A few days ago, some fellow Woo designers, Marta, Daniel, Verónica, and I, had the chance to visit the Archivio Tipografico during WCEU 2024 in Torino. A “collaborative space for the preservation, the study, and the practice of typographic arts,” as put in their own words.
Being in a city with a rich design history like Torino and having the opportunity to visit places like the Archivio Tipografico pushes you to seek out spots to learn from and get inspired, especially within the collaborative spirit that characterizes WordCamp and the WordPress community.
On Thursday evening, we attended an event that was part of Metronimìe, a performative poetry festival celebrated each year in the city. The event held three different activities, one of which involved printing posters in one of the print machines they preserve.
Walking into the space, surrounded by old printing machines and rows upon rows of typefaces, was delightful. Many of us were instantly transported back to college days when a love for design bloomed in our hearts.
We saw original sketches and print tests made by the renowned type designer Aldo Novarese. The precision in every line was stunning; you could tell that these were well-thought-out ideas, almost ready to be printed.
Our conversations naturally drifted back to what we’d seen during the visit. We kept coming back to how important it is to learn typography from physical materials and how that experience impacts our approach to design. How can we bring that level of craftiness to digital screens? What’s the unique texture of a screen that sets it apart from paper? How adaptable does a spacing system need to be to create a layout that feels just right? And what are those unintentional quirks that enrich a design?
With those questions in mind, we left the space fascinated by the experience and grateful to Archivio Tipográfico for welcoming us and letting us explore the space and the artifacts they carefully maintain. It was an experience that left us inspired and deeply appreciative of the history and craft of typography.
Automattic Design