Alphabettes Soup: Feminist Approaches to Type

Ten years of feminist perspectives on type design, research, and community-building come together in Alphabettes Soup, published by Bikini Books. The book brings together selected articles from the Alphabettes platform with new essays, interviews, visual histories, and reflections on projects and initiatives from the past decade. Its contributions look at type through different perspectives, connecting questions of culture, language, technology, business, and design.

More than an anthology, Alphabettes Soup brings together the voices and experiences that have shaped the Alphabettes network over the years. The publication is conceived as a type specimen and features more than 100 typefaces designed by women and non-binary designers. By looking at type history and contemporary practice from perspectives that have often been overlooked, the book aims to question established narratives and encourage new, decentralized forms of creative community.

Alphabettes began in 2015, when conversations about sexism and gender diversity in the type industry brought together a small group of people connected through the internet. What started as an informal exchange quickly grew into a network of more than 300 type designers, lettering artists, typographers, and design educators. There was no financial backing and no formal organizational structure behind it. Instead, Alphabettes developed as a decentralized network driven by its members.

Over the years, the community has published hundreds of articles, connected emerging type designers with mentors, and organized public events and critique sessions. Its ongoing work focuses on creating greater equity and diversity within type design, from conferences and educational institutions to the wider international design industry. With Alphabettes Soup, these ten years of conversations, collaborations, and shared experiences are brought together in one publication.

Alphabettes Soup: Feminist Approaches to Type

Organized and edited: Amy Papaelias
Foreword: Teal Triggs
Copy and line editing: Caren Litherland
Editorial assistance: Xindha Yaeger
Coordination: Nina Paim
Publishing assistance: Sera van de Water
Design: Studio Tereza Bettinardi
Design assistance: Guilherme Mohr and Lou Huguenin
Illustrations: Vitória Bas
Publisher: Bikini Books
Size: 28 × 21 cm, 384 pages, softcover
ISBN: 978-989-35859-6-2

BUY—September 10 marks Alphabettes’ 11th anniversary! To celebrate, Bikini Books offering 20% off until the end of the month with the promo code HBD20.