Letter Exchange

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Letter Exchange

A group of people inspired by and dedicated to letters. We all have one thing in common: we make words visible.

Our members come from all corners of the lettering arts:

• Calligraphy
• Letter cutting
• Design for print and web
• Typography
• Font creation
• Book design
• Signage
• Architectural lettering
• Lettering in other media, such as for film and TV. We work with language to bring it to life, to focus attention on ideas, to embody the music of the words or the tone of the writer’s thoughts. By making

the act of reading an aesthetic as well as an intellectual experience, we hope to encourage the viewer to pause for thought and to let these words enter memory. Letter Exchange is a wide-ranging and eclectic mix of professionals in the lettering arts who share the highest standards of craftsmanship and skill. By the nature of our practise, most of us work alone. So the organisation acts as a melting pot where we can meet, discuss, debate and be inspired by the work of our peers. We do this in various ways: through our lecture programme and studio visits, our twice-yearly journal Forum, and our Yearbook.

20/06/2026

This season's last lecture was captivating and illuminating! Thank you Jane Parker for guiding us through an adventurous journey of forgotten Artisans and Signmakers of Old London 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 Jane reminded us to look up and look closer when walking around London as it is filled with historic lettering hiding in plane sight.

There were loads of questions at the end sparking a round of discussion about drop shadow direction off 3D signage lettering. The evening and the brilliant conversations continued in the hall where refreshments from the bar were available. 🎉

We are looking forward to seeing you all again in September when next season's lecture series kicks off. For more information about tickets and events please visit our website.

14/06/2026

This Wednesday: Jane Parker – The Signmakers of Old London 🏙️

Look up. Look closer. London is still full of the work of forgotten artisans.
This Wednesday, join us for a Letter Exchange lecture with Jane Parker — tour guide, typographer and devoted Londonphile — as she explores the sign makers whose painted, carved and gilded lettering continues to grace the city's streets.
A richly illustrated talk about the craftsmanship behind the ghostsigns, and the world that produced them.

📅 This Wednesday, 17th June
📍 The Art Workers' Guild, Central London
🎟️ Tickets on Eventbrite (See profile link)

10/06/2026

Event: Jane Parker – Signs of the Times 🧱🖌️
✨ London's walls are full of stories — if you know how to read them.

Join us next Wednesday for an evening with Jane Parker as she traces the craftspeople behind the capital's ghostsigns: the sign painters, gilders, carvers, and metalworkers whose lettering still echoes from shopfronts and gable ends across the city.

From faded brick-wall advertisements to gilded Victorian fascias, this is a talk about skill, craft, commerce — and the letterforms that outlasted the businesses they announced.

📅 Wednesday 17th June
📍 The Art Workers' Guild, Central London
🎟️ Tickets on Eventbrite (See profile link)

08/06/2026

Jane Parker – The Signmakers of Old London 🏙️✍️🤩

Our next Letter Exchange lecture welcomes Jane Parker — Londonphile, graphic designer, typographer, and independent tour guide with a passion for the lettering hiding in plain sight on our city's streets.

In The Signmakers of Old London, Jane turns the spotlight on the artisans behind the ghostsigns — those carved and gilded shop fascias, hand-painted advertisements on brick walls, and logos forged in metal that still overlook our busy modern streets.

A celebration of the multi-skilled hands that lettered London, and the traces they left behind.

📅 Wednesday 17th June
📍 The Art Workers' Guild, Central London
🎟️ Tickets on Eventbrite (See profile link)

22/05/2026

TALK & DRINKS: Letter carving and design in wood by Robbie Schneider

WHEN: Thursday 28th May

TIME: 18:00 for 18:30 start - 20:30

WHERE: Carpenters’ Hall 1 Throgmorton Avenue London EC2N 2JJ

COST: £10

Join our friends at the Lettering Arts Trust for a talk by world renowned lettering sculptor, Robbie Schneider; who will give us insights into letter carving in wood through his life and experience. This will be followed by a drinks reception.

Robbie Schneider is a designer and sculptor specialising in carved and fabricated inscriptions and architectural lettering. His many public and private commissions can be found throughout Britain and the USA.

Link: https://www.letteringartstrust.org.uk/events

19/05/2026

Tomorrow: Michelle P. Brown – Loaded Letters 📜⚡

Tomorrow evening! Don’t miss Loaded letters: medieval scripts as social signifiers with Michelle P. Brown — one of the world’s leading experts on medieval manuscripts and former Curator of Medieval and Illuminated Manuscripts at the British Library.

From the Lindisfarne Gospels to Renaissance humanist capitals, Michelle will reveal how medieval scripts carried status, identity and cultural meaning far beyond the words themselves.

A rare chance to hear a fascinating and richly illustrated talk from a true authority in the field.

📅 Tomorrow – Wednesday 20th May
📍 The Art Workers’ Guild, Central London
🎟️ Tickets on Eventbrite (See profile link)

17/05/2026

This Wednesday: Michelle P. Brown 📜✨

Last call! Join us for Loaded letters: medieval scripts as social signifiers with Michelle P. Brown.

A rare chance to hear from a leading authority on medieval manuscripts, this illustrated talk explores how scripts reflected the societies that shaped them — from early medieval Britain to Renaissance Europe.

📅 This Wednesday, 20th May
📍 The Art Workers’ Guild, Central London
🎟️ Tickets on Eventbrite (See profile link)

13/05/2026

Next week: Michelle P. Brown – Loaded Letters 📜

📅 Wednesday 20th May
📍 The Art Workers’ Guild, Central London
🎟️ Tickets on Eventbrite (See profile link)

Styles in medieval scripts changed as often as fashion on the catwalk of history.

Next week, join us for a richly illustrated Letter Exchange lecture with Michelle P. Brown, tracing the evolution of scripts and the social worlds they belonged to.

From multicultural display scripts to humanist capitals, discover how lettering has long acted as a marker of identity, influence and artistic ambition.

04/05/2026

Coming Soon: Michelle P. Brown – Loaded Letters 📜

✨ Join us for an evening with Michelle P. Brown as she unpacks the hidden language of medieval scripts.

From the Lindisfarne Gospels to Renaissance humanist capitals, this illustrated talk reveals how letterforms carried meaning far beyond the words they spelled — signalling identity, power, culture and change.

Expect a fascinating journey through the hands of scribes and artists across centuries, and the stories their scripts still tell.

📅 Wednesday 20th May
📍 The Art Workers’ Guild, Central London
🎟️ Tickets on Eventbrite (See profile link)

📅 Wednesday 20th May
📍 The Art Workers’ Guild, Central London
🎟️ Tickets on Eventbrite (See profile link)

01/05/2026

LX Archive Recordings on demand:

'Creative Control & Artistic Freedom'

Julia Humfress

21 February 2024

'My love of letterforms has developed throughout my career and how I use them has changed dramatically. As a corporate designer and art director working for luxury brands, such as Harrods and Condé Nast, through to my work as a printmaker in the Wood Words Letterpress Studio, I’d like to explore how I have used both digital and analogue typography to capture an audience, communicate ideals and to make art and how corporate constraints and artistic freedoms have affected my work.'

The lecture is available as part of our growing archive of recordings at: https://letterexchange.org/archive

Address

London

Website

https://letterexchange.org/, https://letterexchange.org/links

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