Juan Villanueva is a typeface designer, letterer, and educator in New York City.He grew up in Lima, Peru and Clifton, New Jersey. His heart is in both places and his experience continues to shape his design work, education initiatives, and research.Juan joined the Monotype studio in 2016 where he contributes to library designs including Helvetica Now, Futura Now, and Walbaum and creates custom projects for global brands such as Google, Microsoft, Tencent, and Entertainment One.Juan is passionate about diversity and inclusion in education, and for the past five years has been dedicated to teaching design both as a useful practice and as a tool for finding your voice. He’s currently the lead instructor of Type West Online where his curriculum brings together the theory, practice, and community-based aspects of typeface design and education. In 2020, Juan founded Type Crit Crew, an initiative to make type design education more accessible and inclusive to students anywhere in the world. He also launched Typefaces as Cultural Objects, an archive that highlights typefaces made by Latin American designers that honor and preserve Latin American culture. He previously taught at Type@Cooper, the City College of New York, and the Cooper Union Summer Art Intensive Program.Juan shares his story and research at design conferences around the world including the American Printing History Association, LADFEST, BICeBé, BIPOC Design History, Where Are The Black Designers?, and TypeCon. He speaks frequently to students and organizations on topics including the practice of typeface design, finding your voice with typography, building a creative community, and more.Juan holds a BFA in Graphic Design and Illustration & Animation from Montclair State University. He graduated from the Type@Cooper Extended program in typeface design and completed the Reading Type Design intensive program. He’s a member of AIGA NY and serves on the board of the Society of Scribes.When he’s not drawing letters, he’s probably making more coffee. You can follow his lettering explorations on Instagram @juan_kafka