Advanced Typeface Design

Graduate / Professional

Like other art forms, typeface design responds to aesthetic ideas and currents, as well as functional, technological, and linguistic contexts and constraints. What does it mean to define a useful, original design brief for a typeface, and how can typefaces — understood as systems of recombinable letterforms and spaces — respond to design intent while honoring their intended functionality? This course explores articulating and evaluating design concepts for original type; researching, and working with, potential reference material; and bringing design ideas to life across a consistent and convincing set of original letterforms, while evaluating the work according to its intended usage. Aimed at intermediate typeface designers with some experience drawing and spacing type, the course focuses on building a consistent typeface design that responds to an original brief defined in consultation with the instructor. The course is taught using RoboFont, but is open to existing users of other font editors. 3 Course cr W 3:30pm-6:30pm