TALKS AND LECTURES

Talks on design, book culture, and publishing culture. Live events are posted here as well as recordings of past events.

BRUNO MUNARI’S
LITTLE GREEN RIDING HOOD

Italian artist and designer Bruno Munari used play strategically in his work for both adults and children. This video essay looks at Munari's use of play and material in children's books, industrial design, concrete poetry, and his public workshops. The story begins in his childhood and looks at the revolutions in design, publishing, and education in northern Italy in 1960s and 70s. This talk was originally presented at Emily Carr University on Oct. 25, 2023 as part of Italian Design Weeks. Please alert me to errata or attribution issues at thebookunfolded@gmail.com.

banana peels and falling stars:
James Joyce’s Typographic Universe

This talk for the Alcuin Society was based on a paper I presented at the James Joyce Symposium at Trinity College/University College Dublin. Although the topic — the fractal structure of Ulysses’ narrative — sounds quite daunting, the truth is that this talk was largely inspired by the Muppets. A journalist named Petra Chase attended this event and later wrote that it made her feel more aware of how book design affects a text and also inspired her to consider reading (and finishing!) Ulysses. I hope it does the same for you.

 How To Talk About Type

This is based on a talk I gave at the University of Victoria designed to give people outside of communication design an understanding of typographic culture, and how to talk about typography. This includes basic concepts, like the difference between type and lettering as well as terminology. Part of the inspiration for this talk was a question I often ask myself: “Why does type make people fight?”

understanding type classification

For design students, typographic classification can be pretty frustrating. This video is designed to answer frequently asked questions about classification. It is also designed to help people who are not designers, but who work with type (hello, writers) better observe type and better understand typographic culture.

How Do You Illustrate Water

This video essay looks at the blurry lines between text, symbol, and image.

Introduction to moveable type

This talk provides an overview of what moveable type is, which is foundational to an understanding of typographic culture.