Packing is almost done. My presentation is saved in about 40 different formats and 8 different places (one can never be too careful). Before I am technically awake on Sunday morning, I’ll be getting on a plane bound for Mexico City. I’m excited, and I can barely wait for ATypI: The Heart of the Letter to begin.

This promises to be one compelling conference. Web fonts are on top of everyone’s mind. David Berlow will be speaking about his experience with developing them in relation to designing agate fonts. Attendees will get a rare glimpse into the workings of his innovative mind. He and Roger Black will discuss the progress in a session followed later in the day by a panel, sure to be the highlight of the conference, discussing the future of typography onscreen.

On the other end of the spectrum, I will be presenting a collaborative piece that unites the conference setting with type design. My friend from college, Alison Lee Schroeder, has been living an hour south of Mexico City for over 7 years. Our lives are very different; she lives in Cuernavaca, “the City of Eternal Spring,” making colorful paintings, while I live in Boston, where it snows in October, working with shapes and negative space. We traded sketchbooks and art, compared our cultures, and found what connects us all—the heart of the letter.

[gallery columns="2”]