Warsaw Design Labs 2019

Create professional typefaces with Variable Font technology! In this workshop, we explore the latest tools and create a font from scratch. We will discuss possible workflows and potential pitfalls, as well as possible solutions for current implementation problems.

Is TTF the next big graphic design format for the web? With variable font technology, an illustration, a symbol, an icon, a logo, a logotype can be responsive and adapt to its medium. Plus, it is very small, and a single file (and hence, a single server access) can contain many symbols. Colors, transparencies, animations: no problem. Time to abandon less adaptive formats like PDF, SVG, or PNG.

In this workshop, we will create a responsive logo, a few icons, add colors, and create a small animation using very simple HTML and CSS for the web.

Type design has undergone dramatic technological shifts in the past half century. Only in the past couple of years have we come to fully understand and grasp the possibilities and conditions of electronic fonts. Mastering the technology enables us to create better typefaces than ever before. In this fun lecture, you will learn what has changed in the past years, why modern fonts are so much better, and how to tell good from bad. Plus, you will get a quick tour-de-force of the wildly underestimated OpenType Features, part of all modern fonts.