At the end of October, Guadalajara, Mexico, became the capital (pun intended) of the typography world. For four days, designers, creative professionals, and the general public immersed themselves in letterforms, from typography and calligraphy to hand lettering and sign painting.
Remember this name – Letrástica!
Held biennially (2024 was its fifth edition), Letrástica Festival is led by Gen Ramirez, an experienced typeface designer, sign painter, calligrapher, and educator from Guadalajara. Ramirez studied at TypeMedia at the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague and completed the Type@Cooper Extended program in San Francisco and the Condensed program in New York.
At Letrástica, I was surprised by the small but growing ‘letters’ community, how passionate, dedicated, and professional they are, and, most importantly, how connected and supportive this collective is. I’ve been fortunate enough to attend design and branding events all over the globe, where you might see creative superstars, but they often exist in their own separate worlds. At Letrástica, you can mingle around the creatives and experience how they all gladly cheer for each other when presenting their work.
Event photos courtesy of Mau Nogueron
The festival featured many engaging workshops where students and professionals gathered to learn from their peers. Also, typography work by students and professionals from around the world was displayed on the conference walls.
Event photos courtesy of Mau Nogueron
The highly skilled and professional Latin creative force from Argentina, Chile, Peru, Colombia, and Mexico was complemented by foreign designers like Kalapi Gajjar (India), Cyrus Highsmith (USA), and the one and only Ellen Lupton (USA), among others.
Collaboration was the main topic around Letrástica, at least from my perspective, as most speakers credited a big part of their success to active participation with other creatives. I found their candor honest, emotionally resonant, and refreshing. This transparency showing the struggles and successes that creatives go through was motivating, making it even more real and relatable.
It was hard for me to narrow down the creatives to highlight in this article, as all are incredibly talented and inspirational.
Marte is an Argentinean designer now residing in NYC who initially studied to be a geologist. She made us laugh about that choice, but we all quickly realized how lucky she was to have made that decision. Her work often is influenced by the shapes and colors found on earth, from the inside or outside of a stone or straight under the microscope. She said this powerful phrase: “What forms you never leaves you.”
© Marte
Daniel Barba, a local designer, leads MonotypoStudio, a company specializing in packaging design, branding, illustration, and editorial design. What caught my attention wasn’t the superb work that Barba and his studio are producing, it was mostly his quirky mind and his ability to extract, deconstruct, and apply concepts from literature, poetry, and philosophy, among other research-rich areas. If you want to have a debate with Barba, come prepared!
© Daniel Barba
Alicia Márquez is a graphic designer and typography professor from Argentina. Her clear and stunning approach to transforming materials was mind-blowing. Márquez’s stone carving craft is soothing and impressive and most definitely could be seen as art. She explained that to her the process is what matters most, probably more than the end result.
© Alicia Márquez
Last but not least, legendary designer Ellen Lupton, or as many know her, Type Mom, for her educational yet fun Instagram posts about typography. I was lucky to spend more time with her and was surprised at how eager she is to keep exploring after all her success. She’s quite passionate about baking and explained how similar it is to design. From the selection of the materials, ways of mixing them, timing, quantities, and finishes, you can get an amazing result or burn the whole thing. Lupton imparted a sensorial design workshop and a lecture about how to fall in love with typography, and she killed it!
It has been a while since this old dog has been this lifted and inspired by the spirit and work of the upcoming young creatives and the successful and experienced designers.
A spark has been lit inside me.
Letrástica is not just a festival, engaging a growing community of hundreds of type and design enthusiasts spanning 39 countries. Its focus is on sharing the typographic work of the Latin American and Mexican regional community with the world. The organization hosts free workshops, drawing sessions, contests, mentoring, and more, all centered around learning, sharing knowledge, and exchanging ideas.
Ricardo Saca is the US and Mexico managing partner for Cato Brand Partners, a global design and branding consultancy. He has a Master’s in Branding from the School of Visual Arts in New York City and has 20+ years of experience working with a wide range of companies, from startups to airlines. He is a plant-based animal lover and a cyclist.
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