Apply for Designer-Writer-Residency 2026–2027

Centre for Text Margins invites designers/writers to apply for a 12-month paid residency based at Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture (ARTS) in Espoo, Finland, starting in September 2026. The residency working grant is funded by Kone Foundation.  

Centre for Text Margins is a new experimental initiative founded in 2025 building on the typography and text design conducted here at Aalto ARTS. Our programme, currently in its pilot phase, consists of symposia, publications, exhibitions, an archive, and most importantly, this residency. Our aim is to bridge typography, writing and reading: to highlight the materiality of written language through a typographic lens and to examine nonlinear practices of writing and text design. To understand this context of the residency, read more about the premises of our work.  

We are now looking for one emerging or established practitioner whose design or writing practice aligns with the aims of the Centre and who has experience in organising work independently. The residency offers a unique opportunity to deepen and develop self-organised practice in conversation with the Aalto ARTS community without the pull and limitations of commercial work or the pressure of an academic degree.  

This residency is for you if you are self-organised and ready to inhabit an unconventional space within university settings: a practitioner in-between faculty and student. You are willing to develop your independent practice and document and share it with the community. You are ready to do pioneering work that others can also learn from. We welcome applicants of all backgrounds and identities.  

If you are a designer, we expect and support a strong interest in language and writing – this is an opportunity to develop your independent text design practice over the long term outside market imperatives.  

If you are a writer, we expect an interest in the typographic and design aspects of your work which we will support with our expertise. For you, this can be an opportunity to cultivate your media-sensitive writing practice in close dialogue with design.  

We are particularly interested in textual practices that can we consider “marginal”: contexts where typographic form is integral to writing and reading, be it experimental writing and/or accessible/plain-language expression. These practices may unfold across various genres and settings: from poetry and text art to plain-language public documents, from typeface design to editorial and scholarly writing, and beyond.   

We welcome an authentic and practice-led approach regardless of discipline or genre, and appreciate digital and analogue, individual and participatory practices equally. Selection will prioritise proposals that engage marginal textual practices and the materiality of written language in ambitious settings. You choose the language, media, methods, and the thematic context of your work, but approaches interesting to us might include, just for example:  

• plain language writing from a design perspective  

• thresholds of il/legibility in experimental poetry  

• accessibility in textual form that can ease the load of reading  

• unconventional and diagrammatic form of argumentation in scholarly writing  

• non-linear and multilingual/multiscript writing  

• typographic writing experimenting across analogue and digital technologies  

We are not looking for practitioners doing theoretical research only, building a conventional design portfolio, developing commercial products, or mere polishing of typographic form or typeface with no semantic context attached.  

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Period of Residency   
1 September 2026 – 31 August 2027  

Number of positions   
1 resident  

Location of Residency   
Aalto University, Espoo, Finland  

Application Period   
Tuesday 7 April – Wednesday 6 May 2026 (closes at 23:59 EEST/+3:00 UTC)  

Interviews   
By invitation online, Monday 18 May 2026, scheduled between 13.00–17.00 EEST/+3:00 UTC  

Results   
Invitations to interview Thursday 14 May 2025  

Final results Friday 22 May 2026  

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Eligibility  

• MA level degree or equivalent expertise  

• Evidence of professional practice  

• No current student status (Bachelor or Master)  

• Fluent Finnish and/or English 

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Criteria for applicants  

• A practice aligned with the Centre’s aims: work that bridges design and writing, engaging materiality in written language, and a notion of typography as writing and reading  

• Focus in nonlinear, experimental, accessible, and/or other “marginal” writing practices   

• Potential for self-directed, sustained, and reflective practice  

• Commitment to documenting and sharing work-in-progress  

• Feasible year-long trajectory, with ability to reside in Finland for the duration of the residency and regular on‑campus engagement at Aalto ARTS (Espoo) 

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What the residency offers

• An opportunity to deepen and develop self-organised practice in conversation with a creative academic community, without the limitations of commercial work or an academic degree  

• A monthly working grant of 2 700 € from Kone Foundation to cover living expenses and working costs (32 400 € for 12 months); during the residency, you may take approximately one month of paid leave   

• Visitor access to Aalto University infrastructure, including desk space in a shared room, workshop facilities (subject to school booking and training policies), library, archive, and events  

• Connections with relevant networks of practice and expertise in Finland  

• Possibility to participate in the daily life of the Centre: activities, communications and publications   

• Possibility to engage with students and faculty at Aalto ARTS  

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What the residency requires  

• Reside in Finland and engage regularly on campus: for example, one working day per week or an equivalent monthly block, no fully remote option  

• Deliver 1–2 public talks in events organised by the Centre about ongoing work and creative practice (in English)  

• Plan and lead one five-day workshop for students related to the ongoing work and creative practice (in Finnish or English)  

• Compile documentation (text and image) of the work done during the residency, for example as contributions to exhibitions and/or online or printed publications organised by the Centre  

• Submit suitable parts of residency work to be included in the Aalto University archives, either in original or documented form; archiving terms will be agreed with the Centre and archive  

• Arrange all arrangements for travel and accommodation and relocation expenses independently, the residency does not include accommodation or travel costs  

• Manage necessary visas or permits independently, the Centre will provide documentation letters if needed  

• Arrange mandatory insurance and pension coverage independently with local social insurance institution MELA and report the grant in your tax declaration. Statutory insurance payments are approximately 15–20% of the monthly grant. Note: the grant is tax-exempt in Finland up to the annual threshold (currently 26 988 €), subject to change  

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Rights of use  

Centre for Text Margins may use the documentation of the work developed during the residency on websites, social media, exhibitions, or publications. You will retain the copyright to the works produced during the residency.  

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Commercial work and other employment 

The residency is a commitment to independent practice and cannot be used for doing commercial work for profit. The residency is full-time, however other paid employment is permitted during the residency up to 25 %, if it does not conflict with residency commitments and presence. Employment by Aalto University is not possible during the residency.  

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HOW TO APPLY

Application documents  

One PDF file, consisting of:  

1. Cover letter (1 page)  

2. Residency Practice Proposal (2–3 pages, instructions below)  

2. Curriculum Vitae (1–3 pages)  

Link added in the application form:  

4. Portfolio of creative practice (link to website or shared file)  

Link to the application form: https://forms.gle/PGcCwjgMr4StCYQh8

NOTE: Access to the submission form requires a Google account. In case this is inaccessible for you, let us know well in advance centre-for-text-margins@aalto.fi.and we will provide an alternative. Only applications with all requested materials submitted on time will be considered eligible.  

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Instruction for the Practice Proposal   

Instead of predetermined outcomes, we value depth, rigour, and robust self-organisation. You may also propose multiple strands and allow for evolution.   

Please articulate, using this structure if possible:  

• What you intend to explore and why 
(questions, themes, problems, drivers...)  

• How you propose to work   
(methods, tools, experiments, collaborations...)  

• How you will structure a year of self-directed practice   
(routines, milestones, rhythms, checkpoints...)  

• What resources, constraints, or support you anticipate  

• How you will document, reflect, and share your process with others  

• How you will know your residency was successful (for you)  

• If you use AI tools for outline generation, language refinement, and/or translation, please disclose how and where.  

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For more information, please email centre-for-text-margins@aalto.fi. Allow up to 5 working days for response.