Tour Letterform Archive’s gallery and get hands-on access to material curated specifically for ATypI attendees.
Letterform Archive is a nonprofit center for inspiration, education, and community in graphic design, with a collection of over 100,000 items illuminating the history of calligraphy, lettering, and typography. This guided tour, led by Archive curators Rob Saunders and Stephen Coles, will include the current exhibition, Piet Zwart: Brand Architect, and a hands-on table of objects curated to coincide with the themes of ATypI 2026 Stanford and the Archive’s popup exhibition onsite at the conference. Material will include medieval manuscripts, early printing, broadsides, lettering manuals, and type specimens from around the world. Light refreshments will be provided.
Getting to the Archive
Letterform Archive is in San Francisco, about 35 miles north of the Stanford campus. Travel time is about an hour by car, and a little less by public transit. We recommend taking CalTrain from the Palo Alto station to 22nd St. More info on Google Maps.
Parking
Street parking is limited, but most available on Illinois Street, behind the Archive building. There is a paid parking lot at Illinois and 20th Streets.
Speaker
Rob Saunders
Rob Saunders, Executive Director and Curator, (he/him), is a designer, teacher, publisher, and management consultant, who has collected graphic design and letterforms for over 40 years. Rob began his career teaching at The School of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston and Tufts University, while serving freelance clients and agencies, before founding a book publishing enterprise that included Alphabet Press (graphic design), Picture Book Studio (children’s books), and Rabbit Ears Books (book/audio packages), which was eventually acquired by Simon & Schuster. Prior to founding Letterform Archive he served as a creative and marketing consultant with clients in the hospitality, technology, and financial industries.
Speaker
Stephen Coles
Stephen “Stewf” Coles, Associate Curator & Editorial Director (he/him), joined Letterform Archive after serving on its Board of Directors since its inception. For over 20 years, he has been active in the type community, initially as a creative director at FontShop, and later as a consultant, connecting font makers with users. Stephen wrote the book The Anatomy of Type and co-founded the websites Typographica and Fonts In Use. With his background in design and journalism, combined with a love of type history, Stephen is responsible for the online voice of the Archive, and shares the collection through the blog and other editorial projects. As a member of the curatorial team, Stephen helps shape the future of the collection, and he co-curated the Strikethrough exhibition.
Rob Saunders 
Stephen Coles 
