Type Education — TypeDrawers

‘Grand Cru Classés’ sprouting from Antwerp soil

LeMo aka PatternMan aka Frank E Blokland — Sun, 18 May 2014 12:00:30 +0000

In the exquisite setting of the Museum Plantin-Moretus the Inside/Outside exhibition, organized by the Plantin Institute of Typography, was opened on Saturday 17 May 2014. The exhibition comprises work of students who successfully ﬁnished the Expert class Type design (EcTd) 2012–2013 course, and a preview of the ongoing projects of the current 2013–2014 course. This is the third consecutive EcTd exhibition at the Museum Plantin-Moretus and the ﬁrst one that is combined with the Expert class Book design (EcBd) course. On behalf of the board of the Plantin Institute of Typography, vice-president and lecturer Marc Mombaerts underlined the uniqueness of the educational program offered by the institute. Also he emphasized the importance of the cooperation with the Museum Plantin-Moretus and, of course, the support by the sponsors (for instance the printing of the exhibition panels by Agfa) . EcBd lecturer and awarded Belgium typographer Antoon De Vylder spoke about the book design projects and praised the enthusiasm of the students who he and his colleague Paul Verrept guide. As lecturer and author of the EcTd program I underlined the importance of an in-depth course that combines theoretical insights and historical backgrounds with technical knowledge and practical skills in a time in which the production and distribution of fonts is far from exclusive anymore. I mentioned that when I started to design type for a living in the ﬁrst half of the 1980s, people reacted surprised when I told them what my profession was. ‘Wow, a type designer; what is that?’ Today people react with ‘well, who isn’t a type designer’. Almost everyone seems to design type nowadays, helped by the fact that computers and font tools don’t cost much anymore and, regrettably, ‘type design’ has been made easier than ever before because it is simple to open and tweak existing font data (although this is often not allowed by the EULA’s). Fonts are offered even for free, because for instance of diverging earning models. One could raise the question why one should bother to design and tediously develop type from scratch when fonts seem to have lost value. I made a comparison with wine in my talk: more wine is produced than ever before and a lot of (inferior) wine is for sale for a very small price. But there is also a higher demand for great wines, i.e., the Grand Cru Classés. So, IMHO there will remain a market for well-made fonts that add high value to the trade. The Expert class Type design student’s sprouting ‘Grand Cru Classés’ shown at the exhibition proof the importance of education targeted at enhancing skills and knowledge. The course comprises ten lessons (under the roof of the Museum Plantin-Moretus) in a period of roughly three quarters of a year, and it requires a lot of hard work from the students in between the lessons. The EcTd course forms a good alternative for people who don’t have the time nor the opportunity to follow the Type & Media master course at the KABK or the type course in Reading. In some cases students who successfully ﬁnished master courses in type design also join the EcTd one; in the past three years three type masters from Reading did this actually. The photo’s presented here give an impression of the relatively small, but very informative Inside/Outsideexhibition. More related info can be found here.

Best places worldwide to study typography (not type design)

KP Mawhood — Fri, 06 Mar 2026 20:52:24 +0000

I know the University of Reading (UK) is well known for typography at undergraduate level. But, I’m curious which other universities are leading typography worldwide (any country, any language).

Specifically, I mean typography as the study of the "organisation of writing"… not the design of typefaces. Thanks for your insights!

New: Origin of Type Frameworks (OTF) Course

LeMo aka PatternMan aka Frank E Blokland — Sun, 16 Mar 2025 10:17:08 +0000

This course offers an online practical and theoretical study of type design and font technology, taught by Dr. Frank E. Blokland and Dr. Jürgen Willrodt. Together they have over 80 years of experience in the type industry.

During the online OTF Course, delivered via Zoom, letter aficionados will delve deeper into what type design and font production actually entails, by evaluating and questioning how to approach the subject theoretically and practically, also from less common points of view. This is done by exploring and analyzing the historical, aesthetic, and technical aspects of type design and typography. The aim is a deep understanding of what exactly this comprises and a quantifiable translation of this knowledge into practical applications.

An important role is reserved for Frank’s dissertation. In On the Origin of Patterning in Movable Latin Type: Renaissance Standardisation, Systematisation, and Unitisation of Textura and Roman Type he argues that Renaissance typographic patterns were partly determined by requirements for the early font production. Hence, today’s typographic conventions are not only the result of optical preferences predating movable type, but at least as much the result of standardization that eased the Renaissance font production.

In short, the OTF Course covers all the usual ingredients of type-design education, such as drawing, spacing, kerning, font formats, (automation of) font production, etc. However, on top of that, there is also a unique and advanced approach, based on almost 40 years of experience in vocational type-design education combined with academic research.

About the teachers: Jürgen (Hamburg, 1952) studied physics and mathematics and obtained a PhD in theoretical particle physics in 1976. As a software engineer, he became the lead developer of the IKARUS system since the early 1980s and developed interpolation, autotracing, and hinting algorithms, as well as special algorithms for Kanji separation. Frank (Leiden, 1959) is a type designer and has been (senior) lecturer in type design at the Royal Academy of Art (KABK) since 1987. From 1995 to 2025 he was senior lecturer and Research Fellow at the Plantin Institute of Typography in Antwerp. Frank founded the Dutch Type Library in 1990 and in October 2016 he successfully defended his PhD dissertation on Renaissance font-production standardization at Leiden University.

More information about the OTF Course can be found here.

New: EULA seminar + Font Eng. + Arabic Type Design courses

Nadine Chahine — Tue, 24 Feb 2026 13:27:14 +0000

Dear all,
We have an exciting lineup of new courses and seminars on our ILT Academy schedule. You can check them out at the ILT Academy website! We have 2 courses in Arabic type design, the ever-popular Font Engineering course and Python Crash Course, as well as the newly added EULA seminar. Please feel free to get in touch if you have any questions.

Latin Two (7th edition): 15-week live type design course starting April 1, 2026

Sol — Mon, 23 Feb 2026 16:13:20 +0000

Nicole Dotin and I are pleased to announce the 7th edition of Latin Two, part of the Practica Program — an online platform focused on advancing type design education.

Latin Two is a 15-week live course for designers who have already begun a typeface and want to expand it into a multi-weight family using interpolation.

The course focuses on developing coherent systems across weights — not simply generating instances, but refining structure, spacing, and optical balance so that each weight functions harmoniously within the family.

Throughout the program, students work on their own typefaces while we cover:

– Designing according to intended use and context

– Building coherent visual systems across weights

– Structuring families and defining design spaces

– Interpolation strategies and master planning

– Expanding character sets and refining diacritics

– Optical corrections, spacing, and refinement at multiple weights

– Developing a more efficient and reflective type design process

Classes are held live (Wednesdays and Thursdays @ 10:30a CT), and recordings are available for those in different time zones.

Dates: April 1 – July 15, 2026
Format: Live and online
Duration: 15 weeks

Tuition is offered on a sliding scale. We also offer one scholarship based on merit and demonstrated financial need, as well as payment plans.

Important dates:
– Scholarship applications: open now · deadline March 1, 2026
– Program applications open: March 2, 2026

Full details, including how to apply: Latin Two Expansion

If you’re interested in deepening your process and expanding your type system with rigor and feedback, we’d be glad to review your application.

Research-led counterpoint to blanding?

KP Mawhood — Thu, 08 Jan 2026 21:23:50 +0000

Came across the idea of “desirable difficulties” in learning theory – the notion that a bit of perceptual friction (e.g. slightly harder‑to‑read material) can encourage slower, more deliberate reading and deeper processing. It feels like a compelling counterpoint to blanding: when legibility becomes monotonous, it may actually become harder to process meaningfully.

One blog I read even mentioned “repetition blindness” – our tendency to slip into autopilot when nothing perceptually significant changes. It reminds me of Hyndman’s work (e.g. Why Fonts Matter), but I don't remember this explicitly addressing cognitive effort in the sense learning theory does.

Curious what others think, and whether there’s related research that explores this tension between legibility, ease, and depth.

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11409-015-9149-z

Anyone have experience with this font identification software (Find my Font)?

AbrahamLee — Mon, 09 Oct 2017 15:11:42 +0000

I wasn't sure if this was the right category for this kind of question, but I'll ask it here anyway.

There are a number of font-identification apps (both web- and desktop-based) and it looks like this one is pretty good, but I thought I'd ask if anyone has experience using it: Find my Font

The free trial doesn't have the breadth of database access as the pro version and there's no refund if you pay for a license for the pro version. So, I'm just a little bit hesitant to fork out the $50 without knowing if it's as good as it seems to be.

As a side note, does anyone have a favorite software for this kind of thing?

hebrew type design workshops?

jeremy tribby — Sun, 12 Jun 2022 05:18:19 +0000

hi all, I was wondering if anyone knows of any upcoming hebrew type design workshops (taught in english)? a cursory search shows that meir sadan teaches them occasionally, but I don't see anything current

Single A4 page construction - Van de Graaf Canon

Florian — Thu, 24 Jun 2021 09:08:29 +0000

Hi everyone,

Is there a standard or way to calculate a good single A4 page construction. I know of the Van De Graaf and Tschichold page construction theory and how to apply/calculate it. But was wondering on how to do this for a single page instead of a spread.

Hope someone has the answer, been pondering about this for a while.

Calling all aspiring font designers!

Alex Kaczun — Tue, 08 Apr 2025 18:25:06 +0000

Calling all aspiring font designers! Want to master the art of typeface design? Join renowned designer Alex Kaczun for exclusive, FREE mentorship in creating stunning, professional fonts. New students will be selected approximately every 6 months, or on a schedule that best suits the mentorship process, to learn all aspects of good typeface design.

Communication will be primarily through emails and Google Meet sessions as needed, ensuring personalized guidance. To apply, email Alex at alex.kaczun@gmail.com with why you’re interested, your background, and what you hope to achieve. It’s like an interview process—show your passion!

Upload your new fonts to Alex’s platform, typeinnovations.com, and kickstart your design journey. Don’t miss out!

#FontDesign #TypefaceMentorship #DesignCommunity

ATypI 90 in Oxford

James Montalbano — Wed, 08 Jan 2025 14:10:11 +0000

Did anyone here attend this conference. I was there and have a question about a session. Who led the "Wine Label Typography" session. I missed that one because I went to the "Have a Beer with Ed Benguiat" session. He neveer turned up.

Tips on font Circular by Laurenz brunner

Rozijn — Mon, 18 Nov 2024 21:13:29 +0000

Hi All,

I am looking for a typeface which is closest to the one described in the title. Has anything has suggestions? Thank you! Moreover the O should be a circle and the C almost a circle.

Interesting piece on an Indonesian language using Hangul to write it

James Montalbano — Mon, 04 Nov 2024 14:49:21 +0000

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/04/world/asia/indonesia-korea-hangul.html?unlocked_article_code=1.XU4.hTRK.Vu_b1tm1Awku&smid=url-share

Suggest modulated sans serif

Mithil Mogare — Wed, 30 Oct 2024 04:33:33 +0000

I am working on the one of branding project and it required a modulated sans serif typeface like optima which can work as a body and display typeface. Please suggest some options.
The font can be open source or exclusive licensed.

KaBK type and media course

Mithil Mogare — Wed, 02 Oct 2024 04:36:05 +0000

Greetings, all.
I intended to submit a proposition to KaBK for a course in type and media. Does anyone have a notion about the criteria for judging? Is there anyone from KaBK in the community? Additionally, is there a sufficient number of employment opportunities in the locality for UI/UX or graphic design after completing the KaBK course?

Lecture & workshops with Words of Type

Lisa Huang — Thu, 09 May 2024 17:54:57 +0000

Hi everyone!

I’m posting here one of the many news about Words of Type project.

For those who don’t know what Words of Type is: it started to be an online and multilingual encyclopedia of typographic terms. Now, the encyclopedia is in progress, should be out this summer.

By the time it is in construction, I’ve also created a temporary website with a series of lectures and workshops, for now online and in English, about typography and type design in various specific scripts:

Thai with Boom Promphans;
Chinese Hanzi with me;
Devanagari with Namrata Goyal;
Hangeul with Mingoo Yoon;
Hebrew (only lecture) with Shani Avni,
and Greek with Irene Vlachou!

They all are at a very reasonable price And revenues will participate in the funding of the encyclopedia!

Please have a look, book you seat, and I hope to see you soon at one of the events!

Thanks a lot!

Ohno Essential Robofont

Dave Crossland — Wed, 06 Dec 2023 08:03:19 +0000

https://school.ohnotype.co/p/essential-robofont

New video class introduction to the classic editor just dropped. Looks epic!

Looking for a Mentor

Mithil Mogare — Tue, 21 Nov 2023 04:09:54 +0000

I am looking for a part time unpaid internship of 4-6 months in type design. I want to learn kerning and Italic letterforms. Also, I can help in the mentors project in vector drawing of letters or specimen design. I am open for remote option with communication over the mail.
You can find my work here .

Visual Alternatives to Times New Roman?

Typofactory — Thu, 09 Nov 2023 23:40:13 +0000

Hello,

This might sound a bit nitpick: I have a paper to turn in, and my teacher demans that it be Times New Roman. However, I really dislike Times New Roman (whether or not because of it's design or because of it's popularity, I don't know). Are there any fonts that are visually similar to Times New Roman, especially since he will have to look through many papers after another, so any deviation will be noticeable.
(I apologise for putting this in the Education category, it is just that it technically is)

Is using diacritics as a design choice in bad taste?

Typofactory — Thu, 12 Oct 2023 23:20:18 +0000

Hello,

I am using diacritics (in this case the umlaut) when they (A) aren't supposed to be there, and (B) are only there because it looks better. Is this good or tacky? It is for a personal project, so nothing commercial, and no one who really cares is going to see it, but for future reference is that "tacky" or is it fine.

—An English Speaker

(I know this isn't directly type related, but I figured you would know)

Full character set of Latin script

Mithil Mogare — Fri, 01 Sep 2023 10:07:45 +0000

Hello,
I am developing latin script typeface. For that I need a full glyph set or characters set of the letters in latin script. I am getting confused while adding glyphs in FL7 because it is mixed.
I accidently added some character which has base of latin letters like bdot, mdot, ndot and so on... Later I got to know that some of them are not latin characters.
Where I can get all the accented letters and supportive characters of latin script?
Also, which font should I refer for latin glyphs set?
Does somebody have published the mandatory characters set that cover all essential glyphs in latin script?
Thank you.

A Vanishing Nomadic Clan, With a Songlike Language All Their Own

James Montalbano — Tue, 19 Sep 2023 16:44:37 +0000

Not really Type, but language, and without language there is no type.
Anyway are truely fascinating piece:
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/19/science/punan-borneo-nomadic-clan.html?unlocked_article_code=tTTlk-fYZlvAWJD0RI96t_3Jfti4ZVfe1Kixz8BvONKytVt0a9LiOeMFdIm0gGkuFsoN2slmqjvK4nuIniQlFibgwv9a1982lftNZx_3eJwSihdpMWN6RaTc5cxB_WrBBRQF-PtxDAuVuMYf5QzVh06VV-Jlatyg4W7hs5TxRqVTqP-V1bwiGBLIrPeuOVxBlyZZ1l8-CgUS9jBIXrhtfQGOscvAaj8ZbQi0u2Vqs1OhK_0oHDXGtAHBYct-rM5q50CeeiSeQdOypFeN2mzkOOnsBlYQv9lj7SqGMxs5mSpzYdVc3tBLXnY15bfQqqKQSbyeKZ7ViikTAgyW3OEZAoo&smid=em-share

Draw & Digitize Workshop

chaanes — Tue, 12 Sep 2023 18:56:55 +0000

Draw & Digitize!

Teacher: Christopher Haanes

Time: Thursdays from 28th September to 19th October, 19:30–21:00 CET

Zoom sessions, using Glyphs (Mac only)
Cost: 142 Euros

Open for anyone wanting to learn about type design

Register from link below, payment using PayPal
Link for more workshop info: https://christopherhaanes.com/draw-digitize/

About this workshop:
Calligraphy, lettering, typography. Three separate disciplines? No. The same? No. Overlapping? Yes.

After teaching drawn type design and typography for graphic designers, as well as drawing letters for over thirty years, I have finally taken the step into the world of digital typography, fulfilling an old dream of mine. In this workshop you will learn the basics of putting the written letter on to your keyboard, and making your own typeface. We will draw letters with a pencil, looking at typographic detailing vs underlying form. A few simple drawings will be used as a starting point from which to make a typeface.

Typography Summer School (University of Antwerp)

LeMo aka PatternMan aka Frank E Blokland — Mon, 25 Mar 2019 13:18:12 +0000

For those who cannot attend the ATypI Tokyo conference: Typography Summer School at the University of Antwerp from 2 till 6 September 2019. An intensive 5-day program on the value of research for a better understanding of type and typography.

The LeMo Method

LeMo aka PatternMan aka Frank E Blokland — Wed, 22 Oct 2014 10:50:02 +0000

Those who are familiar with my PhD research know that I investigate Renaissance systematization in type. The underlying hypothesis is that Gutenberg and consorts developed a standardized and unitized system for ‘designing’ and casting Textura type, and that this system was extrapolated for roman (and later italic) type. Humanistic handwriting was literally molded into pre-ﬁxed standardized proportions. In line with my predecessor and tutor at the KABK, Gerrit Noordzij, I consider writing a good starting point for exploring matters like construction, contrast-sort, contrast-ﬂow, and contrast. Translating handwriting into type is not very straightforward though. Despite the fact that they are trained to work directly from their own writings, students often start to deﬁne grids before drawing letters. And usually they look at existing typefaces for the ‘correct’ proportions. Obviously patterning is a requirement for designing type and it is difﬁcult to distill these patterns from handwriting. Could it be possible that type also ﬁnd its origin in patterning besides in writing, and that this even inﬂuenced writing after the invention of movable type? There seems to be no Humanistic handwriting predating movable type that shows such a clear standardization as roman type. My measurements of incunabula seem to prove that character widths were standardized during the Renaissance. The written Textura Quadrata made it relatively easy for Gutenberg and consorts to standardize and systematize their movable Gothic type. When this was accomplished, it was obvious to apply the same system to the new roman type (and decades later to italic type). The clear morphological relationship between Textura and Humanistic Minuscule made this possible. The underlying structure of Textura Quadrata and Humanistic Minuscule made an organic standardization of the handwritten models possible. It was there all the time, but it wasn’t necessary to capture it so literally before movable type was produced. Also side bearings were a natural extension of the handwritten model. This standardization is captured in the DTL LetterModel (LeMo) application. Nowadays it is common practice to design characters first and subsequently apply side bearings. It’s quite plausible that during the early days of typography the proportions and widths of the characters were deﬁned ﬁrst and subsequently the details were adapted to the widths. As mentioned, the step from handwriting to type design is difficult. Even for me as an experienced calligrapher. I set up a calligraphy course for the Dutch television and wrote a book for it end of the 1980s. Noordzij was very positive about it in Letterletter 12 (June 1991): ‘Frank Blokland has succeeded in bringing the literature on calligraphy on a higher level; his book makes better reading and is a more reliable guide than any other book on the subject.’ The question is, how to combine the outcomes of my measurements with calligraphy in type education. Well, one can make a template with LeMo, like this one for a Pilot Parallel Pen 6 mm. In case of a translation over 30º, the stem thickness is pen-width x sin 60º = 0.87. The x-height here is ﬁve times the stem thickness; approximating what I measured in Jenson’s type. Next one can use the template for tracing with a broad nib, trying to apply subtle details. The outcome can be auto-traced and converted into a font. As mentioned, spacing is part of the system, so the letters should form words automatically. This basis can be used for further formalization and refinement. For digital type it is not necessary to standardize widths, of course. This clearly is different from what IMHO was required in the practice of the Renaissance punch cutter.

Platform for Publishing Research Article

Mithil Mogare — Sat, 13 May 2023 13:26:42 +0000

Hello,
I have written one article on the Type production process (can't specify much but i am sure nobody has touched that topic). 1. Can someone recommend a reputable, trustworthy online or offline for me to post my research article?
2. I was thinking about I love typography, Adobe, Google, IBM, Apple, Microsoft. Are these people open for publishing the articles?
3. Which kind foundry should I contact if I can not reach it? Almost all foundries have blog channels. Suggest some good type foundries.

Thank you!
P.S. If someone from you is really interested, I can provide the synopsis.

Any Good Book Recommendations on Type Design?

candela — Fri, 07 Apr 2023 01:02:55 +0000

Just received a few Type Designing books and was very disappointed, as the books were mostly (99%) full of history, literature and explanations.

I am looking for some good Type Designing books that offer a lot of illustrations and samples, as I am a highly visual learner.

Any recommendations?

Thanks in advance!

Type Design Books Collection

Eryk Kosinski — Wed, 01 Feb 2023 23:44:56 +0000

How big is the collection of books type design community uses and which of them do you recommend to learn? Three books I own are "Designing Type" by Karen Cheng, "Theory of Type Design" by Gerard Unger and "The Anatomy of Type" by Stephen Coles.

Finally decided to properly organize my fonts by category, and I'm having a bit of a hard time.

Cristóbal Alarcón — Fri, 13 Jan 2023 05:29:52 +0000

I've been looking into different sources, mostly relying on Smashing Magazine, a Quora post and other articles, but I'm not into this too professionally. And there are a few things that I can't really tell the difference.

So far, I've categorized my fonts folders like this:

Serif

- Humanist / Venetian

- Oldstyle

- Transitional

- Didone / Modern

- Lapidary / Wedge

Sans serif

- Grotesk

- Neogrotesk

- Geometric

- Humanist

- Flared / Glyphic

Slab serif

Monospaced

Blackletter

Calligraphic

- Brush

-- No texture

-- With Texture

- Manuscript

-- Casual

-- Formal

Display

- WHATEVER ADJECTIVE THERE IS

Super families

I'm having a hard time figuring what the differences are between Humanist Sans Serif vs Flared/Glyphic, and Humanist/Venetian Serif vs Oldstyle Serif. Besides that, is this classification accurate?

ILT Academy Courses

Nadine Chahine — Mon, 09 Jan 2023 13:33:00 +0000

Are we ok to share news of upcoming type design courses? If yes, we do have a few slots remain for Intro to Greek type Design with Irene Vlachou and Latin Script Design with Ulrike Rausch, both of which starting this week. All info here:
https://ilovetypography.com/academy/

Rainer's engineering classes are fully booked and the waiting list is almost full already so if you're interested in those just write to us to add you on the list. We'll be announcing dates very soon!