Leandro Assis

The delectable lettering of Leandro Assis is a vibrant reflection of his own journey

Lettering artist and illustrator Leandro Assis knew he was gay from a very young age, an experience he strongly believes brought him to his specific niche of the creative sphere in more ways than one. Growing up in a “giant family” in Rio de Janeiro, when he was around nine years old, he remembers feeling different yet wanting to blend in, and attempting to do so through his handwriting. “I understood I was trying to simulate different types of writing considered less feminine, to escape being mocked,” he explains. In doing so, Leandro feels he “was forced to reinvent the way I write,” and, unknowingly at the time, picked up invaluable skills in creative observation and portrayal.

“I see now that this exercise made me open up a world of possibilities,” Leandro tells us. “I ended up watching the way my friends write and that made me understand more about the connection between the person and their personality in handwriting. I believe it has a lot to do with what I do today. I always try to understand what kind of feeling I want to awaken in people through the typographic style of my letterings.”

With Leandro Assi it is all aspects of the composition that are personal to him - the idea that he creates his typefaces with the idea of presenting, 'what kind of feeling I want to awaken in people through the typographic style of my letterings' is amazing to me, having such a. thoughtful and genuine approach to his design adds another dimension to it, create am even greater sense of personality to his already vibrant typefaces. This is something I want to work on emulating in my process of working.