10.30 Coffee and arrivals

11.00 Danila Rigovskiy – “Welcome and Introduction to the Constellations in Metal project. ”

11.30 Aleksandra Samuļenkova – “When lettershapes shift”

12.15  Paweł Schulz – “Digital type initiatives in museum setting”

13.00 Lunch Break

14.00 Laimė Lukošiūnaitė – “Letters in Transit: Form, Adaptation, and Authorship in Interwar Lithuanian Type Specimens”

14.45 Lewis McGuffie – “The Ur Types: A Gothic Type Family”

15.30 Coffee break

16.00 Julia Syrzistie – “Letterpress as artistic research and studio-based practice”

16.45 Ivar Sakk – “Type in Estonia 1918–1940: printing offices, typefaces, type foundries”

18.00 Close

“When lettershapes shift”

Abstract: A single letter carries little information, as it is the smallest unit of a (phonemic) writing system. Once a letter assumes a physical form through writing, printing, or any other means of reproduction, it transforms from an abstract notion into a tangible letterform. A single letterform, in turn, conveys more than the concept underlying it. Like any other cultural artefact, a letterform tells us about the environment in which it was shaped. The shape of a letter reflects socio-cultural, political, and technological processes, it may also be a way of making a statement.

Aleksandra Samuļenkova is a Latvian-born type designer based in the Netherlands. She designs for Latin, Cyrillic and (occasionally) Greek, and consults on the former two scripts. Aleksandra is known for her typeface Pilot—one of the few contemporary type designs that has been cast in metal, as well as for her award-winning Cyrillic and Greek extensions of notable
typefaces such as IBM Plex. Aleksandra also specializes in designing diacritics and special characters for the Latin script, and enjoys lecturing on the topic at various educational institutions, among others—her alma mater—Type and Media Master programme at the Royal Academy of Art in the Hague.

“Digital type initiatives in museum setting”

Abstract: The presentation will showcase a font database project, which started in the late 2024. From a simple TYPA museum inventory, it grew into a set of font design digital tools  and frameworks. Presentation showcases methods of organising data for physical font collections in useful ways for research and font design work.

The database inspired a set of tools for manufacturing physical type and font revival work. By generating programatically font files from photographs of museum collection, we were able to create a unique framework for font revival workshops. The outcome of which was a new wood type for traditional printing. Another set of tools used for generating CAD ready files from .ttf fonts is used for cutting new wood type as well as matrices for a new monotype caster font.

Currently we are working on integrating other collections into the dataset such as EKA.

Paweł Schulz is a design freelancer from Poland. He obtained a master’s degree in Typeface Design from the University of Reading in 2022, in 2023 his multi-script typeface family Esja won the student Type Directors Club award. He worked on EA sans font wth F37 foundry. In 2024 he started a year long volunteering project in Typa printing museum in Tartu Estonia. The outcome of which was the museum font database, which he works on to this day. Although not a programmer by trade he is technically minded, and often mixes coding with his design and research practice.

Letters in Transit: Form, Adaptation, and Authorship in Interwar Lithuanian Type Specimens

Abstract: During the interwar period, Lithuanian print culture developed within a broader European pattern shaped by the migration of Latin typefaces alongside presses and matrices—a circulation rooted in earlier colonial expansion and further driven in the twentieth century, particularly by German-speaking lands. As printing equipment moved across borders, design conventions travelled with it, embedding imported German typefaces in Lithuanian print houses. As local printing cultures developed their own content, readerships, and linguistic priorities, the need for modified typefaces emerged. Imported forms were not simply adopted; they were adjusted, reinterpreted, and at times may have been independently redrawn. This presentation retraces the “pentagraph” of anonymous designers, curious about who they were and why particular formal decisions were made—whether intentionally, pragmatically, or independently of established models. By reframing type revival as forensic reconstruction, the project positions the specimen as material evidence of typographic circulation, negotiation, and authorship in early twentieth-century Lithuanian print culture.

Laimė Lukošiūnaitė is a graphic and type designer, researcher, and co-runner of the Lithuanian Type Collective. She designs typefaces under Fog Fonts. Her work has been exhibited and published in Ultrabody: 208 Works Between Art & Design in Milan.

Her research critically examines typography as a culturally situated practice, exploring the relationship between visual languages and their social and historical contexts. Having entered the design world through work with non-profits has shaped a pluralistic sensibility for multi-vocal storytelling.

Based in London, she runs an independent design practice at the intersection of typography-focused design systems, film titles, and artist books. She collaborates with changemakers, cultural institutions, independent publishers, artists, and tradespeople who shape the world around us.

“The Ur Types: A Gothic Type Family”

Abstract: It was a Baltic tribe who migrated across Europe and eventually sacked the city of Rome in 410AD which lent their name to the distinctly north European category of lettering which refers to both simple, unadorned sans-serifs and lush intricate blackletter – ‘Gothic’. But, how did ‘Gothic’ (and its synonym ‘Grotesque’) come to define such a broad range of styles? How did the organic, sublime romanticism of blackletter and the formal simplicity of sans-serif come to stand in-contrast to the monumental rationality of classical Roman lettering? Have sans-serifs always looked and felt ‘modern’ to readers eyes? This talk will introduce the on-going ‘Gothic’ wood type project by East of Rome titled ‘Ur’. This diverse, variegated type family covers a broad range of styles which can be categorised as ‘Gothic’. The talk will describe the influences and typographic history which the project draws from and show the Ur types in use.

Lewis McGuffie is a typographer based in Tallinn and runs the bespoke type foundry East of Rome. Lewis has an MA in Typography from the University of Reading where he now occasionally teaches. He has made typefaces for Lego, the British Olympic Team, Epic Games, the England Rugby Team and others. He thinks about the Roman Empire on a daily basis.

“Letterpress as artistic research and studio-based practice”

Abstract: With a background in both graphic design and fine art printmaking, what connects different areas within my practice is the overarching theme of print: design for print (publications, posters etc.), letterpress printmaking, and the history of print. I often explore metal type and wood type as both the medium, but also the subject of my work. I am interested in typography and print as a cultural and historical carrier, and through my work I respond to the hidden narratives letterpress so intricately manages to portray and epitomise.

During the conference, I would like to present examples of my own artistic work focusing on letterpress printing and its histories: both from the perspective of artistic research and studio-based practice.

Examples include the project Rendered Illegible responding to 19th century ornamental wood type in Britain, and resulting in a large-scale installation of an imaginary alphabet; a publication exploring diacritical marks found in Estonian alphabet; the project Recast focusing on the history of Doves Type, as well as my ongoing series Ornamental Patterns, printed in three editions, with each one utilising printer ornaments in different letterpress studios (S/O Helsinki, 2023, TYPA, 2023 and London Centre for Book Arts, 2026).

Julia Syrzistie is an artist and printmaker based in Helsinki. She holds an MFA in Printmaking from the Academy of Fine Arts in Helsinki (2024), and a BA (Hons) degree in Communication Design from the Glasgow School of Art (2019). With a background in both fine art printmaking and graphic design, in her practice she works across printmaking (particularly letterpress printing), researching the history of print, as well as print in the form of artist books and publications.