Typothon Summer School 2019

The aim of the course is to draw a set of letters, numbers and symbols that constitute the basis of a professional typeface, as well as learning the basics of type history, calligraphy, coding, kerning and spacing. Participants will have the tools to continue drawing their typeface and export it to professional standards.

Day 1: Type history and calligraphy:
The first day is about the history of typography. We look at the tools and techological advances that have shaped letters as we know them today, and that has influences the deveopment of type for the last 20 years. After lunch we start working with calligraphy using pen and copperplate, doing quick exercises.

Day 2: Calligraphy and sketching:
The second day is more calligraphic exercises, as well as an introduction to lettering and sketching methods. The aim of the day is to create letterforms to build on for the rest of the course.

Day 3: Sketching and digitalising:
The third day we will continue sketching and testing letterforms, and participants will draw words with letters that work together in a coherent whole. Participants are introduces to Glyphs and begin digitalising their sketches.

Day 4: Digitalising and testing:
The fourth day is all about digitalising, and participants work on a typeface based on their sketches. We introduce techniques and tricks to create uppercase and lowercase letters as well as numbers and diacritics.

Day 5: Digitalising and production:
The last day we continue work on the typefaces. We go into spacing, kerning, hinting and basic coding. At the end of the day participants learn to export their fonts to professional standards.