The Shape of Words’ explores the narratives shaping the contemporary creative practices of today

“Not only does each letter of a word have a shape of its own, but all its letters taken together give shape to the word.” Bruno Munari, The Shape of Words, from his renowned Penguin Books Classic, ‘Design as Art.’ Designed, developed and devised by London-based designer Emma Judd, together with Studio Ground Floor’s Alice Sherwin and Harry Bennett, Shape of Words is a printed platform for contemporary creatives to react and reflect on what is shaping their practices today. The contributions – including essays, interviews and fictional narratives, as well as tweets, screenshots and journal entries – illustrate a diverse range of perspectives within and surrounding the fields of art and design. Collectively bound, they act as a time capsule of the issues and ideas that inform creativity. The multitude of voices in this first issue represents the radical reshaping that took place over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic. For many, this reshaping has occurred through necessity. For the lucky ones, it stemmed from having the time and space for reflexivity.