This post is particularly interesting because at first glance, you might not realize just how Brazilian graphic designer Álvaro Franca creates his stylized portraits. A closer look reveals that his subjects’ faces, hair, and clothing are all comprised of letterforms that are impressively produced on a vintage typewriter. Aptly titled Typewritten Portraits, Franca creates portraits of five of his favorite authors, including Jack Kerouac, J.D. Salinger, and Charles Bukowski.

To craft these works, Franca created reference images on his computer. It gave him an idea of where the dark and light parts are on a face, and he used this as a guide when pecking away on his typewriter. Certain letterforms seem to be perfect for conveying a sense of realism in the portraits. The “m,” when placed together, creates a dense, shaded area, and we can see that the designer also layered text to further enhance this…