From Poster to Alphabet: A Typographic Workshop with Lavinia Lascaris & Ximena Amaya at the TypeLab at Typographics 2025.

This workshop will begin with a presentation of original posters and special books from the HMCT Archive, selected for their expressive use of typography. Participants will closely examine the letterforms, compositions, and typographic gestures in the posters, using tracing, drawing, and other analog methods to extract and reinterpret elements. The focus is on engaging directly with the materiality of type—shapes, rhythm, and texture. The final outcome is the design of an original alphabet, built from inspiration found in the archive. This is a hands-on session that invites participants to look closely, take apart, and rebuild letterforms in new ways. The posters presented in the workshop will be drawn from HMCT’s collections, including Polish posters, works by Rick Valicenti (Thirst), Alan Kitching (The New Typography Workshop), Imprint Enlace, Vernon Simpson, Colby Printing Co., and others.