# Mining Raw Letters
> Full reference: https://miningrawletters.com/llms-full.txt

> Mining Raw Letters is a type design studio based in Pully, near Lausanne, Switzerland. Founded in 2025 by New Zealand type designer Nell May and German researcher and developer Kevin Kuhn. The studio works where letterforms, language, research, and code intersect — offering custom typeface design, exhibition typography, and typographic research. Internationally active from Switzerland.

## Pages
- [Home](https://miningrawletters.com/): Portfolio carousel — typefaces, exhibition graphics, and typographic research
- [School Pixel Game and Editor for HausCode](https://miningrawletters.com/hauscode/): Browser-based arcade game with custom For Children level and child-friendly editor, made for HausCode, Haus der Kunst Munich's Creative R&D Initiative, inaugural cycle 2026

## Typefaces
- **Nola**: Display typeface by Nell May, originally drawn 2014, reconfigured 2026 (Nola 2014/26). Inspired by the poetic lettering of New Zealand-born architect and MIT professor Maurice K Smith (1926–2020). Licensing on request.
- **School Pixel**: Pixel font with an arcade game as its type specimen. School Pixel Game and Editor (including a custom For Children level and editor made for HausCode at Haus der Kunst Munich) is live at miningrawletters.com/hauscode/. DrillBot mines raw letters underground.
- **Waitomo**: Font family by Nell May, including Sans and Mono cuts (Waitomo Sans Regular, Waitomo Mono Regular). Upcoming release with Counter Forms. Used to set the MRL website (Waitomo Mono Black).
- **Night Editor**: Installation, Ecal, Lausanne, 2024.
- **Reversed Slab**: An ornamental titling font by Nell May, inspired by 19th century wood type. 4 stylistic sets.
- **Childhood**: Typeface in progress by Nell May.

## Exhibition & Design Work
- Vinyl design for Richard Frater's *The Last Word* (Michael Lett gallery, Auckland, 2025)
- Exhibition graphics for Sonya Lacey's *Eveningness* (Whangārei Art Museum, 2026)

## Videos
- [School Pixel For Children Game and Editor](https://miningrawletters.com/sources/hauscode/Mining-Raw-Letters_Haus-der-Kunst_For-Children_School-Pixel_Level+Editor.mp4): The custom For Children level and editor made for HausCode at Haus der Kunst Munich, 2026
- [Play School Pixel Game](https://miningrawletters.com/hauscode/): Live browser-based pixel art arcade game — the type specimen for School Pixel
- [The Visual World of Anthroposophy](https://miningrawletters.com/sources/videos_compressed/TheVisualWorldofAnthroposophy_ST_MRL.mp4): Research video accompanying the Source Type publication, 2025

## Research & Publications
- [The Visual World of Anthroposophy: Dynamic Lettering, Typefaces and Language](https://www.sourcetype.com/editorial/39426/the-visual-world-of-anthroposophy-dynamic-lettering-typefaces-language) — Nell May & Kevin Kuhn, Source Type, Zurich, 2025
- [A Quantum Physicist's Views on Type](https://ecal-typefaces.ch/a-quantum-physicists-views-on-type/) — Nell May, Ecal Stories, Lausanne, 2025
- [Insects in the Night: a nocturnal journey through light-on-dark type](https://thenationalgrid.net/9) — Nell May, The National Grid, Issue 9, Christchurch, 2025
- [Reporter Number 5](https://physicsroom.org.nz/publications/correspondence-iv) — Nell May, Correspondence IV, The Physics Room, 2025
- *Before the Entrance to Hell: The Experience of Pain in Kafka's Life and Work* — Kevin Kuhn, 2024 (PDF on request)

## About
Nell May is a designer specialised in type and typographic research, originally from Wellington, New Zealand. She holds an MA in Type Design from Ecal, Lausanne, and an MFA from Elam School of Fine Arts, Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland. Member of the antipodean typographic collective Counter Forms.

Kevin Kuhn grew up in Ulm, Germany. Master of Philosophy from Tübingen and a PhD on Aesthetic Communication and Writing Processes from the University of Hildesheim, where he also taught Creative Writing and Literary Studies. His research and novels explore literature, digital culture, and AI-driven environments. He has developed a 12-module online creative writing course for the Zeit Akademie, releasing from July 2026.

## Contact
studio@miningrawletters.com
https://www.linkedin.com/company/mining-raw-letters
https://www.instagram.com/miningrawletters/