I am Typography. A manifesto.

Typography and graphic design form are often considered an inseparable pair in our daily communication.

The typographic form, typically serving the content and project needs, adds its voice to the verbal message with determination, discretion, and coherence. A chorale message with graphic form that sometimes doesn’t allow the distinctiveness of individual voices to emerge. In this visual exercise, typography narrates itself through an unconventional operation involving verb, typographic form, and graphics.

Enrico Solfrini delves into the expressive potential of typography, transforming letters into liberated forms that emerge as autonomous visual elements, distinctly separate from their verbal meaning. These forms are free from any constraints or functional necessities. Like a contemporary visual version of Raymond Queneau’s Stylistic Exercises, typographic form asserts itself as an unconventional communication tool, narrating its identity in the first person and only in Italian, shaping this collection of stylistic contortions. From analyzing individual glyphs to composing words and paragraphs, to various layout solutions, the project unfolds in a crescendo of deconstruction from outer to central pages. It exalts essential and modular forms first, exploring elaborations inspired by grunge typography then, enhanced by the random use of letters through the p5.js code. Just as typographic form can be appreciated within paragraphs or as individual letters, this manifesto can be explored conventionally by flipping through its pages or by separating it into printed sheets, like individual posters.

By adopting the tabloid format, traditionally considered the most popular and widespread means of communication, this manifesto reaffirms its urgency to make the expressive potential of typographic form accessible, even to a non-specialised audience.

“I am Typography” was conceived and written in 2022 by Enrico Solfrini as a thesis in Communication and Design for Publishing at the Isia of Urbino (Italy); it has been produced in this revised version by the Italian foundry Zetafonts following a special mention awarded in the Neologia competition (Graphic Days Initiative).

Io sono la tipografia. Manifesto I am Typography. A manifesto

project by Enrico Solfrini

produced by Zetafonts Foundry as Evans specimen

contributions by Jonathan Pierini (2023), Cosimo Lorenzo Pancini + Debora Manetti (2024)

font in use: Evans by Zetafonts Cosimo Lorenzo Pancini + Andrea Tartarelli (2024)