Bye Bye Binary 02: Archives typo·graphiques du futur.
The second issue of Bye Bye Binary, a magazine published by the Franco-Belgian collective dedicated to exploring inclusive and post-binary language through experimental typography and graphic design. Founded in 2018, Bye Bye Binary develops new graphic and typographic forms adapted to the French language, including custom characters, ligatures, midpoints, and connecting elements that challenge conventional systems of writing and representation.
While the first issue established the collective's political and collaborative approach, this second issue, Archives typo·graphiques du futur (Typographic Archives of the Future), examines the role of archives in documenting collective struggles, preserving histories, and imagining alternative futures. Through essays, visual research, and experimental type specimens, contributors explore relationships between typography, activism, identity, and the body.
Highlights include a reconsideration of the collective's previously unpublished 2021 text “Corps militants,” connecting feminist protest signs, Afro-feminist collage, trans symbols, and Unicode; designer Clara Balaguer reflecting on her 2015 publication Filipino Folk Foundry; a manifesto by Sai Bellier and Leœ Lacape advocating for queer and decolonial typographic neutrality through maximalism and ornament; and new connect-the-dots compositions by Sophie Cure. Two type specimens present BBB Love & Rage through a patchwork of excerpts from writers and cultural figures including Leslie Feinberg, bell hooks, and Sara Ahmed.
Throughout, the magazine embraces multiple forms of legibility, using experimental typography to disrupt reading conventions and amplify different voices.
