29 letters for 25 years (exhibition design)

29 Letters for 25 Years
A Quarter of a Century of Workshops (exhibition 2. 9.–29. 9. 2022, Figovec, Ljubljana)

Exhibition design and coordination: Alja Herlah, Sava Kosmač, Linda Söderholm

In the summer of 1997, a group of architecture and design students and Professor Lucijan Bratuš, who taught calligraphy and typography at the Academy of Fine Arts in Ljubljana, decided to explore the mysterious world of typeface design. This initiative resulted in the first Tipo Brda typography workshop in the village of Šmartno in the Goriška Brda region. For most of them, this was their first encounter with typeface design, as none of them, including their mentor, had any real experience in the field. Collectively and with a pioneering spirit, they sought solutions and learned from each other. There were as many design approaches as there were participants.

 

In twenty-five years, 225 students, mentors, and lecturers attended the workshops, with many also returning in later years. New participants are invited to the workshop each year and, with the help, knowledge, and experiences of their older colleagues, they can enter the world of typography and fonts in a relaxed environment. Over the years, the expertise levels steadily increased and, with technological advances, so did the quality of final products. The workshops hosted foreign students, professors, visiting lecturers, and mentors from abroad through the years.

The workshop eventually migrated from the Goriška Brda region and found its way to different locations: to Kaverljag in Slovenian Istria, the Trenta Valley, Ljubljana, and Pliskovica in the Karst region. This year, the 37th Tipo Brda workshop will take place between September 10 and 11, in the premises of the Museum of Architecture and Design in Ljubljana, with mentor Ivan Castro.

With its informal teaching methods and nondogmatic designer approaches, the Tipo Brda workshops provided many participants with new typographical knowledge, which came as a great help in their professional paths.