Dr Elena Papassissa is a type designer, type consultant, independent researcher, and a Lecturer in Graphic Design and Typography at Oxford Brookes University. Since 2013 she has been running her own practice, collaborating with international type foundries and type designers, and graphic design studios in London. Notable clients and collaborations include Monotype, Dalton Maag, Google, Tiro Typeworks, Jeffery Keedy, and Fraser Muggeridge studio. Beside typefaces in the Latin script, Elena has designed several Armenian fonts such as: Noto Armenian, Avenir Next World Armenian, and Jaguar Armenian.

The topic of her doctoral thesis was ‘Conventions, traditionalism, Latinisation, and modernity in Armenian typefaces across type-making technologies from 1512 to 1977’. Elena presented her research at international conferences, such as: Colloque ‘Orient typographique’ (Paris 2023), Future Graphic Language (Warsaw, 2019), the Association Typographique Internationale (ATypI) (Paris 2023, Montréal 2019, Amsterdam 2013), and the 5th International Conference on Typography and Visual Communication, University of Nicosia (ICTVC) (Cyprus, 2013). She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Graphic Design and Visual Communication and an MA in Communication and Design for Publishing from the ISIA Urbino (Italy), and an MA in Typeface Design from the University of Reading. She was awarded her PhD in Typography and Graphic Communication from the University of Reading in 2020; her PhD research was funded by (AHRC) Design Star.

 

Conferences, public engagement & Outreach

Colloque ‘Orient typographique’ 12-15 décembre 2023 / Conference ‘Typographic Orient’ 12-15 December (Université Paris Cité, December 2023). Talk title: ‘Armenian types in Paris: a tale of two key moments’
ATypI (Association Typographique Internationale). Paris (Sorbonne University, May 2023). Talk title: ‘Experiments on reforming the printed letters of the Bolorgir style’
Type Director Club (25TDC) Competition – Typeface Design (February 2022). I was part of the expert panel for non-Latin typefaces (as an Armenian type design specialist)
Visiting Lecturer at UAL (December 2020). I was invited to talk about my practice to undergraduate students on the Graphic Design course at Camberwell College of Arts.
Future Graphic Language Warsaw (December 2019). Talk title: ‘Designing Armenian typefaces: Researching the past to inspire the present’.
HWDO (Hidden Women of Design). London (November 2017). Talk title: ‘Designing Armenian typefaces: Researching the past to inspire the present’.
ATypI (Association Typographique Internationale). Montréal (September 2017). Talk title: ‘Armenian typefaces as expression of national identity: the introduction of a newly fashioned Bolorgir typeface in the second half of the 19th century’.
Armenian workshop conducted at the MA Type Design course at the University of Reading, UK (May 2017)
TDI Type Design course at Reading University, UK (July 2014). Talk title: ‘Traditional versus Latinised approach to Armenian typeface design’.
ATypI (Association Typographique Internationale). Amsterdam (October 2013). Talk title: ‘The current state of Armenian typefaces’.
TDI Type Design course at the University of Reading, UK (July 2013). Talk title: ‘The current state of Armenian typefaces’.
ICTVC 5th International Conference on Typography and Visual Communication, University of Nicosia, Department of Design and Multimedia. Cyprus (June 2013). Talk title: ‘The current state of Armenian typefaces’.

 

Publications

Articles written
Elena Papassissa. (2021) ‘Designing Armenian typefaces: Researching the past to inspire the present’. FGL – Future Graphic Language: New Directions in Verbal Communication. Polish-Japanese Academy of Information Technology, Warsaw, Poland, pp. 50–57. ISBN 978-83-66831-01-8.
Elena Papassissa. (2013) ‘The current state of Armenian typefaces’. Bardez/Partez: The bulletin of the Armenian Institute. The Armenian Institute, London, UK, (Special Issue), p. 14.
Elena Papassissa. (2012) Analisi Microtipografica sulla tipografia dei bugiardini, in AIAPZINE: International Design Observatory, Milano. Thesis, research, and studies section. On http://aiapzine.aiap.it/notizie/13260

Featured/Citation
(February 2021) ‘A Familiar System Font Goes Global with Monotype’s Avenir Next World’. Aiga–Eye on Design
(January 2021) ‘Monotype Introduces Avenir Next World: A Typeface for Global Brands to Design Consistently Beyond Borders’. Business Wire
(January 2021) ‘Monotype releases first update to Avenir in 20 years, expanding to 150 global scripts and languages’. It’s Nice That
(January 2021) ‘Avenir Next World builds on Adrian Frutiger’s legacy with a truly global typeface’. Creative Boom
(2018) Gerard Unger, Theory of Type Design. nai010, Rotterdam, pp. 70, 86.
(2017) ‘No more Tofu’. The Monotype Recorder (5/Summer). The Monotype Studio, London, UK, pp. 37–50.
(2010) ‘Urbino Servizi’. Fisianomia 2009. Quaderni Isia, Urbino, Italy (1 March 2010), corporate identity/4.
(2009) ‘Parola Macchina del pensiero’. Spaghetti Grafica 2. Mondadori Electa, Milan, Italy, pp. 318–319.
(2009) Illywords (27). Corraini, Mantova, Italy, p. 9. (2008) ‘Lekton font’. Italic 2.0. De Agostini, Novara, Italy, pp. 54–55.

Research Funding

2017 I was awarded a Short Term Grant for Armenian Studies by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation to speak at ATypI conference (Montreal 2017).

2015 I was awarded an Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) Design Star for Doctoral Training Partnership studentship (DTP) (2015–2018) for my PhD research at the University of Reading.

 

Some clients

–As a Type Designer–
Fraser Muggeridge Studio (UK)
Jeffery Keedy (USA)
Monotype (USA) (Germany) (UK)
Polimekanos (UK)

–As a consultant–
Tiro Typeworks (Salish Sea, BC)
Monotype (USA)
Dalton Maag (UK)

Monotype Archives in Salfords (UK)
–Consultant–
–Research intern–