Semester lecture program for Rice Architecture—the smallest professional degree program situated within a top research university in Houston, Texas. Letterpress printed from hand-cut linoleum, hand set wood type and freshly cast Ludlow hot metal slugs.

For you type geeks: the words “collective conversation” have been printed from an old set of wood type of from Xilografia Italiana called Treviso in 25 Cicero.

It is also noteable that the size 25 Cicero is very typical for Italy, but not very common in Switzerland or Germany. In Switzerland and Germany, sizes for poster type are 6C, 8C, 10C, 12C, 16C, 20C, 24C… Which makes sense with the duocecimal system of points (fractions of 12). Once a typesetter gets used to it, it is a very practical system since not only the physical body sizes of type, but also the sizes of the physical spacing material and furniture to fill up the non-printing parts of a lock-up will work together nicely in these fractions of 12. Also all sizes come in straight numbers. In Italy however, the system of larger type and furniture is organized differently. Anything larger than 10C is 15C, 20C, 25C, 30C…

Letterpress printed from a set of Italian wood type named Treviso. Very close to Helvetica (and also sold as Helvetica), but not 100%. From the series “The absurdity of the moment”, a visual diary of letterpress printed posters about the 2020/2021 Covid-19 pandemic.