Simran Thadani

Sim Thadani is Executive Director of Letterform Archive​, a library and museum of graphic design and typography in Potrero Hill​. ​For the last ten years she has studied the history and art of books ​in a variety of forms -- rare books, manuscripts, letterpress printing, bookbinding, papermaking, calligraphy...

In this talk, Sim will delve into a particular kind of [black] magic: printing! Back in the day, printing was termed the “black art” or the “devil’s art” by many who were suspicious of the miraculous abilities of the printing press. Fast forward 500+ years, and printed (and handmade) books are still in many ways magical objects: surprisingly (reassuringly) durable; visually appealing; and full of good "design" even before design was a thing. Good bookmaking is still a powerful, magical way of communicating; as artifacts of particular lives, times, and worlds, books represent ways of thinking and making that we can continue to learn from in our digital-first world. Sim’s goal for this talk is to spark inspiration and conversation through a combination of images, observations, questions, and a live show-and-tell.