Irene & Louisa: Typographic Prototypes for the Pluriverse

Join us for a free, public presentation by graphic designer, scholar, and educator Laura Rossi García (’16 GD) as part of the 2022 Typographics Conference. The conference will be held both online and at The Cooper Union in NYC, and this lecture will be presented live on Zoom. Register in advance!

“Letterforms are loaded cultural objects”†

As a container for language, typography is both implicit and explicit in its role in upholding or disrupting dynamics of power. How can typography serve as a way to reframe (past), shape (present), and imagine (futures)? This presentation includes two prototypes that explore typography as a vehicle for storytelling and voice: Irene, which makes space and brings to the fore the work of artist, designer, and educator Irene Delano; and Louisa, an attestation to the typewriter’s role in women’s entry to the American corporate labor force. Through “hearing one another’s voices, recognizing one another’s presence,”†† we can begin to shift towards a pluriverse.

† Shehab, Bahia and Haytham Nawar. “Early Arabic Printing” in A History of Arab Graphic Design. American University in Cairo Press: 2020.

†† hooks, bell. Teaching to Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom. Routledge, New York: 1994.

About the Presenter

Laura Rossi García (she/her/hers) is a Puerto Rican designer, historian, and educator whose practice intersects culture, theory, anthropology, and feminism. Her research examines the practice and pedagogy of design and typography, focusing on uncovering those histories that have not made it into our official canon (be that due to race, gender, or colonialism). Her recent work has been presented nationally and internationally at Design History Society, Design Incubation, BIPOC Design History Series, and DesignHer; her work has been recognized by the STA and AIGA.

Laura received her BFA in Art History & Studio Art from Goucher College (Baltimore, MD) and her MFA in Graphic Design from Vermont College of Fine Arts (Montpelier, VT). Currently, she is a Professional Lecturer in the School of Design at the Jarvis College of Computing & Digital Media at DePaul University (Chicago, IL). For more information: www.laurarossigarcia.com.