Letterwest Conference 2023

Written By Joselynn Martinez

Have you ever heard of the LetterWest Conference?
It’s an annual event in the U.S. dedicated to lettering artists, designers, and creatives—and I was lucky enough to attend the 2023 conference in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Going in, I wasn’t sure what to expect—it was my first-ever design conference. But let me tell you, it was truly one-of-a-kind. Yes, it's an investment to attend, but it’s 100% worth it. You leave feeling creatively recharged, inspired by artists you’ve admired for years, and introduced to new legends in the industry.

The way the conference work is that they have several workshops, sometimes even two must-see ones happening at the same time—making it really hard to choose. Thankfully, everything takes place within the same block, so getting around is easy, even with a tight schedule.

I attend to Becca Clason workshop- https://www.instagram.com/beccaclason/ was really fun, see images below from our workshop, her work is incredible, she she specializes in stop-motion animation with lettering. Before that session started, I got to meet Hayley aka Type Affiliated, a huge influence in Utah’s lettering scene. She’s built an amazing community and shares incredible resources on her Patreon.

I also attended a session with Ximena Jiménez, https://www.instagram.com/jimenezlettering/ who showed us how she sketches and transfers her work to mural walls. Her story was powerful—she came all the way from Colombia to share her process and passion.

To my suprise, waiting in the bathroom line, I got to meet greatest Aurelie Maron, traveled all the way from Australia and got to attend to letterwest, she was incredible friendly. I have admired her work and content for quite a while now. I am sharing her informaiton here in case you havent heard from here and want to check it out https://www.instagram.com/aureliemaron/

By the time I left, I was full of inspiration and grateful for the people I met—people who share the same love for lettering as I do. Utah really does nurture its creative community, and LetterWest is a beautiful example of that.

They just announced the next event for 2026—check it out here: LetterWest Info.
Who knows, maybe I’ll see you there?

sharing some of these images of the letter west 2023

Letterwest workshop

Joselynn Martinez

Hi there, I am Josie Martinez. I am a hand-letter and doodle maker located in Las Vegas, NV. I am a trained graphic designer that over the years have been in love with Lettering. I use hand lettering with a mixture of doodles; I am fascinated with the analog style, (the good old fashion pen and paper) and then bringing them alive with digital techniques. In a few words, I describe my work as bold with a playfulness style. I constantly find myself personalizing greeting cards, custom products from T-shirts, mugs, tote bag, notebooks, all those products that we love to buy for ourselves or gift them to someone awesome. I am bilingual, Spanish speaker, which is my native language and I will love to work in the future with brands that are represent in Latin countries.

https://josie-martinez.com
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