Events
A Crash Course in Type Selection
with Stephen Coles, Christopher Slye
Learn techniques to make finding the right font the best part of any job.
- Date
- Time
Type selection and pairing has never been a straightforward task. The rapid increase of new typefaces, formats, and licensing options hasn’t made it any easier. This explosion of choice can be either intimidating or empowering; it all depends on your knowledge and skill set.
In this in-person two-day workshop (Saturday and Sunday, October 12 and 13), we’ll learn techniques that can make finding the right font one of the best parts of any job. Build a broader and smarter selection criteria, understand the connections between form and function, catch up on the latest suppliers and purchasing models, learn how to break free of overused fonts, and generally see typefaces with new eyes.
Learning Outcomes
- Learn what makes typefaces good for specific projects
- Discover new sources for fonts
- Understand font licensing
Diversity and Equity Scholarship
Diversity and Equity are important to all of us at Letterform Archive, and we are committed to increasing opportunities for underrepresented groups within the type and design communities.
We are offering one BIPOC/Equity scholarship seat in this workshop.
To apply for this scholarship, please complete and submit to us the short form linked here at least a week prior to the start of the workshop.
Stephen Coles
Stephen “Stewf” Coles, Associate Curator & Editorial Director (he/him), joined the staff after serving on our Board of Directors since its inception. For over 20 years, he has been active in the type community, initially as a creative director at FontShop, and later as an independent consultant, connecting font makers with font users. Stephen wrote the book The Anatomy of Type and co-founded the influential websites Typographica and Fonts In Use. With his background in design and journalism, combined with an obsession for type history, Stephen is responsible for the online face and voice of the Archive, and shares the collection through the blog and other editorial projects. As a member of the curatorial team, he helps to shape the future of the collection. Stephen co-curated the Strikethrough exhibition.
Christopher Slye
Christopher Slye (he/him) is a type professional living in the San Francisco Bay Area. He first worked as an independent type designer, developer, and consultant before joining Adobe’s typographic staff in 1997, where he helped to expand the design and functionality of Adobe Originals typefaces. Later, he guided Adobe’s type-related technology and initiatives and contributed to the development of open web font standards. He eventually managed all aspects of Adobe’s type business and licensing programs, including the Adobe Fonts subscription service, until 2020. He was president of Type Network from 2021 to 2023.
