Letterform Archive

A fantastic resource discovered by Pete, Letterform Archive is a nonprofit center for inspiration, education, publishing, and community. Basically, an online archive of type, with a search function as simple (and powerful) as sites we know like designspiration.

search functionality

It requires a membership, but priced at $2.50/month for students is well worth it for the vast archives that can be accessed.

We hold physical and digital artifacts in a variety of formats, including books, periodicals, posters, sketches, original art for reproduction, and related ephemera, as well as a robust reference library. Together, these works chronicle the history of written communication, from the invention of writing and medieval manuscripts to modernism, the age of print to the present explosion of digital type. See a sampling.

The Archive doubled its holdings in 2015 by acquiring the typeface specimen collection of the late Dutch publisher Jan Tholenaar. Recently donated archives include Emigre, pioneers of experimental digital design; Ross F. George, author of the Speedball textbooks; and Aaron Marcus, a seminal figure in computer graphics. Also featured prominently in the collection are Rudolf Koch, Jack Stauffacher, Irma Boom, and Piet Zwart.

Type books, lots of lovely type books