How did we end up with so many different types of letters? This ABC pop-up book, developed with Letterform Archive, explains — as well as demonstrates — the technologies and philosophies that have shaped letterform through the ages. The premise of the book is that, if you know how to look carefully, the history of the world — from the Bronze Age to the Information Age — can be seen in the microcosm of type.

This often-technical (and always visual) history is challenging to trace in text or diagrams alone. The interactive features of the book gave me the opportunity to show rather than tell how typography clues us in about its history by sensitizing our perception. In both its nuance and in its long lineage, typography can acclimate our perception to an inordinate degree of sensitivity, extending our own superpowers of human sensory intuition. With this book, I want to put the reader’s hands, eyes, and minds in touch with the depth that surrounds us in our homes, on our screens, and on our streets.