Certificate Core: Fundamentals of Typeface Design

This class is the core design component of the first term of Type West. Instruction during this term is centered around developing a practice of sketching letterforms, learning font editing software, and discovering how typefaces are designed by creating a digital revival of a metal typeface from images of the printed type.

The revival project is the focus of this term, and provides a path for students to begin learning the tools of type design. These tools include not only the software used to draw and space digital type, but also the conceptual foundations and visual perception required to make a well-designed typeface.

Teaching demonstrations, presentations, and critiques will guide students in their projects and help set the stage for the second term of Type West, in which students begin the design of an original typeface.