Experience Collaborative Type Design with Fontra

In-person Typographics Conference attendees can get a 10% discount on tuition for this workshop, but only if you use the promo code at registration. No partial refunds will be given. Write to type@cooper with your conference ticket number and we'll send you the promo code to save.

Developing a Latin typeface is generally a long and linear process. A designer creates the original design, then, one after the other, can develop the glyph set, fine-tune the shapes, and repeat the same process again and again for each source of each variation axis.

Fontra comes with a solution that allows real-time collaboration and multi-source editing. In this workshop, participants will learn how to easily create a variable font with multiple axes while maintaining consistent design, and how to do so through teamwork.

Prerequisites:

Participants are expected to have some basic knowledge of type design and previous experience with another font-editing software like Glyphs or RoboFont.

Goals and benefits:

Draw a Latin variable font with multiple axes within one day!

Participants will:

• Try out the new font-editing platform Fontra.
• Experience real-time collaborative team work on a single project, which could potentially be adapted to their own practice.
• Enhance team spirit.
• Acquire type design skills (depending on the initial level of the participant’s type design expertise).

Structure:

• Introduction to Fontra and demo.
• Brainstorming to define a common design.
• Everyone will randomly draw few letters on Fontra.
• Several workshops will be assigned at this stage. Some designers will focus on fine-tuning, others on expanding the glyph set, and some on adding new variation axes to the font. Real-time interaction on the project will facilitate these workshops. Participants can switch between workshops at any time to experience each step.
• Introduction about variable components.
• Python scripting demo on Fontra.
• Gathering the result, review and discussions.

Supply List:

• Bring your own laptop (Mac or Windows) with internet connection
• Sketching materials for drafting and notes

Instructor:

Gaëtan Baehr is a French type designer and font engineer who has been working at the Parisian type foundry Black[Foundry] since 2016. He has worked on many custom and retail projects, often incorporating programming into his design process whenever it is necessary, whether to aid in production or to enhance creative possibilities.

Host or Publisher Typographics Festival