César Cid turns famous artists into letters in his playful alphabet series

It's a testament to an artist's talent that their paintings can be abstracted and remain recognisable. César Cid proves this point 26 times over in The Artphabet, a 3D typographic series that turns famous artworks into letters matching their creators' names. And it all begins with an A-shaped Campbell's soup can inspired by Andy Warhol himself.

The Artphabet is a personal project for César, who works as the creative lead at the Madrid-based studio CESS by day. Inspired by the annual typography challenge 36 Days of Type, he wanted to bring his love of art and his 3D work together in a series that could explore different visual worlds.

Rather than simply wrapping a famous artwork around typography, César wanted to imagine how an artwork's colours, shapes and materials could become a letter in three dimensions. D from the series is a perfect example, as it adapts the shark and formaldehyde tank from Damien Hirst's 1991 installation The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living.

Elsewhere, Banksy's Girl with Balloon becomes the basis for the letter B, and the swirling pastoral imagery from Van Gogh's Starry Night inspires the letter V. Given the nature of the alphabet, though, creative liberties were taken with certain letters.

"My initial idea was for each letter to match the artist's initial, but that wasn't possible across the whole alphabet," says César, referring to how the terrified figure from Edvard Munch's The Scream becomes zig-zagged into the letter Z. "The process became a way for me to learn more about art, to look more closely at each artist's work and understand what makes their style distinctive."

Once the full range of 26 artworks was completed, The Artphabet soon found an international audience. This encouragement prompted César to release the images in other formats, such as a popular collection of physical prints. "I love seeing people choose these pieces for their homes, and connecting with the project beyond the screen has been especially rewarding," he says.

The Artphabet has already grown beyond the original digital project, and a "substantial number" of canvas prints are being bought through private sales and online auctions, but César isn't done with it yet.

"A book of The Artphabet will be published early next year, which is a big milestone for the project," he says.

"I'm also in ongoing conversations about expanding The Artphabet into other formats, and I'm always open to new collaborations with publishers, brands and cultural organisations. I'd love to keep finding new ways for people to discover and enjoy the collection."