The type industry is changing fast. Between consolidation, shifts in distribution, open-source libraries, AI, and the pressures of an increasingly crowded marketplace, running a sustainable practice has become much harder. For many emerging designers, the question is no longer how to draw better letters, but how to create the conditions that allow their work to reach an audience. This series explores a shared anxiety: Is there a future in type?

Through conversations with people who have built new models, we'll examine what it takes to move beyond making typefaces to shaping the field. What did it take? What did it cost? And what can we take away from their experiences?

Type Electives Virtual Lecture Series:

Finding Allies Through Books

What can publishing teach us about building communities? How can books help us find allies around the questions that trouble us? Books give us shared language to individual frustrations and turn them into collective reflection. Founded in 2020, Clube do Livro do Design began as a virtual reading group and grew into an independent publishing house dedicated to expanding access to critical design writing in Portuguese. In this talk, Tereza Bettinardi reflects on her practice as a designer and publisher, considering how books can build common vocabularies and strengthen the communities gathered around them.

This session will feature a short presentation, followed by a conversation moderated by Flavia Zimbardi, and an open Q&A for attendees.

The event will be hosted online via Zoom.

We look forward to having you with us!

Tereza Bettinardi

Tereza Bettinardi (she/her) is a designer and editor who lives and works in São Paulo, Brazil. She holds a BA in Graphic Design from Federal University of Santa Maria, where she also studied Journalism. Since 2014 she set up her own studio, which has since worked across different fields of design, from editorial to environmental design. In parallel to commissioned projects and as part of her interest in combining writing and graphic design practice, Tereza wrote the chapter "Bea Feitler: The Sir to Ms. Years," published in Baseline Shift: Untold Stories of Women in Graphic Design History (Princeton Architectural Press, 2021). In 2020, she founded Clube do Livro do Design, a virtual book club turned into a publishing house devoted to expanding the range of design writings available in Portuguese.

Instagram: @terezabettinardi

Photo credit: Nino Andres