You don’t have to be a member to come along, everyone is welcome. They are held at The Art Workers’ Guild in London and whenever possible they are also live-streamed.
May
Calligrapher, Japanese calligrapher
I would like to introduce ‘Japanese’ calligraphy with our written language and how I was trained as a Japanese calligrapher. What did I learn and how, then discovered the alphabet calligraphy later, how I learnt it. Also what sort of jobs I get in UK as a calligrapher, and a Japanese calligrapher.
kcalligraphy.com
This is an in-person and live-streamed event
Members £10, non-members £15, students £8
You can pay at the door or book tickets in advance via Eventbrite
21 May 2025
18:30 – 20:30
The Art Workers’ Guild
Map
Jun
Lettering artist
I have been carving letters, mostly in wood, since the 1970s. My main interest is in the way that design and presentation influence what the words mean to the viewer. My talk will concentrate on my experiments.
goldmarkart.com/collections/martin-wenham
This is an in-person and live-streamed event
Members £10, non-members £15, students £8
You can pay at the door or book tickets in advance via Eventbrite
18 June 2025
18:30 – 20:30
The Art Workers’ Guild
Map
Apr
Collector and writer, book art
I collect and write about works of book art. Most are artists’ books, but there are prints, fine
press books, children’s books, sculpture and more – even the digital. As the Books On Books
Collection has grown, a subset has developed reflecting some curious affinities among the
works. Alphabets have inspired many of them. Architecture, too. But some have been inspired
by both together. I’m going to share several of the works in these categories and explore with
you some ideas on how their creators brought those inspirations together in their works. I hope
this will give some idea of what I think book art is, and why these particular works represent it so
well.
My background is primarily in publishing with houses such as MIT Press and McGraw-Hill and
institutions such as BSI and the International Baccalaureate. I’ve curated exhibitions of my
collections works for Jesus College, Cambridge; the University of the West of England, Bristol;
and the Bodleian Libraries, Oxford.
books-on-books.com
Mar
Lettercutter, lettering artist and art curator
“The context in which you operate has an impact on your work. I trained and worked as a lettercutter in the UK and studied type design in the Netherlands, before moving back home to Sweden. The journey has been interesting and has taught me one or two unexpected things along the way.”
Annika Petersson combines her letter-cutting business, Inscriptorum, with work as an arts officer for the local council. She trained in the Cardozo Kindersley Workshop and at the Art Academy in The Hague. She also has a degree in Art History and Philosophy.
inscriptorum.com
Feb
Lecturer
MacDonald ‘Max’ Gill, younger brother of the sculptor Eric Gill, was a letterer and graphic artist famed for his pictorial map posters for the London Underground. His painted map panels still decorate landmark buildings such as the Palace of Westminster and Lindisfarne Castle while all British military headstones are still carved with his iconic alphabet and badges. In this lecture Max’s great niece Caroline Walker reveals the colourful story of his life, his lettering and his love of map-making.
macdonaldgill.com
Dec
Illustrator
We have based graphic communication on centuries of finely tuned typefaces. Then I come along, & paint, draw & print them badly. They wobble, they look a tad drunken, they bend around corners. And I love every minute of it.
heartagency.com/artists/jonny-hannah
Nov
Type design, lettering, research and engineering
Capitals, lowercase, numbers, diacritics, punctuation, etc. lettering design fundamentally deals with systems, and the interactions between them. But these relationships are wonderfully varied, and in many ways unstable. I am offering some perspectives on the topic grounded by about 15 years of professional type design & lettering practice at the intersection of technology and the liberal arts.
cavedoni.com
Oct
Lettering artist and typeface designer
Carol Kemp is a UK lettering artist and typeface designer. Throughout a career spanning four decades, Carol’s methods have evolved from analogue to digital. She continues to work using a variety of tools and techniques, making letters calligraphically, drawn and digitally. Carol produces logos and fonts for numerous global brands and has lettered titles for over 800 books. Her first font ‘Party’, was released in 1993 for Letraset. Alongside commissioned work, Carol creates artworks of personal significance using fibre, wood, and stone. Join Carol as she reflects on her work as a lettering artist, typeface designer and occasional stand-up.
carolkemp.com
Jun
Calligrapher, typographer, design historian, educator
An overview of the calligraphy and lettering of American graphic designer W.A. Dwiggins (1880–1956) from his roots in the Arts & Crafts movement to Art Deco-influenced lettering and idiosyncratic scripts.
Paul Shaw has been researching, writing about and lecturing on the life and work of W.A. Dwiggins since 1977.
paulshawletterdesign.com
May
Arabic calligraphy artist and instructor
Mahmoud is an award-winning Arabic Calligraphy artist, instructor, and designer from Egypt who has been fascinated by the art of calligraphy since a young age. After many years of studying calligraphy, Mahmoud started to share his art and thoughts to let people see the beauty beyond this magnificent art. Through this talk, Mahmoud will share with you his passion for Arabic calligraphy and why he considers it a unique art by questioning different aspects historically, technically, and artistically.
callimoud.com
YouTube
Apr
Lettering, illustration and type designer
From his Bristol-based studio, Jamie Clarke designs illustrative lettering projects alongside contemporary typefaces. Balancing these two letter-led, but distinct disciplines, has led him to discover an endless cycle of fresh ideas and new opportunities as well as giving him freedom that comes from switching between activities. In his talk, Jamie will share how his approach to drawing letters developed and explain how his two specialities interconnect and influence each other.
jamieclarketype.com
Mar
Calligrapher, lettering artist and painter
‘Writing and painting share a common source’ is a Chinese maxim. It is true of Chinese calligraphy and painting because both are executed with the brush. For Susie it is not so different. Having begun her lettering career with the pen, Susie has gone on to develop many forms of brush lettering before taking the brush further, into the realm of abstract painting. How have those beginnings in lettering influenced her painting? How does she now navigate between the two disciplines?
susieleiper.com
An absorbing and informative article about Susie and her work can be found on the Art-Scot website at art-scot.com/susie-leiper
Feb
Letterpress artist, graphic designer & art director
My love of letterforms has developed throughout my career and how I use them has changed dramatically. As a corporate designer and art director working for luxury brands, such as Harrods and Condé Nast, through to my work as a printmaker in the Wood Words Letterpress Studio, I’d like to explore how I have used both digital and analogue typography to capture an audience, communicate ideals and to make art and how corporate constraints and artistic freedoms have affected my work.
woodwordsletterpress.com
Dec
Lettercarver
Over a long career starting in 1966 when he set up his own studio in London after 5 years working for his father David, Richard has undertaken hundreds of prestigious public and private commissions around the world involving lettering and sculpture in a wide variety of materials, some on a large architectural scale using innovative techniques. He has inscriptions in many public places including the Supreme Court, Parliament Square London, and in great churches and cathedrals around the country including St Paul’s and Westminster Abbey. Several successful lettercarvers owe their training to Richard, who has also been awarded an Honorary Fellow of the RIBA.
kindersleystudio.co.uk
Nov
Design writer (MW) and Architect (TS)
Architect Tszwai So and writer Michèle Woodger discuss a selection of contemporary architect-designed memorials from the 21st century which feature in their recent book ‘Remembrance Now’ (Lund Humphries, 2023). Chosen from a wide geographical spread, the memorials are hauntingly eloquent and often make surprising use of materials; their architects’ insights – gleaned from interviews – will be shared. So will discuss his recent memorial projects in London and for the EU parliament, Brussels.
lundhumphries.com/products/remembrance-now
Oct
Lettercarver
I’ve been a lettercarver for 45 years. The first dozen years as a trade lettercarver. I was then inspired by a slate carving I saw by Richard Kindersley. Set about the long journey to become an artist/lettercarver with a lot of help from Alec Peever and some from Suzanne Haines and Michael Harvey. I set up my workshop 25 years ago. I have had some amazing commissions including The Great Court of The British Museum. I also designed 1 silver/gilt and 2 gold medal winning Chelsea Flower Show gardens.
martincookstudio.co.uk
Jun
Type designer and calligrapher
The way of letter creation, movement or stability, halftones or the solid black, and many other distinct characteristics of typographic and calligraphic letters are a fruitful field for exploration and insight. Vera is going to speak about the properties of letterforms in type and calligraphy that she experiences in her projects. Opposites and similarities of these forms’ nature provoke new ideas to evolve in both fields.
behance.net/VeraEvstafieva
May
Type designer
Type design is an activity that goes beyond the mere creation of new forms to provide an increasingly saturated market of typefaces. As a specialized activity, it can contribute to a more inclusive dialogue within the framework of our global society. Typecraft Initiative organizes and develops type design workshops in which communities of artisans (mainly women) are involved to link their skills and expertise in drawing letters. A strategic aspect is to use these workshops as a way to introduce design methodologies to local communities in India.
andreubalius.com
typerepublic.com
Apr
Lettercutter and sculptor
Many things can cause a change in design or working practice. These changes often have a positive influence on current and subsequent work. I predominantly take on commissions for individuals and families. Collaborating with clients to develop designs feels very rewarding. It leads to unexpected changes in direction, and can frequently spark exciting new ideas.
(Photograph by Douglas Atfield)
louisetiplady.com
Mar
Calligrapher, graphic designer and bookbinder
I believe all things are creatively connected. All the books, pens, type, printing-presses, computers, paints, fabrics, postcards, empty cans, tools, rags, pigments, glasses, magazines, scanners, book-presses, yarn, threads, needles, nibs, brushes and all the other things I have forgotten to mention that are crammed into my studio. They are all part of my creative process together with the people you meet and places you go. In this lecture I will look at the red thread that connects them all in my professional life.
kalligrafi.no
Feb
Typographic artist, designer and lecturer
A talk about the pleasure to be found in using commercially obsolete print processes to create typographic art; the delights of the analogue; and the ‘thingy-ness’ of books.
Barrie Tullett is a lecturer and graphic designer, who, for over thirty years, has been working on a project to typographically illustrate each Canto of Dante’s Divine Comedy using a different ‘commercially obsolete’ technology for each book.
the-case.co.uk
Dec
Lettering artist
Being a lettering artist was never my plan. That was something my Dad did. My teenage toe-dip into calligraphy was swiftly deemed both extremely boring and way too difficult. But after career-ing off for 20 years exploring most corners of graphic design, I find myself today firmly fixated on drawing letters, for clients around the world. My talk is about this journey, what it is about letters that keeps me coming back and my obsession with seeking out new (yet familiar) forms within the 26 pre-defined set of shapes that constitute the lettering artist’s ‘blank canvas’.
danforster.com
This lecture is available in the Archive
Nov
Lettering artist
Seb Lester charts his life in letters from student days to working for some of the biggest companies in the world. The presentation includes a section on designing a logo for a NASA space mission. Lester discusses new passions and obsessions, how he ended up with two million followers on social media, and how he became the first visual artist to be offered a one year contract by Apple.
seblester.com
Oct
Wood engraver, designer
Of all the crafts that William Morris undertook, his calligraphy was perhaps the most personal, his painted manuscripts being either for his own pleasure or as gifts for friends. The time, patience and detailed execution required for these writings contrast with a popular image of Morris as someone who didn’t have the temperament for such painstaking, repetitive work.
peteralawrence.co.uk