nr.63 Laura Ketting | I JUST WANNA TO MAKE LETTERS | 14 January 19:30

With Laura Ketting, we present an artist and designer who approaches typography not primarily as a tool for reading, but as a framework for visual exploration. Her work moves fluidly between readability and abstraction, driven by process, intuition and experimentation. In her talk, Laura shares how letters emerge through play, material exploration and chance. Her most recent projects focusses on the city and urban environments, also taking place in Amsterdam.
—
Laura Ketting is an artist and graphic designer based in Rotterdam. Her work focuses on creating letterforms that move between readability and abstraction. Typography is the core of her practice, not as a fixed system, but as a space for exploration, intuition and experimentation. She works fluidly between analogue and digital processes, using a wide range of materials, techniques and tools to discover unexpected forms.
Laura’s process is driven by curiosity rather than outcome. She allows letters to emerge through play, distortion and chance, often letting mistakes guide the direction of her work. This approach results in typographic work that feels physical, expressive and emotional, where form takes precedence over function.
Through her practice, Laura continuously searches for the unexpected. Her work reflects an ongoing investigation into how letters can exist beyond rules, grids and conventions, becoming objects, textures and experiences rather than just carriers of language.
—
In I JUST WANNA MAKE LETTERS, Laura Ketting talks about her way of working with typography as an ongoing exploration rather than a structured design process. Her practice revolves around constantly creating letterforms, both readable and abstract, driven by curiosity and instinct instead of predefined goals. The city plays a central role in this process. Urban environments, architecture, movement and visual noise form an important source of inspiration and shape the way her letters emerge.
The talk focuses on her experimental approach, combining analogue and digital tools, materials and techniques to discover new forms. Laura shows how she builds shapes and systems for her letters through hands-on exploration, often starting without a clear plan. Process comes before thinking, and doing comes before refining. Mistakes, uncertainty and intuition are not obstacles but essential elements in her work.
By sharing projects and experiments, she reflects on how typography can move beyond communication and become a physical and expressive experience. The talk offers insight into trusting process, embracing imperfection and building a practice around what keeps returning naturally: making letters.—

Hosted at:
De Lange Adem
Ruyschstraat 295
1091 DX Amsterdam

—

Supported by:

Typotheque & BNO

Know what’s Happening Next — before everyone else does.

Get App

Host or Publisher letterspace.amsterdam