What do we think when writing a love letter?
How can we express verbally our passions?
In this case, typography can’t help us.

“When writing a love letter, I don’t think about letters.”
is a 50.5 x 72 cm poster designed by Leonardo Sonnoli
silkscreen, printed in a limited edition of 80 copies.

At the 14th edition of the literature festival (Festivaletteratura) in Mantua, Friday 10th of September at the Teatro Bibiena, 11 am, Stefano Salis -Il Sole24ore- interviews Leonardo Sonnoli about few books of his library points of reference for many works.
Avantgarde poetry books, music notation, novels or magazines, collected during the years, represent the straight suggestion for the consequent design of posters, books and communication projects.

www.festivaletteratura.it

The three postcards promoting the 14th edition of the Festivaletteratura designed by Leonardo Sonnoli

24 June to 17 October, 2010, an exhibition on the Prince Antonio de Curtis (better known as Totò, 1898-1967), one of the most famous Italian comic actor, will be held at the Valentin-Karlstadt-Musäum (Munich, Germany).
Among 29 artists, invited to present a tribute to the popular actor, Leonardo Sonnoli, together with Irene Bacchi, present a work concerning Antonio de Curtis surrealistic way to play with the Italian language, merging it with dialects and foreigner languages. He played on words creating absurd puns which fascinated high and popular audience and which are still really appreciated.
This homage to Antonio de Curtis is titled “L’enigma del principe de Curtis” (The enigma of the Prince de Curtis): a mysterious hidden object will never reveal it, becoming a link between two surrealistic authors: the popular Totò and the intellectual Man Ray.

For the second consecutive year, Werkplaats Typografie (ArtEZ), Arnhem,
The Netherlands and ISIA Urbino, Italy, set up together, a two-week
Summerschool in Urbino, Italy, from the 19th of July to the 30th of July 2010.
Each day during the two weeks you will be guided by graphic designers Karel Martens,
Armand Mevis (Werkplaats Typografie) and Leonardo Sonnoli (ISIA Urbino),
who will share their experiences with you.
Together they set up a project that relates to the typical setting of the school.
Maureen Mooren will visit as an external critic.
Application deadline 28th may

read more at: http://www.summerschool-wt.isiaurbino.net/

L’uomo che amava le donne from leonardo sonnoli on Vimeo.

“Erotipo”, the erotic side of the typography, has been the theme of the last course held at the Iuav University in Venice by Leonardo Sonnoli.
The course started from a research, by Sonnoli and Irene Bacchi, on the relationship between the types -and the typography- and the human body therefore, as consequence, with the erotism.
The lecture, starting the course, introduced from the early examples of the renaissance period, the Geofroy Tory’s Champ Fleury, till the Anthon Beeke’s naked Alphabet, the homosexual magazines like Little Cesar and Butt, the vernacular and designed tart cards, the literature example with Histoire d’O and The Scarlet Letter, few contemporary type design examples like Fuse and other curiosity.
The students of the master class developed the theme in different ways with different medias.
Above few examples, from top: Herb Lubalin’s Avant Garde cover with an illustration by Tom Wesselman; the 8th issue of the weekly pubblication FF X-TRA by Leonardo Sonnoli; students work by Diego Bilibio and Sara Murrone, the cover of a research about bad words on the newspaper and a video by Andrea Farinati, Giovanni Profeta, Isabella Zegna, inspired by the Truffaut’s movie “L’homme qui amait les femmes”.

Leonardo Sonnoli present the results of few teaching years at the Iuav of Venice, at the Isia Urbino and at the Werkplaats Typografie/ IsiaUrbino Summer School.

At the PrinTEMPS de la typo, on 15th and 16th of April, Institut National du Patrimoine in Paris. Organized by L’Ecole Estienne.
The theme is the teaching of typography. Among the speakers: Pierre Di Sciullo, Andree Baldinger, Toan Vu Huu, Matthias Hillner and Peter Bilak.

On Thursday, April 22, 2010, 7-9 P.M., at The New York Times, 620 Eighth Avenue, New York, opening of the exhibition WORDPLAY The Lettering of ON LANGUAGE in the New York Times Magazine.
Featuring the work of over 200 contemporary designers, illustrators, artists and typographers.
Among the several authors, Leonardo Sonnoli.

Leonardo Sonnoli collaborates together with Sara Fanelli and George Hardie on the design of the fourth annual If You Could Collaborate exhibition.

Hardie explains here the reason for the collaboration:
“In 2003 Leonardo Sonnoli, the Italian typographer,  took me out for shopping in Rimini. We discovered an ancient stationery shop, with a box of huge rubber number stamps.  Leonardo asked me whether the owner had the matching letters.  The proprietor explained, apologetically, that because there are 26 letters in the alphabet, he had never felt that he could afford to stock letters. He just deals with numbers, which are cheaper because there are only ten. On the same day we bought some vintage exercise books for Sara Fanelli.
Fanelli, Hardie and Sonnoli now are working together in order to come up, not with the usual 26 letter consequential alphabet, but the bargain version. ‘ Cheaper because there are only Ten’.”

If You Could Collaborate is a self initiated project by London-based art directors Will Hudson and Alex Bec.
The contributors have been challenged to produce something a little unexpected, by working with a partner from any discipline, profession or background. There is no brief to answer, or format to honour.
The exhibition will present the work produced by all 33 teams at the A Foundation Gallery, Rochelle School in London. The work ranges from classic framed pieces, to more ambitious, experimental sculpture, film and installation. The exhibition will be accompanied by a comprehensive catalogue. 
15 — 23 January 2010, 12–6pm
(open late on 21 January, 12–9pm)
A Foundation Gallery at Rochelle School, London E2 7ES.

From Nov 6 to Dec 14 2009, at Parsons The New School for Design in New York, there has been the exhibition/installation “Control:Print.
Considering the Future of Ink on Paper
Exploring the Intersection of Design, Craft and Technology”, curated by Lucille Tenazas following the exhibition at the RCA in London.

Leonardo Sonnoli has been one of the designers and artists invited to interpret the topic. The result has been a large size poster printed live during the exhibition.Remotely participating designers include Bruno Monguzzi (Italy/Switzerland) and Catherine Zask (France) who contributed by sending their poster design files for output on the large format printer as a performative exhibition piece.The color plotter faced the street (located on the corner of 13th Street and 5th Avenue in Greenwich Village).