Announcing Font Tech & AI online conference

Nadine Chahine
Nadine Chahine Posts: 156
in Events
Dear all,
Building on the success of our previous Fonts & AI conference, we are thrilled to announce that this year we are expanding the program to include a full range of font technology and tools. We will spend 3 days looking at how designers and font makers are working, the tools they are creating and using, as well as the latest developments in AI in relation to the world of type. We will catch up on what leaders in this space are doing, and see if and where AI can plug into font workflows. We will also take a hard look at what machine learning says it offers vs what it delivers on, its successes and failures, and questions of the ethics of AI use and environmental impact. 

This year’s program will include topics related to all aspects of font technology, type tools, new scripts and plugins, and provide space for foundries to catch up on the most advanced tech that is shaping type design and font engineering. Our goal is to enable foundries to stay on top of tech and not get left behind!

The conference will take place online on Oct 8, 9 and 10 and will be recorded so participants can catch up later.

The program is curated by:

Petr van Blokland
Nadine Chahine
Simon Cozens
Simon Daniels
John Hudson
Alice Savoie

If you would like to submit a proposal for a talk or panel, please fill out and submit the form on our website before Aug 10:

https://trust.ilovetypography.com/font-tech-ai/


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Comments

  • Nadine Chahine
    Nadine Chahine Posts: 156
    Hello all!
    A quick reminder that the deadline for submissions is Aug 10. Looking forward to hear from you!

  • Nadine Chahine
    Nadine Chahine Posts: 156
    Hello all!
    Registration is now open and we have the conference themes and 25 confirmed speakers so far. You can read more here:
    https://trust.ilovetypography.com/font-tech-ai/

    and to save you a click, here are the themes:

    Track 1: non-AI font technology

    • Updates on the latest in font making tools
    • Font formats
    • Font toolbox: design, production, and QA

    Track 2: AI and fonts

    • AI in design, production, and font proofing
    • Design education in the age of AI: opportunities and challenges 
    • Test driving AI-generated fonts
    • MCPs
    • Security: Legal and copyright protections, cybersecurity, and ethics

    Panel discussions:

    • Font production tools and optimisations
    • Teaching design in the age of AI
    • Cyber security and AI
    • Red lines around AI
  • Mark Simonson
    Mark Simonson Posts: 1,811
    edited September 21
    I tried to register, but got a "Oops, something went wrong" page on Zoom when I clicked the registration button on the ILT page.
  • Nadine Chahine
    Nadine Chahine Posts: 156
    Mark, you're the best thank you!! I had used the preview link not the published one. All sorted now and you should be able to register.
  • Mark Simonson
    Mark Simonson Posts: 1,811
    👍
  • Peter Constable
    Peter Constable Posts: 300
    The registration page says, "Thu, Oct 8, 2026 8:00 AM - Sat, Oct 10, 12:00 PM -07". Is that meant to say "UTC-7"? What's the time zone for those times?
  • Nadine Chahine
    Nadine Chahine Posts: 156
    Peter Constable said:
    The registration page says, "Thu, Oct 8, 2026 8:00 AM - Sat, Oct 10, 12:00 PM -07". Is that meant to say "UTC-7"? What's the time zone for those times?
    The time zones are adjusted per viewer so these would be linked to your own IP address and your own time zone. I'll add time zone note on the website to clarify. The conference starts 3pm UK time on Oct 8 and 1pm UK time on the 9 and 10.
  • Peter Constable
    Peter Constable Posts: 300
    If I go to the page from a machine at home, it says, "... 8:00 AM - ... 12:00 PM MST". From a work machine at another location that I remote into, "8:00 AM - ... 12:00 PM -07".

    "MST" is clear. "-07" without "UTC" looks like a typo.
  • Nadine Chahine
    Nadine Chahine Posts: 156
    This must be a Zoom events things and out of our control unfortunately. Either way, I've updated the timing on the website and once we publish the program it'll be clearer I hope.
  • Nadine Chahine
    Nadine Chahine Posts: 156
    Super excited about the program for this year, and the provisional schedule is now published!

    https://trust.ilovetypography.com/font-tech-ai/
  • Nadine Chahine
    Nadine Chahine Posts: 156
    edited October 4
    Hello all! 
    The program and workshop details are all published now. We have:

    1- Controlling Glyphs with an MCP server [Thierry Charbonnel and Rainer Erich Scheichelbauer]
    2- Vibe Coding + Python crash course [Rainer Erich Scheichelbauer]
    3- Hands-on AI and automation in FontLab [Adam Twardoch] 

    All info same link as above. We've also compiled a list of 10 reasons why you should attend the conference:

    - Join the only conference with 2 full days dedicated to AI and fonts
    - Discover the extent to which AI is integrated within the most popular type tools today
    - Learn how to safeguard your foundry from AI attacks
    - Debate the ethics of AI use within our industry
    - Hear from the people using and integrating AI within the design and production of fonts
    - Learn about the challenges of teaching design in the age of AI
    - Discover what an MCP server is, and how it can connect to Glyphs app
    - Learn more about the landscape of AI in China
    - Discover how AI is being used in producing CJK fonts
    - Understand the legal implications of AI usage

    Bonus:
    - Sneak peaks at brand new software releases!

  • Roel Nieskens
    Roel Nieskens Posts: 220
    For those who "attended", how was it?
  • Kent Lew
    Kent Lew Posts: 1,063
    I was not able to make very many of the sessions live, due to other priorities. But, as I anticipated, 
    @Simon Cozens’s talk was worth the price of admission all on its own. I am always entertained and enlightened by Simon’s perspective. The whole reason I plopped down my money, tbh.
  • John Hudson
    John Hudson Posts: 3,842
    And the coolest thing shown during the three days had nothing to do with AI: Adam Twardoch demo’d FontLab 9’s new stem tool, and you could hear the virtual gasp from all the type designers in the room.

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