering, typography, calligraphy, and graphic design, spanning thousands of years of history.
So far, the Archive has welcomed over 10,000 visitors from 30 countries, including students, practitioners, and letterform admirers from every creative background. Some come with specific research ideas in mind, while others are simply looking for inspiration. Invariably, thanks to the breadth and accessibility of the collection, they stumble on something unexpected. Serendipity is key to the Archive experience.
Learn more about our collections and get news of upcoming events, workshops, and publications. Subscribe to our mailing list: https://letterformarchive.org/mail.
Collections Tour: Concrete Poetry
Looking Back with Rob Saunders & Stephen Coles: The Importance of Material Culture
Clear as day: the story of Clearview
Alfabeti Modernisti Italiani
Drawing on Pop Culture
Music Engraving in the Digital Age with Simon Smith
Salon Series 40: Subscription to Mischief Curators Talk
Salon Series 44: From the Source: A Conversation with Chino BYI
Salon Series 34: Designing Resistance
Salon Series 37: Recovering the Forgotten Women of Metal Type Design with Bethany Qualls
From Gutenberg to the Gallery: Five Decades of Print and Book Art
Salon Series 35: Love
Dafi Kühne at Letterform Archive
Salon Series 42: Trust Your Struggle
Salon Series 47: The Complete Commercial Artist: Making Modern Design in Japan, 1928–1930
Salon Series 38: Designer as Protestor
Salon Series 28: Letterforms of the Viennese Secession
Type Revival for Period Film & TV with Leah Spencer
Salon Series 31: Using Arabic letterforms in Contemporary Book Art
Make Icons Editable, Animated, and Colorful with Font Technologies with Wenting Zhang
Salon Series 32: 36 Days of Type, Paper Sculpture Edition with Zai Divecha
Salon Series 30: Collecting Bauhaus Typography for 40 Years
Salon Series 29: Bauhaus Typefaces
The Mysterious Case of the Shapeshifting Poblano Blackletter with Jesús Barrientos
Salon Series 27: Book Jackets
Salon Series 39: Call and Response: Histories of Designing Protest
Live at the Archive: Glorious Data Graphics with RJ Andrews
Everything is Drag with Kyle Letendre
Die Fläche: Design and Lettering of the Vienna Secession
Salon Series 36: New Ideas in Visual Language with Vivian Sming