ECAL A Typographic Atlas a public lecture
with
Angelo Benedetto, Sean Ervan Kuhnke, Rebekka Hausmann, and Nayo Kim
The practice of designing typefaces is highly specialized. It is easy, then, to go into the rabbit hole of drawing and curve fine-tuning, forgetting the fact that letterforms are primarily material for other means of communication—that is, graphic design. The Bachelor Graphic Design and Master Type Design at ECAL/University of Art and Design Lausanne, Switzerland, take these questions seriously, but with a sense of fun.
Celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Master in 2026, they have developed a traveling exhibition and a book reflecting on letterforms and how to present them through the principle of an atlas. On the occasion of the exhibition’s opening in its New York stop—after Torino, Leipzig, and Paris, and before Montréal and Pasadena—this talk will introduce the audience to the interplay between graphic and type design. It will present diploma projects by three graduates and trace the evolution of their practices, bridging the skills of font production with the broader perspectives of art direction and graphic design.
How we make fonts. How we show fonts. And how we use them.
The Herb Lubalin Lectures are recorded and made available here and on Vimeo with the generous support of TypeCulture.
About Angelo Benedetto
Angelo Benedetto is an Italian-Swiss graphic designer and educator based in Lausanne. A professor and Head of the Bachelor Graphic Design programme at ECAL/University of Art and Design Lausanne, he teaches and develops courses in information design, dynamic identity systems and visual communication.
After receiving a Swiss Design Award in 2001, he developed an independent practice alongside a long-standing collaboration with the studio Gavillet & Rust. At ECAL, he has helped shape an international network of guest lecturers, workshops and collaborative projects in graphic design and typography.
He co-edited the books and touring exhibitions ECAL Graphic Design (JRP | Ringier, 2016) and ECAL A Typographic Atlas (2026), dedicated to typefaces developed within ECAL’s Bachelor and Master Type Design programmes.
About Sean Ervan Kuhnke
Sean Ervan Kuhnke works as a designer and art director in New York City. As a teenager, his path in design was sparked through experimentation in photographic processes – later developed through various press-related experiences – ranging from printing wallpaper by hand to producing separations for offset printing. He was a participant at the Jan van Eyck Academie in 2018, producing a book of photographs entitled Awnings, which was selected for De Best Verzorgde Boeken of the same year. He completed a postgraduate research course at the Atelier National de Recherche Typographique in 2022 and has received MFAs from the Ecole cantonale d'art de Lausanne, Yale University, and a BFA from Virginia Commonwealth University. His interest in letterforms lies in the spaces between right and wrong, leaning towards contextual sincerity. He occasionally writes about letters for All Caps, and has an upcoming release with Abyme.
About Rebekka Hausmann
Rebekka Hausmann is a typographer based in Lausanne. Originally from Germany, she studied graphic design in Paris and Zurich, before specializing in type design at ECAL. Her work spans editorial design, typography, and type design, often engaging with feminist perspectives, art history and contemporary photography.
About Nayo Kim
Nayo Kim is a graphic and type designer based in New York. She graduated from École cantonale d'art de Lausanne with a Master in Type Design. She has a particular interest in design that lives between worlds. From typefaces to editorials to identities, she always seeks the simplest truth in everything she makes. Along with the bold essence that drives the creative concept, she brings her deep appreciation for typography to make things more meaningful.