October 14, 2026

ECAL: A Typographic Atlas /ArtCenter Font Design Opens at ArtCenter and Features More Than 350 Typefaces

International Touring Exhibition Presents Student Work from
École cantonale d’art de Lausanne and ArtCenter Graphic Design.

On view October 22, 2026–December 18, 2026
Opening reception and panel talk: Wednesday, October 21, 6–9 p.m.

PASADENA, CA — The Hoffmitz Milken Center for Typography (HMCT) at ArtCenter College of Design presents ECAL: A Typographic Atlas, an installation of the internationally touring exhibition from Switzerland’s ECAL (École cantonale d’art de Lausanne), on view October 22, 2026 through December 18, 2026. The exhibition brings ECAL’s student work together with more than 60 typefaces developed by ArtCenter students in Font Design 1 and 2, offering a view of type design through two educational contexts.

In addition to the ArtCenter student-developed typefaces on view, the ECAL exhibition features 300 typefaces created by students in its Master in Type Design and Bachelor in Graphic Design programs. Spanning experimental forms, visual research, functional type families, and multiscript projects, the work reflects the school’s longstanding commitment to graphic and type design.

Organized as a typographic atlas, the exhibition uses alphabetical entries and numerical coordinates to guide visitors through the work. A modular display designed by Adrien Rovero gives this indexing system a physical form, inviting visitors to consider typography as a visual, cultural, and linguistic practice that shapes everyday communication.

The opening evening on October 21 begins at 6 PM with a panel discussion, The State of Type: Inside and Outside the Classroom, moderated by ArtCenter typography instructor Pamela Olecki. Panelists include Greg Lindy, letterform design instructor at ArtCenter; ECAL Director Alexis Georgacopoulos; and designer Brian Roettinger. A reception follows from 7 to 9 p.m.

Type design is the art and technique of drawing letterforms for typographic composition. In the letterpress era, punchcutters created type, and printers produced type specimens to demonstrate the range of their typefaces. ECAL: A Typographic Atlas takes up this tradition of the type specimen and expands it into an atlas: a collection of letterforms mapping ten years of typographic creation at ECAL / University of Art and Design Lausanne, Switzerland.

Through its Bachelor in Graphic Design and Master in Type Design programs, ECAL has trained more than four hundred students in the drawing, spacing, coding, and mastering of letterforms. The resulting work spans the contemporary typographic spectrum, from classical, highly legible text faces intended for running copy to experimental and expressive display forms, including revised historical models and forms that test the boundaries of readability. With students from more than thirty countries, the work also reflects the increasingly global nature of contemporary type design and the cultural connections that shape its practice.

At ArtCenter, type design has developed through a similarly sustained engagement with the making of letterforms. The more than 60 typefaces included in the HMCT installation were developed by students in Font Design 1 and 2 over the past decade, offering a parallel record of type design education within ArtCenter’s Graphic Design program.

The history of type design at ArtCenter was shaped in significant part by Leah Hoffmitz Milken, whose teaching continues to inform both HMCT, established in her memory, and the Font Design curriculum. Beginning in the 1990s, Hoffmitz Milken introduced students to digital type design at a moment when new technologies were transforming how typefaces were drawn and produced. Her approach situated the making of individual letterforms within a broader understanding of typographic history and contemporary use.

Over the past ten years, Greg Lindy’s Font Design courses have evolved this line of study. Students approach letterforms as both part of a system and a subject of inquiry, developing typefaces through an iterative process of drawing and testing.

Together, the two selections bring into view the work produced within two educational contexts, each attentive to the relationship between language and visual form. Seen together, the typefaces offer a view of type design not only through its finished forms, but through the environments in which those forms are developed. The classroom becomes another kind of archive, recording how tools and ways of thinking about letters change over time. The works invite visitors not only to read letters, but to look at them.

The exhibition is accompanied by a 536-page book published by Empire Books and designed by Giliane Cachin and Eurostandard. The exhibition is traveling to Montreal, Leipzig, Paris, New York, and Tokyo.

ArtCenter Font Design is curated by Greg Lindy.

HMCT gratefully acknowledges ECAL, Presence Switzerland, and the Consulate General of Switzerland in San Francisco for their generous support of the exhibition and opening reception.

EXHIBITION DATES

ECAL: A Typographic Atlas
October 22, 2026–December 18, 2026
950 Gallery
ArtCenter College of Design, South Campus
950 S Raymond Avenue, Pasadena, CA 91105

Gallery Hours: Open daily 9 a.m.–7 p.m.
The exhibition will be closed Veteran’s Day (November 11) and Thanksgiving (November 26–December 2).

OPENING RECEPTION & PANEL TALK

The State of Type: Inside and Outside the Classroom
Wednesday, October 21, 6–7 p.m.

Opening Reception
Wednesday, October 21, 7–9 p.m.

Exhibition admission is FREE and open to the public.

About Hoffmitz Milken Center for Typography (HMCT)
HMCT is an educational resource, creative studio, and research center dedicated to the study of typography, letterform design, and language. Based within the creative community of ArtCenter College of Design, it serves as a hub for learning, critical thinking, and hands-on practice. Through exhibitions, lectures, workshops, residency programs, and access to its extensive archive, HMCT supports students and professionals alike, fostering exploration and dialogue within the practice of typography.

About ArtCenter Exhibitions
ArtCenter Exhibitions oversees the College’s public-facing curated spaces that serve students, artists, scholars and creative audiences from Southern California and beyond. Made possible through the generosity of individuals and foundations, our exhibitions and related educational programs form deep and varied ties to culturally relevant issues and ideas. Serving as a vital part of the contemporary art and design realms of greater Los Angeles, exhibitions aim to inspire, educate, and resonate. Admission to ArtCenter Exhibitions programming is free and open to the public.

About ArtCenter College of Design
Founded in 1930 and located in Pasadena, California, ArtCenter College of Design is a global leader in art and design education. With a mission to educate, inspire and empower creative and design leadership, the College is renowned for its undergraduate and graduate degree programs spanning industrial design, media and technology, as well as visual and applied arts. With deep industry relationships, state-of-the-art facilities and a strong faculty roster, ArtCenter provides real-world experience aligned with industry needs. Through rigorous, hands-on, practitioner-led instruction, the College prepares students for meaningful creative careers. For nearly 100 years, ArtCenter alumni and faculty have shaped many of the world’s most iconic products, vehicles, campaigns and creative works, leaving a lasting impact across art, design and culture.

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