Lele Buonerba is a graphic designer, art worker, and DJ/selector from Milan, Italy. Now based in Chicago, he works across the cultural sector with galleries, institutions, and artists. He co-founded the artists' books imprint Have a Nice Day Press and hosts the radio show E-Musik.
Sound System Letterforms
November 2025 • File under: Experimental Design
During my first semester in the Master of Design program in Graphic Design at UIC, I investigated sound systems, intended both as electrical equipment for the reproduction and amplification of sound and as concert, festival, and club PAs. I am particularly interested in Jamaican sound system culture, where mobile, temporary architectures shape social space.
DIY construction, informal plan sharing, and modular design are central to this culture. For an experimental design project, I translated these practices into typographic form by constructing letterforms from components typical of sound systems. The project began with collages from two-dimensional illustrations and developed through digital and physical processes, moving between 3D modeling, digital assembly, 3D printing, and photography.
Working with 1:18-scale speaker elements—some up to three inches tall—I approached typography as modular construction, similar to building with blocks. Fixed proportions and functional constraints made conventional letterforms impossible, encouraging experimentation, improvisation, and structural play. The resulting forms explore “impossible” architectures, echoing early digital typography designed for low-resolution displays.
Awards
Honorable Mention | UIC Image of Research (2026)