ECAL A Typographic Atlas Conference

Monday, June 22, 2026, 6:30 - 8:30pm

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A white globe with letters NEW YORK in red across a grid of segments. The globe is set against on a light background. To the right is text set in red that reads: ECAL A Typographic Atlas

The practice of designing typefaces is highly specialized. It is easy, then, to go into the rabbit hole of drawing and curve fine-tuning, forgetting the fact that letterforms are primarily material for other means of communication—that is, graphic design. The Bachelor Graphic Design and Master Type Design at ECAL/University of Art and Design Lausanne, Switzerland, take these questions seriously, but with a sense of fun.

Celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Master in 2026, they have developed a traveling exhibition and a book reflecting on letterforms and how to present them through the principle of an atlas. On the occasion of the exhibition’s opening in its New York stop—after Torino, Leipzig, and Paris, and before Montréal and Pasadena—this talk will introduce the audience to the interplay between graphic and type design. It will present diploma projects by three graduates and trace the evolution of their practices, bridging the skills of font production with the broader perspectives of art direction and graphic design.

How we make fonts. How we show fonts. And how we use them.

The conference will be presented by Angelo Benedetto, Sean Ervan Kuhnke, Rebekka Hausmann, and Nayo Kim
 

Registration Required -- Register Here

Located in the Frederick P. Rose Auditorium, at 41 Cooper Square (on Third Avenue between 6th and 7th Streets)

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  • Founded by inventor, industrialist and philanthropist Peter Cooper in 1859, The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art offers education in art, architecture and engineering, as well as courses in the humanities and social sciences.

  • “My feelings, my desires, my hopes, embrace humanity throughout the world,” Peter Cooper proclaimed in a speech in 1853. He looked forward to a time when, “knowledge shall cover the earth as waters cover the great deep.”

  • From its beginnings, Cooper Union was a unique institution, dedicated to founder Peter Cooper's proposition that education is the key not only to personal prosperity but to civic virtue and harmony.

  • Peter Cooper wanted his graduates to acquire the technical mastery and entrepreneurial skills, enrich their intellects and spark their creativity, and develop a sense of social justice that would translate into action.