Class Overview
So you want to design a typeface? Learn how to hand draw letters and digitize them to create your own unique functional font!
In this practical workshop, students will create an original text typeface. Whether you want to hone your typography skills, improve your lettering practice, or become a type designer, learning the fundamentals of type design can bring your skills to the next level.
Learn how to use a calligraphy pen, improve your drawings, and create a typeface using Glyphs (or the font editor of your choice). Explore both analog and digital media to develop an understanding of the underlying structure of the Latin alphabet. Class time is dedicated to working on your project with individualized feedback, supplemented by occasional lectures, technical demonstrations, and group critique. By the end of the class, you will have a working text typeface, as well as a sketch-to-screen workflow that you can use for future font creation.
Students will be encouraged to spend up to 10 hours on homework outside of class time. Designing a typeface is a laborious process but time flies when experimenting, drawing, and editing!
See also: Experimental Lettering and other Graphic Design or art classes.
Learning Objectives
- Learn the basics of calligraphy
- Understand the structure and patterning of the Latin alphabet
- Create your own original letterforms
- Digitize and refine your original design
- Learn how to optimize a typeface for text
- Become familiar with a sketch-to-screen digital type design workflow
Who Might Enjoy This Class?
- Anyone who wants to develop their own custom font
- Graphic designers, illustrators, lettering artists, type designers
- No prerequisites, but basic graphic design/typography knowledge is recommended