Example 3-Day Workshop Schedule

Morning: The Essential Typeface Design Process

Our first session kicks off with sketching, and an introduction to type anatomy. We put to work the special design process that is the beating heart of typeface design. We reveal how to avoid the fatal mistake that all beginners (and even some professionals) make when sketching letters. Each of the 3 hours will be spent sketching letters, each sketch better than the last.

Afternoon: From Sketch to Screen

After lunch we shift gears to ideas. To design type you’ll need to know who and what it is for, and what tools go into making it. To design type you need 2 applications, a font editor and another kind of typography tool which is even more important, yet overlooked by amateurs. You'll hear what makes FontForge priceless, what offers are available from our other software sponsor, FontLab, and a little font editor history and what else is out there today.

During a tour of the key features in these tools, you’ll learn the surprising differences between Bezier drawing for illustration and type. Using our techniques you will see a functional OpenType font created before your eyes and used in a full page of text. Fair Warning: The font might just have two letters and a space, and the text will be nonsense.

Morning: Lowercase & Punctuation

After the exploratory first day, you'll bring your own type to life, starting with the most fundamental letters in the Latin writing system, plus a little essential punctuation.

Afternoon: Invisible Type Forms

We zoom in on the biggest secret in type design: The bit you can't see. At the end of the day, you'll have your font installed in your computer and printed out too.

Morning: Capital Punishment

With the highs and lows of a creative pursuit, this part of the workshop is a calm period to refine your prototype while the instructors are on-hand to tutor you 1-on-1, and discuss capitals, numbers, and accents. This sessions always proves to be tough but rewarding work.

Afternoon: Families

Finally we look at the road ahead from font to family, and wrap up the workshop with a group critique to answer all remaining questions.