Program Overview
Below is the TypeCon2006 schedule.
Optional pre-conference workshops will be held at the Massachusetts College of Art. The main program will be held at the conference hotel and headquarters, the Hyatt Regency Boston. Exhibitions and evening events at other locations as noted. Schedule is subject to change.
Wednesday, August 9
9:00 am - 5:00 pm: Optional workshops - MassArt
10:00 am - 7:00 pm: Optional Tours - Various locations
8:00 pm: The Third Annual Typophile Film Festival - Hyatt Regency
Produced by Punchcut and presented by Typophile and the Society of Typographic Aficionados
The Typophile Film Festival is a celebration of typography in motion — a showcase of short films that are inspiring, educational, experimental and humorous. The festival affords its audience a unique opportunity to see motion design in which type is the star. Standouts this year include John Langdon’s alternate opening credits for The Da Vinci Code, new work by Blur, Convert, and MK12, and Gary Butcher’s animated homage to Josef Müller-Brockmann. Past festivals included shorts by the Font Bureau, Motion Theory, Trollbäck and Co, and WeWorkForThem.
Thursday, August 10
9:00 am - 12:30 pm: Optional workshops - MassArt
9:30 am - 12:30 pm: Optional Tours - Various locations
1:30 - 6:00 pm: Type and Design Education Forum - Hyatt Regency
A series of presentations and discussions on type and design education, featuring James Craig, Ilene Strizver, Norbert Florendo, Mark Jamra, Audrey Bennett, Laura Franz, Gillian Mothersill, John McMillan, and John Sherman. Audience participation is welcome and encouraged. Sponsored by SOTA.
8:00 pm: Opening Night Festivities and Presentations - Hyatt Regency
Featuring Allan Haley, Monotype Imaging, Anna Chagnon, Bitstream, and David Berlow and Mike Parker, Font Bureau
The official opening night of TypeCon2006 features a celebration of the history and current state of type in Boston. Sponsored by Headline Sponsor Bitstream.
Friday, August 11
9:00 am - 6:00 pm: Exhibits and Marketplace Open - Hyatt Regency
9:00 am: Main Program Begins with Welcome and Announcements - Hyatt Regency
9:15 am: Type as Art
Presented by Kit Hinrichs, Pentagram Partners.
Design legend Kit Hinrichs discusses his view on type as art, its critical function in communications, and how it relates to design and advertising past and present.
10:00 am: Typographic Encounters
Presented by Robin Williams
The author of The Mac is Not a Typewriter and How to Boss Your Fonts Around reveals the intimate details of her love affair with all things typographic.
10:45 am: Break
11:15 am: Demystifying Font Management in OS X
Featuring Peter Lofting, Apple Computer, Halstead York, Extensis, Bruno Steinert, Linotype, Stephen Coles, FontShop/Typographica, and moderator Kent Lew
This panel discussion explores the state of font management in the latest incarnation of the Macintosh operating system. These experts in developing font management tools and the use and critique thereof will discuss best practices and other aspects of this often-tricky part of the production process. Audience participation is welcome and encouraged.
12:15 pm: Break for lunch on your own
1:30 pm: The Wonderful World of William Addison Dwiggins
Kent Lew, Tiffany Wardle, Bruce Kennett, Paul Shaw, Akira Kobayashi, Linotype, John "Fud" Benson, the John Stevens Shop, and Sibylle Hagmann, Kontour.
This special session features a series of presentations and discussions about the one of America's best-loved designers and typographers. William Addison Dwiggins was a book artist, type designer, graphic artist, puppet-maker, and so much more. A Renaissance man for the twentieth century, WAD has inspired innovative work from designers worldwide. This celebration will showcase his life and work, and that of those who happily follow in his footsteps.
5:15 pm: Announcement of TypeCon2007 Venue
The well-kept secret of the next TypeCon location is revealed.
Saturday, August 12
9:00 am - 6:00 pm: Exhibits and Marketplace Open - Hyatt Regency
9:00 am: Main Program Begins with Welcome and Announcements - Hyatt Regency
9:15 am: What If You Had to Read Right to Left
Dave Farey, Housestyle Graphics, and Mourad Boutros, Boutros International
Arabic scripts have developed along totally different lines than Latin forms and are more free-flowing and expressive. Arabic type design owes nearly everything to the heritage of calligraphy, more so than Western alphabets, but the restraints and technologies are the same in any language. In the twenty-first century, Arabic and Latin alphabets are shown together in publications, on TV, and on the web. The increasing demand for information between cultures can be improved, however marginally, by developing sympathetic letterforms that have Insijam, or, if you like, visual harmony. Examples will be shown so that non-Arabic designers can avoid the pitfalls of multi-language use, and so respect the cultural nuances.
10:00 am: Font Embedding and the Web
Featuring Chris Lilley, World Wide Web Consortium, Simon Daniels, Microsoft, Peter Lofting, Apple Computer, and Thomas Phinney, Adobe
It's been more than ten years since web browsers first started to
support typeface specification in web pages. During that time,
however, progress in bringing advanced typography to the web has been
painfully slow. Font embedding solutions have gained little traction
in HTML, and web page designers have settled for specifying commonly
installed system fonts, or used alternative formats such as SVG or
Flash to realize their typographic layouts. However, 2006 has seen
some renewed interest in this area, with CSS pioneer Håkon Wium Lie
proposing that browser-makers fully implement the CSS font
specification by letting raw, unprotected font files be linked to web
pages. In addition, Lie favors revising the CSS spec to allow "zipped"
font collections to be linked to web pages, potentially opening up the
large library of freeware fonts to web page designers. With type
designers, web page designers, and standards bodies still far apart on
this issue, this panel of distinguished experts will explore the
prospects for Lie's proposal, discuss alternatives, and take questions
on the subject from the floor.
10:45 am: Break
11:15 am: Type in 20, Part I: a series of mini-presentations by fast talkers.
Presented by Nick Benson, the John Stevenson Shop, Brian Sooy, Altered Ego Fonts, and Joe Kowalski and Kevin McGinnis, Harmonix.
1) Timeless. Stone carver Nicholas Benson earned his stripes as a letter carver as an apprentice to his father, John “Fud” Benson. Here, Nicholas discusses his work on the National World War II Memorial inscriptions in Washington, DC.
2) A curious obsession: vintage typewriter ribbon tins and automobile type. Typewriter ribbons tins (remember typewriters?) and vintage automobiles displayed exquisite examples of typography and hand lettering. Gain inspiration as Brian Sooy shares these miniature works of advertising art and examples of “moving type” found on classic and vintage automobiles.
3) Restraints and Freedoms: typography in gaming. Typography in gaming is both a technical challenge and a rewarding experience. The Harmonix team will discuss the benefits and shortcomings of typography within the game engine. Watch for examples of how they create and animate fonts in their music-based video games.
12:15 pm: Combining Type and Image
Presented by Nancy Skolos and Tom Wedell, Skolos/Wedell.
This session examines the creative dynamics at work in joining words with pictures.
1:00 pm: Break for lunch on your own
2:15 pm: Typography in Publications
Featuring Ronn Campisi, Ronn Campisi Design, Matthew Carter, Carter and Cone, James Montalbano, Terminal Design, David Berlow, Font Bureau, and moderator John D. Berry, John D. Berry Design
This panel discussion delves into the art and science of producing and using type and typography for publications. These leaders in the field will explore custom type for magazines and newspapers and the challenges facing type designers, type buyers, and end users involved in visual mass communications.
3:00 pm: GAME FACE | Xbox 360 and the Brand Inside
Presented by Steve Matteson, Ascender Corporation
The Xbox 360 game platform was released with a great deal of fanfare surrounding its new product design and user interface. The developers saw the need for a tight brand consistency with print, packaging, and product interface, and chose to commission a new typeface family for use throughout the brand. Steve presents the path to the Xbox 360’s new look from the type designer’s perspective: the evolution of the product, the design brief, the creative process, and the unique challenges of developing a font for less than optimal screen displays.
3:45 pm: Break and tour of the Masscribes 25th Anniversary Calligraphy Show
4:15 pm: Typography for Mobile Phone Devices: The Design of the QUALCOMM Sans Font Family
Presented by Jared Benson and Christian Robertson, Punchcut
Punchcut discusses its work developing a typographic strategy for QUALCOMM's custom user interfaces within its mobile operating system and applications. The strategy’s first tangible expression was the design of a custom family of sans serif fonts to be used in QUALCOMM mobile user interfaces. The project entailed assessing the impact of mobile devices on digital typography, identifying key requirements that would guide the design and application of QUALCOMM’s custom interface font family, designing to meet business and customer needs within tight technical constraints, and testing to validate design decisions.
5:00 pm: Natural: The Life and Work of Adrian Frutiger
A tribute to Swiss typographic great Adrian Frutiger. Presenters include Jon Coltz, daidala, Tiffany Wardle, Mark Simonson, Mark Simonson Studio, Mike Parker, Font Bureau, and Bruno Steinert and Akira Kobayashi, Linotype.
8:00 pm: Wicked - Hyatt Regency
Groove on your love for type with an evening of music, drinking, and dancing. Break out the velvet hip-huggers, tie-dye, and platform shoes and indulge in a late 60s/early 70s blast from the past. Blow your mind at the annual Type Quiz with hosts and quizmasters Allan Haley and Paul Shaw, who’ll have some heavy prizes for this year’s winners. DJs Joe and Jared provide the outta site soundtrack to this evening of wicked retro cool. Sponsored by Headline Sponsor Monotype Imaging. Can you dig it?
Sunday, August 13
10:00 am - 4:00 pm: Exhibits and Marketplace Open - Hyatt Regency
10:00 am: Main Program Begins with Welcome and Announcements - Hyatt Regency
10:15 am: Thousands of Tiny Drawings
Presented by Cyrus Highsmith, Font Bureau
Stephen King says he when he writes, he likes to "put a group of characters in a predicament and then watch them try to work themselves free. Characters do things in their own way." Typefaces can behave in a similar way. After awhile, a good typeface takes on a life of its own, and the designer watches what happens as the letters develop and then make their way into the world.
11:00 am: Type in 20, Part II: a series of mini-presentations by fast talkers
Presented by Brian Pierce and Samuel Pease, Sasaki Associates, Gillian Mothersill, Ryerson University, and Clif Stoltze and Roy Burns, Stoltze Design.
1) Signs, everywhere. The Sasaki team is noted for their prize-winning plan for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Green. As a complement to their architectural and urban planning work, Sasaki promotes the creation of aesthetically pleasing integrated wayfinding that actually oes what’s it supposed to do — help people get where they need to be.
2) Upper/Lower. Gillian Mothersill’s project is pictorial in nature and investigates the use of uppercase letters in unexpected situations (a recent example is the movie poster for Meet the Fokkers).
3) StereoType: A Compilation of Music Typography. StereoType is a speedy survey of over 30 years of high notes in music packaging design (with an emphasis on typography), and will feature inspiring favorites from Clif and Roy’s own LP/CD collections, as well as a few “top fives” of notable and notorious music typography. They will also discuss some of Stoltze Design's projects for the music industry, and conclude with their thoughts on the state of music typography in the era of digital downloads.
12:00 noon: Break for lunch on your own
1:30 pm: Personal Form: Expressionistic Writing and the Cultivated Accident in Type Design and Letterform Education
Presented by Mark Jamra, Type Culture
This presentation begins by looking at the ideas and teachings of the German writing master Martin Andersch (1921-1994). A few heads in the US were turned when his first book was translated and introduced here in 1989; it is clearly not the Zapf/Hoefer/Reynolds-inspired approach to calligraphy prevalent in the United States. His interpretive writing is not widely known in North America, and this presentation will provide the audience with a brief look at it and then show examples of work from Andersch’s evening classes and typefaces that have been influenced by this approach. This session will also look at work from the type/letterform design classes at Maine College of Art, which have also been inspired by Andersch's method.
2:15 pm: Creating "Williams Caslon": A Digital Interpretation of Caslon Old Face
Presented by William Berkson
Caslon was the first typeface ever to be revived, and has probably been the most often revived. It has been praised by printers as having a unique combination of qualities: highly readable, unpretentious, and authoritative. "When in doubt, use Caslon," it’s said. But Caslon has also been criticized by designers as a collection of mistakes, incoherent, pedestrian, and sloppy. In addition, for over a century, Caslon revivals have been accompanied by claims of authenticity, whereas in fact all have included varied and questionable “improvements.” William will describe the unique challenge of reviving Caslon in light of his experience developing Williams Caslon, a face designed to better capture the readability, friendliness, and authority of Caslon for modern presses and readers.
3:00 pm: Break
3:30 pm: Principled Pleasure: Presswork in PDX
Presented by Megan O'Connell, The Dead Skin Press
Acknowledging the fact that the world of commerce often relies upon a barrage of visual clutter, a handful of practitioners have gained prominence through innovative typography and an ability to support efforts that are not solely consumed by the bottom line. Relying upon the honest use of materials and means, their aesthetic activates the eye and galvanizes communities in search of the uncharted. In such output, much of which is letterpress printed, texts perform in fresh ways. Never exclusionary, the presswork of Portland's creatives invokes sustainability, fair trade, and a synergy around all things essential to a thriving urban center. “Keep Portland Weird” or “Portland Happens,” epigrams of the locals, resonate with this particular spirit of independence and experimentation.
4:15 pm: Gutenberg's Box or How Johan Genzfleisch Invented the Parking Space
Presented by George Thompson, No Bodoni Typography
Gutenberg's development of the printing process involved a new way of thinking about three-dimensional space. His understanding of space has given the modern world the ability to conceive of space in a variety of abstract ways, making it possible for people to parallel park between two white lines on pavement.
6:00 pm: Closing Night Celebration - Field Trip to the Museum of Printing in North Andover
Featuring Gardner LePoer and Louis Rosenblum, Museum of Printing, Mike Parker, Font Bureau, and Lawrence Oppenberg, Galápagos Design
TypeCon winds down in historic fashion with a trip to the Museum of Printing in North Andover. Board the bus and get out of the city for a few hours of fun. A casual dinner and cold beverages accompany such activities as short presentations about the Museum’s amazing collections (including the original drawings of the complete Mergenthaler font library) and impromptu demos at the hot metal machines.
Although we hope this is the final schedule, things happen. Times and participants are subject to change without notice.
