Letra Nacional presents: Diego Sanz
“Typography is one of the few things in design that, at least for the Latin system, reaches back over two thousand years.”
Diego is a graphic designer from Arequipa (Peru). His passion and dedication for typography has brought him into the spotlight of various national and international publications. Here, he tells us a little about his work and his inspiration.
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It all began in Argentina, while he was studying graphic design. One of the courses that most caught his attention was about exactly that: typography. But his interest in this subject comes from much further back. As a child, his mother demanded that he put more effort into his handwriting. Her strictness created a certain level of frustration, but he ended up perfecting his own writing in not just one but three different styles. “Typography is one of the few things in design that, at least for the Latin system, reaches back over two thousand years,” asserts Diego, “and there is much more to learn and understand”. He also tells us that what he finds fascinating in typography is the fact that the human brain is structured in such a way that, even though we see different types of letters, we can continue reading them — and with the same set of letters, we can write in different languages.
He likes the idea of knowing that his designs and concepts could be used by someone on the other side of the world in whatever project they want. And that has happened. “Creating a product that other designers can use is the most interesting thing in typography creation.”
Typography is one of the few things in design that, at least for the Latin system, reaches back over two thousand years.
He believes that people still associate graphic design with drawing, with illustration. “Until now, I didn’t think that design had to be so connected with art. I feel that art fills a more expressive role, while design has to fulfill certain objectives that art usually doesn’t. Part of this is due to necessity because often, an image doesn’t transmit everything, doesn’t communicate everything desired, and that is where the written word comes in.”
Diego also shows an interest in the record of the colonial and republican legacy of his native Arequipa — such as the hand-painted signs that you can find in the city markets, or which we can find on his Facebook and Pinterest accounts and through the collection activities that he shares with his graphic design students at a local college.
Peru is a source of constant inspiration for Diego, and to prove it are Quincha, Chicha, and Amarilis — font families designed by Diego, that are now being sold in foreign foundries such as CocijoType that supported him throughout the design of said fonts.
Chicha is the most well-known and is the one that has accumulated various accolades for Diego from as far away as China. The streets and the work of Peruvian signmakers motivated the creation of this typeface, as it is not one but rather three layers that come together to create more than 900 glyphs between ornaments, stylistic devices, tildes, accents, etc.
Quincha is inspired by Inca architecture, in the great blocks of stone used in the construction of temples and military buildings. But in spite of their source, the letters maintain a high level of flexibility when put together thanks to the many ligatures that accompany them.
Amarilis (not finished) evokes the delicacy of Ayacucho craftsmanship and converts it into an elegant and colorful typeface. It was the only Peruvian font that participated in the Type It 2011 show.
Diego is a strong supporter of typography education in design schools. In fact, he believes that it should not only be a class but rather that it should be treated more extensively as a subject; however, very few institutions acknowledge this.
Peru is a source of constant inspiration for Diego.
He recognizes, however, that the market in Peru is barely emerging, and this is notable in contrast with the experiences of his foreign counterparts in places like Mexico or Chile where the discipline is more developed. “We’re still behind,” he says and that’s true, but there are still people who are paving the path, perfecting their art abroad, making contacts, becoming familiar with the work of other professionals. Catching up won’t be easy, but neither is it impossible.
Visit www.diegosanzsalas.com to know more about Diego´s work.
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(Images are property of Diego Sanz Salas and Letra Nacional)
