Get Your Fonts Ready for Retail
with Guido Ferreyra

Come learn the in and outs of font engineering with Type Network’s technology director Guido Ferreyra. Focusing on current standards and the best available tools will improve and ensure the technical quality of your retail fonts.

This workshop delves into the most crucial aspects of font technology in preparing fonts for retail release. The session will cover digital font engineering concepts, variable font specification, industry standards, common issues, troubleshooting techniques, essential tools, and useful tips and techniques.

Mon, June 10, 2024
10am–5pm
275
Details and registration

Lecture: What is Realness? Freeing type from a fixed viewpoint
with Ben Kiel, Jesse Ragan, Silas Munro, Brian Johnson

Can a single typeface express diverse viewpoints through its own functionality? Partners from two design studios, Polymode and XYZ Type, discuss their collaboration to bring notions of expansive personal identity into typographic form. The unexpected road to their typeface Polymode Sans began by viewing a historical type revival through a queer lens, and led them to harness variable font technology as a form of cultural code-switching. Working on an abstract theoretical foundation, they created an entirely pragmatic tool: a typeface with both the versatile utility of a sans serif and the vigor of a decorative display face. This talk will follow their process through from initial idea to chameleonic applications, posing questions about collaboration, dialogue with history, and how designers express personal identity.

Mon, June 10, 2024
6:30–8:30pm
Free
Details and registration

Exploring Variable Fonts with Python and DrawBot
with Maurice Meilleur

In this two-day workshop we’ll explore the basics of working with variable fonts using Python in DrawBot. We’ll start by reviewing a few relevant coding concepts and the structure of variable fonts, and then together we’ll create specimens of variable type for running and display text, a typographic pattern, and a simple animation. Some experience with writing code in an object-oriented language like Python or Javascript, or in environments like Processing, is helpful but not strictly necessary.

Tue–Wed, June 11–12, 2024
10am–5pm
$535
Details and registration

Experience Collaborative Type Design with Fontra
with Gaëtan Baehr

Developing a Latin typeface is generally a long and linear process. A designer creates the original design, then, one after the other, can develop the glyph set, fine-tune the shapes, and repeat the same process again and again for each source of each variation axis. Fontra comes with a solution that allows real-time collaboration and multi-source editing. In this workshop, participants will learn how to easily create a variable font with multiple axes while maintaining consistent design, and how to do so through teamwork.

Tue, June 11, 2024
10am–5pm
$275
Details and registration

Intro to Chinese Type Design and a Collaborative Process using Fontra
with Jérémie Hornus, Mark Zhu

Chinese type design is usually known for having large glyphsets to complete or complex character structures. But what are some methods that Chinese designers employ to tackle these challenges and improve efficiency? In this workshop, participants will learn about the basics of the Chinese script and type design, and work together in a collaborative workflow to create a simple Chinese typeface, using the font-editing platform Fontra. Workshop will include presentation, software demo, and hands-on practice.

Wed, June 12, 2024
10am–5pm
$275
Details and registration

Spatial Typography in Mixed Reality
with Jialun Wang

Unlock the potential of typography in the immersive realm of mixed reality with this cutting-edge workshop, tailored for designers, artists, and enthusiasts at any skill level. Immerse yourself in an innovative learning experience that blends the tactile charm of traditional typography with the boundless possibilities of digital creation. This beginner-friendly workshop offers a unique opportunity to explore, design, and craft typography within a mixed reality environment.

Wed, June 12, 2024
10am–5pm
$275
Details and registration

Type Design for Non-Type Designers
with Matteo Bologna, Rainer Erich Scheichelbauer

In this two-day class, you will learn the basics of designing and generating a variable font with the font-design software Glyphs (Mac only). Go beyond choosing the same typefaces from the type menu to creating your own!

On the first day, we will learn the basics of drawing a font, generate the font, and use it in an Adobe app or a web browser. In the afternoon, we will add additional letters to the font, learning how to space them, add diacritics and punctuation.

On the second day, we will add more letters, design a bold version of the same typeface, create a variable font—and make it animate in a web browser.

At the end of the class, you will probably not have a finished font, but a respectable start and a deep understanding about how fonts are made. And maybe you’ll become a type design addict. You have been warned.

Level and prerequisites: beginner, no prior knowledge necessary. Bring your MacBook.

Sun–Mon, June 16–17, 2024
10–6am
$625
Details and registration

Type on Grids
with June Shin

Love grids? Great. Hate them? Let me change your mind. Grids don’t have to be boring and rigid. Unlock their infinite potential by constructing your own to build a set of expressive letterforms! This workshop will briefly touch on the structure of the Latin alphabet and its conventions, explore ways to use modularity to achieve visual harmony even in eccentric styles, and guide you to craft a unique piece of lettering based on the custom grids that each of you will construct from scratch.

Sun, June 16, 2024
10am–5pm
$275
Details and registration

Type Specimens on the Web
with Marie Otsuka

What might be the best way to present a typeface on the web? This workshop will explore ways of displaying type on screens beyond the generic “The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog,” and how you might tailor a web specimen specifically for the typeface. 

This workshop is intended for designers new to typography in the browser and will cover how to work with fonts on the web. Through demos and hands-on coding, we will learn various ways to express digital type directly with HTML & CSS — ranging from loading a webfont to animating variable fonts. Instruction will cover ways to control typographic composition while covering techniques for basic interactivity on the web.

Mon–Tue, June 17–18, 2024
10am–5pm
$535
Details and registration