CurveTo: Drawing Fonts with Python and the Pen Protocol w/ Connor Davenport

ticket holders can have a 10% discount on this workshop. Write to [email protected] for the promo-code to take advantage of this offer before you pay.

Learn to leverage your python skills to draw and modify fonts (UFO) with Python and the “pen protocol”. Pens are the foundation of the UFO workflow in type design, whether you script your own pens or just draw Béziers with a UI, you interact with them everyday.

“A Pen is a kind of object that standardizes the way how to "draw" outlines: it is a middle man between an outline and a drawing. In other words: it is an abstraction for drawing outlines ...” -Just van Rossum

In 1984, when Donald Knuth wrote the MetaFont language, he changed the way we could produce digital letterforms directly with code. Although some parametric typography can feel sterile, with CurveTo we will try to bring life into our parametric design process.

We will learn about a brief history of Bézier curves, how they're constructed, how we can make them, and develop our own algorithms to draw new forms.

The pen protocol gives a user complete control over how a curve (or line) is drawn, wether it be a zig zag from A to B or adding a stroke around a letter, the possibilities are endless. What will you come up with?

CurveTo is a one day workshop, aimed at [type] designers with intermediate python knowledge and some basic math skills. The workshop will be taught in RoboFont and DrawBot, the concepts taught are editor agnostic but I can not promise full-support with other font editors.

Required Materials:

• Computer running MacOS (with Python3+)
• DrawBot
• Text Editor e.g. Sublime, VSCode, etc
• Font Editor e.g. RoboFont
• Sketchbook & Writing Utensil
• UFO font file

Connor Davenport is a drawer of letters and writer of code. From 2017–2023, he worked at Sharp Type as Senior Typeface Designer and Technical Director before establishing his own independent studio practice, Programme. Currently, he undertakes a range of projects from lettering and custom typeface design, to software development for font production and development. Working with clients such as Dinamo, Frere-Jones Type, DJR, Pentagram, Carvalho Bernau, Seb McLauchlan, and many others.

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