For the past decade, Kelli Anderson has used paper engineering to seek out incredible possibilities hiding in print media. Humble paper can act as a direct interface on sound, light, and time, making these abstractions tangible and accessible. This is because these radically minimalist structures still behave in concert with the physical and social forces which structure our world. This talk will focus on these experiments— from using the risograph to moving-ink animations to her new book on letterforms, Alphabet in Motion: How Letters Get Their Shape.

Graphic designer, educator, and author Kelli Anderson has been widely celebrated for her work in graphic design, pop up books and risograph animations. She is a two-time Cooper-Hewitt National Design Award nominee, was a fellow at both NYC's Center for Book Arts and San Francisco's Exploratorium, served as Adobe's inaugural creative resident, and was a 2025 Eames Institute honoree. Anderson's previous publications include This Book Is a Camera (MoMA, 2015)—which transforms into a working camera—and This Book Is a Planetarium (Chronicle, 2017), which has sold more than 100,000 copies worldwide in two languages. Her work has been praised by The Atlantic, The New York Times, The Today Show, Wired, and others. Her new book, published by Katherine Small Gallery, Alphabet in Motion, will be available in bookstores worldwide on November 18th.