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Annual International Publishing Design Forum

Activities for Professionals
Annual International Publishing Design Forum
Invisible Letters: The Typography You Don’t See

Activities for Professionals
Annual International Publishing Design Forum

The Faces of Typography in Editorial Design

The Guadalajara International Book Fair (FIL), in collaboration with Anáhuac University Mexico, will celebrate the tenth edition of the International Forum on Editorial Design. This year, the focus will be on the importance of typography in editorial design.

Typography not only serves as a vehicle for textual communication but also plays a crucial role in the aesthetics and readability of any publication. From the selection of typefaces that convey unique editorial styles to the adaptation of typography for various modern media and formats, this forum will explore how typography defines the visual narrative of stories and editorial content.

More than just a functional tool, typography is a critical element in the identity and expression of contemporary publications, directly influencing how readers perceive and engage with content. Thus, this event will provide a space for reflection and learning, where participants will share knowledge, experiences, and perspectives on the significance and evolution of typography in editorial design.

Activities for Professionals
Annual International Publishing Design Forum
Invisible Letters: The Typography You Don’t See

One of the main characteristics of typography should be its invisibility: in texts, it should go unnoticed by the reader, not drawing attention to itself, but performing in a way that prevents visual fatigue, avoids heavy or illegible type, and contributes to the pleasure of reading. Whether in print or digital media, selecting typefaces for text requires a trained eye that understands its impact. For a type designer, the goal should be to strive for perfection and an ideal balance between functionality and personality, aiming to create typefaces that surpass existing ones.

Participants: Fer Cozzi, Cristóbal Henestrosa, Francisco Gálvez

Moderator: Mario Balcázar

Fer Cozzi

Fer Cozzi is an independent type designer born in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She earned her diploma from the University of Buenos Aires, where she was part of the teaching team in the Master's program in Typography. She currently serves as an instructor in the Type West program and conducts various typography workshops at the National University of the Arts. In her work, she seeks to explore rhythms, shapes, and strokes where chance and a not-so-obvious rationality intersect. A talkative enthusiast of letters, some of her works have been selected for type exhibitions, and she has participated in various typography conferences and events around the world. When she's not drawing letters, she is likely dancing to the beat of 90s pop.

Cristóbal Henestrosa

Cristóbal Henestrosa designs books and typefaces. He holds a degree in Graphic Communication from the National School of Plastic Arts of UNAM (now the Faculty of Arts and Design), a specialization in editorial design and production from the School of Design of INBA, a master's degree in type design from the Gestalt Studies Center, and a type design certification from The Cooper Union (New York). He has developed type families for clients such as Fondo de Cultura Económica, Librerías Gandhi, the Federal Government of Mexico, and El Colegio de México.

He is the author of Espinosa: Rescate de una tipografía novohispana (Mexico, Designio, 2005) and co-author of Cómo crear tipografías: Del boceto a la pantalla (Madrid, Tipo E, 2012), which has been translated into English, Polish, Portuguese, and Chinese. Since 2011, he has been a professor of typography at the Faculty of Arts and Design at UNAM. He also teaches related courses in various diploma programs, specialties, and master’s degrees at institutions such as the Master’s in Design and Editorial Production at the Autonomous Metropolitan University and the Master’s in Editorial Media Design at the National University of the Litoral (Santa Fe, Argentina).

Francisco Gálvez

Graphic Designer from the IPEVE Institute at Diego Portales University. Self-taught typographer and type designer. Lecturer at the School of Design at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile and the Diploma in Typography at the same institution. Altazor Award in the category of Graphic Design and Illustration for the typeface Elemental (2002, Santiago, Chile). Gold Prize in the International Typeface Design Competition for the typeface Australis (Tokyo, 2002). Author of the books Educación Tipográfica (2004) and Hacer y Componer (2018), the latter translated into Polish as Stwórz i Złóż in 2019 by d2d.pl publishing house.

He has worked for Concha y Toro, Editorial Origo, Ediciones UC, the Government of Chile, the Municipal Theater of Santiago, La Tercera newspaper, La Cuarta newspaper, Sernatur, Sodimac, among others.

Mario Balcázar

He is a graphic designer with a master's degree in editorial design from Universidad Anáhuac Mexico, and additional studies in design, typography, and publishing at Stanford and Type Cooper. In 1999, he founded ilustresDiseño, a studio specializing in branding, editorial, and advertising design. Eight years later, the studio evolved into MBA Estudio de Diseño, where he has consolidated his work with clients such as Walmart, Petco, Infonavit, and Alsea, expanding his focus to include digital design and information architecture up to the present day.

Currently, he divides his time between MBA Estudio and teaching editorial design, typography, calligraphy, and identity at Universidad Anáhuac. He also specializes in executive management at IPADE and MIT. His passions include lettering, editorial design, branding, photography, and writing, particularly on design and management topics. He is the co-author of the book Gestión del Diseño, published by Universidad Anáhuac, and has contributed to websites such as Foroalfa and Paredro.