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June 05, 2025

New Exhibition at ArtCenter College of Design– Primarium: A Case For Cursive– Explores Global Evolution and Enduring Relevance of Cursive Writing

On View July 2 to October 31, 2025, at ArtCenter’s HMCT Gallery (South Campus)
Opening Reception: Thursday, July 3, from 7:30–9:30 p.m.


PASADENA, CA – ArtCenter College of Design’s Hoffmitz Milken Center for Typography (HMCT) will present Primarium: A Case for Cursive, a thought-provoking new exhibition on view at the HMCT Gallery from Wednesday, July 2, through Friday, October 31. Featuring an international array of handwriting models, teaching tools, and typographic works, this research-based exhibition invites visitors to rediscover the history, education, and evolution of cursive writing, not as a relic of the past, but as an evolving form of communication.

The exhibition is based on the work of renowned type designers Veronika Burian and José Scaglione, co-founders of the independent font foundry TypeTogether. Their groundbreaking, long-term research project Primarium (which inspired the name of the exhibition) maps handwriting instruction for Latin-script learners in over 40 countries.

This marks the first physical exhibition of Primarium’s research. Through a combination of infographics, historical references, contemporary textbooks, and cross-cultural comparisons, the exhibition demonstrates how cursive styles have adapted across geographies and eras, shaped by cultural shifts and technological advances.

Highlights of the exhibition include:

  • Handwriting textbooks and historical writing manuals
  • A timeline charting key milestones in the history of cursive and other writing models
  • Interactive displays that invite hands-on engagement with cursive models from around the world
  • Presentation of Playwrite, TypeTogether’s extensive new type superfamily—with different fonts for different countries—based on research from the Primarium project and used to enhance handwriting instruction globally
  • Visual comparisons that track how cursive styles migrated and shaped one another across cultures
  • Interviews with experts in handwriting instruction, cognitive science, and motor development

Primarium: A Case for Cursive presents a timely look at the role of cursive as a living practice in a world dominated by screens, where digital tools can serve as companions in preserving its cultural, educational, and cognitive significance.

This exhibition is made possible by the generous support of the Lowell Milken Family Foundation.

For more information, contact hmct@artcenter.edu.

Exhibition Dates
On view Wednesday, July 2 through Friday, October 31

Exhibition Talk
Thursday, July 3, 6:30–7:30 p.m. (Note: this is a rescheduled date and time)

Veronika Burian and José Scaglione
Join renowned typeface designers Veronika Burian and José Scaglione of the independent type foundry TypeTogether for a special talk discussing their research into global handwriting instruction. Through their project Primarium, they examine cursive writing methods from over 40 countries that use the Latin script. Their presentation will also introduce Playwrite, a recently released and extensive type family designed to reflect diverse cursive styles and enhance handwriting instruction around the world.

This talk kicks off the opening week of the exhibition Primarium: A Case for Cursive at the HMCT Gallery.

Opening Reception
Thursday, July 3, 7:30–9:30 p.m.

Location
HMCT Gallery
ArtCenter College of Design (South Campus)
950 S. Raymond Ave., Pasadena, CA 91105

Gallery Hours - Open daily 8 a.m.–7 p.m.
Admission is free and open to the public.

About Hoffmitz Milken Center for Typography (HMCT)
HMCT is an educational resource, creative studio, and research center dedicated to the study of typography, letterform design, and language. Based within the creative community of ArtCenter College of Design, it serves as a hub for learning, critical thinking, and hands-on practice. Through exhibitions, lectures, workshops, residency programs, and access to its extensive archive, HMCT supports students and professionals alike, fostering exploration and dialogue within the practice of typography.

About ArtCenter
Founded in 1930 and located in Pasadena, California, ArtCenter College of Design is a global leader in art and design education. ArtCenter offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in a wide variety of industrial design disciplines as well as visual and applied arts. Renowned for both its ties to industry and its social impact initiatives, ArtCenter is the first design school to receive the United Nations’ Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) status. Throughout the College’s long and storied history, ArtCenter alumni have had a profound impact on popular culture, the way we live and important issues in our society.

Media Contacts
ArtCenter College of Design
Marketing and Communications

Domenic Morea
domenic.morea@artcenter.edu

Keith Wang
keith.wang@artcenter.edu

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Page from a French penmanship manual illustrating “Écriture Ronde” (round writing), specifically letters with upper loops, showcasing calligraphic letter variations for handwriting instruction typical of mid-20th-century French education.
Illustration from The Palmer Method of Business Writing by Austin Norman Palmer (early 20th century), demonstrating correct pen-holding posture with emphasis on finger positioning and hand ergonomics for fluid and efficient handwriting.
Page from Modelli di Calligrafia by Giovanni Tonso (1898), showing examples of cursive letterforms and practice texts intended for refined handwriting exercises in early 20th-century Italy.
Detail from a timeline presenting milestones in the history of writing.
Page from Elementarz by Marian Falski (1910), illustrated by Jan Rembowski, showing cursive handwriting exercises with labeled character illustrations, used widely in early 20th-century Polish education.
Cursive styles typeset in Playwrite, a 2025 type family by TypeTogether, showing handwriting models from pre-cursive to full cursive with variations like loops, entries, and knots.
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