Typographics 2023 Photo Gallery

Typographics, the "design festival for people who use type," turned nine earlier this June. More than 800 designers and type aficionados from around the world gathered at The Cooper Union as well as online to immerse themselves in contemporary typo­graphy and design. Co-organized by The Herb Lubalin Study Center and Type@Cooper, the 11-day event in and around Cooper's Foundation Building and 41 Cooper Square included workshops covering every­thing from hand lettering to creative coding, tours, a book fair, TypeLab (in-person and online), and the main conference. This year the Great Hall stage welcomed 20 speakers including Sagi Haviv, a 2003 School of Art alumnus.

As part of the festival, the Lubalin Center mounted three exhibitions that run through July 13, including Ukrainian Letters (temporary) Museum by Kateryna Korolevtseva, featuring 33 letters of the Ukrainian alphabet on view in the Foundation Building's colonnade windows; Літери в місті — Odesa City Letters, an installation of 24 posters by the Odesa City Letters project, a museum devoted to the lettering legacy of Odesa; and ❤️ Milton, an installation of Milton Glaser's better-known work alongside some surprising designs. The latter exhibitions were both on view in 41 Cooper Square Gallery. The following photos are a sample of moments around the festival. 

Watch the conference talks for June 16 here and June 17 here.

Photos by Marget Long except where noted* 

  • 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.