“Letters Beyond Form: Chicago Types” at the Design Museum of Chicago is a compelling exploration of how design flows through identity, industry and space. Curated by artist, designer and educator Amira Hegazy, the exhibit invites visitors to engage with Chicago’s rich design and typographic lineage while considering its contemporary expressions.
At the heart of the exhibit is a large communal table where visitors can create their own typefaces. This participatory feature blurs the line between observer and creator. The democratic layout of the space reflects the exhibit’s attempt “to erase hierarchies,” Hegazy explains. It reinforces the idea that typography is not solely the domain of professionals, but a mechanism for bringing voice to spaces everywhere, reinforcing how design at a neighborhood scale both defines and can be defined by a visual identity.
Chicago’s legacy as a design powerhouse—particularly in typography and printing—is foundational to the exhibit. In the early twentieth century, the city was a professional design hub, with major type foundries and printing presses shaping visual culture nationwide. This era of professional design paralleled Chicago’s cultural diversity. African American-owned publications like Ebony and Jet, both based in Chicago, not only documented Black life and culture but also influenced mid-century design aesthetics.
Global shifts in the design industry have challenged Chicago’s—and other cities’—professional typographic class, but the city’s role as a crucible of design-making remains. The exhibit celebrates how design thrives at a decentralized, neighborhood level. Hand-painted grocery-store signs, bold storefront lettering and community murals serve as testaments to the city’s design culture. These localized expressions illustrate that Chicago’s visual language, though no longer industrially centralized, continues to evolve.
These expressions align with Manuel Castells’ concept of “-scapes”—the flows of culture, people and information that shape our realities. In Chicago, global influences filter through local contexts, manifesting in typographic forms that signal both cultural exchange and community identity. As Hegazy notes, “the specific of a sign for a restaurant in Pilsen is indicative of a font that is particular to a small town in Mexico. It is unlike other signs of other restaurants, but for those in and of a community, it is a signal of that community.”
Ultimately, “Letters Beyond Form” functions as both a retrospective of Chicago’s typographic past and a celebration of its living present. It reminds us that design is not static; it flows, adapts and responds to the world around it. In an age of global exchange and technological shifts, Chicago’s typography continues to capture the essence of its people—diverse, dynamic and deeply local.
“Letters Beyond Form: Chicago Types” is on view at the Design Museum of Chicago, 72 East Randolph through April 4.
Ben Schulman is the former editor of Newcity’s Design section. He recently returned to Chicago after seven years away, after leading the real estate, planning and placemaking teams as the Vice President of the Memphis Medical District Collaborative (MMDC) in Memphis, TN. He is currently a partner with the Office of Housing Strategies, a consultancy that unlocks barriers to housing development, and a director with a5 Branding & Digital, a communications, media and design firm focused on healthy, sustainable communities.
Contact: ben@newcity.com | Website: benschulman.com
