As in past years, TypeCon2015 will be offering unique design and typography workshops outside of the main conference program.
Pre-conference workshops will be held at the Art Institute of Colorado, Foils + Dies, and Genghis Kern Design & Letterpress. All workshop venues are a short distance from the conference hotel. Directions will be provided.
This information is subject to change.
Wednesday, August 12th
Full-Day Sessions
9:00 am – 4:30 pm
Full day workshops break for lunch from 12:00 pm to 1:30 pm.
Sign Painters’ Single-Stroke Majuscules (Part 1)
Cost: $200 (Two Day Workshop)
Maximum Participants: 20
Location: Art Institute of Colorado
This is a two day workshop.
Participants must be prepared to attend both days.
The single stroke “Block” letter was the basis for a large proportion of American sign painting in the 20th century, and it continues to inspire sans serif typefaces today. Learning to use a lettering brush can be a tremendous help to type designers. Stroke mechanics are integral. They inform one’s aesthetic sense, and define the intrinsic proportions of the Latin alphabet.
Think Wrong: Creative Mark Making & Screen Printing
Cost: $100
Maximum Participants: 20
Location: Art Institute of Colorado
The mission of the Analog Research Lab is to confront and challenge the culture within Facebook. This is accomplished in part by focusing first on the process of making, but also in the technologies used.
This workshop aims to encourage participants to think wrong, to look into the cracks that we unknowingly pass by, to make mistakes and to revel in the process of making. We’ll explore different means of generative, large poster-sized typographic and visual mark making using brushes, pens, other tools and found materials before combining that with traditional screen printing to allow participants to each produce several pieces of original creative work.
Whisky Type Workshop
Rachel Elnar & Michael Stinson
Cost: $100
Maximum Participants: 15
Location: Art Institute of Colorado
Attendees won’t be double-aging in oak barrels in this intense workshop fermented for design veterans, they’ll learn how to achieve typographic clarity on a spirit label and discover how to combine multiple typefaces in a small space. Participants will build typographic hierarchy and design a label that speaks to different audiences with multiple typefaces, graphic elements, typographic hierarchy and negative space. Some prior experience in graphic design or digital typesetting required.
Requirements: Workshop attendees must bring their own laptops with the following pre-installed software:
- Mac OS X 10.8 or later
- Adobe InDesign CC
Download (30 Day Free Trial) - Adobe Illustrator CC
Download (30 Day Free Trial)
Wednesday, August 12th
Half-Day Sessions: Morning
9:00 am – 12:00 pm
Font Troubleshooting Tools
Cost: $50
Maximum Participants: 20
Location: Art Institute of Colorado
Fonts can have countless things go wrong, which is why so many tools have been developed to test them! But many of the tools are user-hostile or yield errors or warnings for conditions most users should consider benign. In this half-day workshop, users will learn the ins and outs, powers and foibles of font development tools, including:
- CompareFamily from the Adobe Font Development Kit for OpenType (AFDKO)
- FontAudit from FontLab
- FontQA framework from FontShop & Monotype
- Microsoft Font Validator
Wednesday, August 12th
Half-Day Sessions: Afternoon
1:30 pm – 4:30 pm
Color Fonts with Glyphs 2.0
Cost: $50
Maximum Participants: 20
Location: Art Institute of Colorado
The Glyphs 2.0 user interface is ready for working with color fonts, be it a layered font for use in apps like InDesign or Illustrator, a COLR/CPAL font for the latest versions of Internet Explorer, or even a pixel-based Emoji font for iOS and MacOS. In this workshop, you will learn how to work in color layers, as well as preview, export, and test your colorfont.
Prior knowledge of type design or font production useful, but not required.
Participants are eligible for an extended trial version of Glyphs 2.0 and a discount on the full app license.
Requirements: Workshop attendees must bring their own laptop with the following pre-installed software.
- Mac OS X 10.9.5 or later
- The latest version of Glyphs 2.0
Download (30 Day Free Trial)
Letterpress 101: The Basics of Type Setting
Cost: $50
Maximum Participants: 15
Location: Foils + Dies Vintage Pressworks
Participants will get a basic understanding of letterpress printing. Getting to type-set from a collection of wood type on hand and make their own prints, participants will get a feel for whats it’s like to make a letterpress print. Along with learning the basics of letterpress printing and creating their own print, participants will learn the what we do here at Foils and Dies and what it takes to be a leading letterpress shop in the country.
Thursday, August 13th
Full-Day Sessions
9:00 am – 4:30 pm
Full day workshops break for lunch from 12:00 pm to 1:30 pm.
Sign Painters’ Single-Stroke Majuscules (Part 2)
Cost: $200 (Two Day Workshop)
Maximum Participants: 20
Location: Art Institute of Colorado
This is a two day workshop.
Participants must be prepared to attend both days.
The single stroke “Block” letter was the basis for a large proportion of American sign painting in the 20th century, and it continues to inspire sans serif typefaces today. Learning to use a lettering brush can be a tremendous help to type designers. Stroke mechanics are integral. They inform one’s aesthetic sense, and define the intrinsic proportions of the Latin alphabet.
Expressive Brush Lettering
Cost: $100
Maximum Participants: 20
Location: Art Institute of Colorado
The pointed brush is one of the most elusive writing tools in a calligrapher’s arsenal capable of a vast array of lettering voices. Using a combination of free movement exercises and structured study we will create lettering that exploits the best qualities of the humble brush. Supplies and handouts will be provided for your convenience.
Brush-Written Imperial Romans
Cost: $100
Maximum Participants: 20
Location: Art Institute of Colorado
This workshop will guide you through a hands-on understanding of the Imperial Roman Alphabet as you utilize an inside-out approach to these timeless letterforms. You will learn the special characteristics and ‘personality’ of the brush as contrasted with hard-tool calligraphy while practicing the essential elements of the classical Roman. Before the workshop is done you will move on to writing out the entire alphabet in the same manner as the ancient Roman inscription maker would do prior to cutting the letters in stone. A short inscription cutting demonstration will be provided as an addition to the class.
Outline:
- Trajan inscription majuscule letterforms as models
- Photocopy of Father Catich’s Trajan Inscription from “Letters Redrawn”
- Monoline “Ideal Letters”
- How to cut and shape a reed for writing
- Discussion of cant and its effects
- Reed-written majuscule letters, stroke sequence, and direction
- The brush and its handling
- Brush manipulation
Supplied Materials:
- ¼-inch soft bristle brush
- Reed pens
- Newsprint paper
- Cardstock
Required Materials:
- Water container
Cyrillic for Real Use
Cost: $100
Maximum Participants: 20
Location: Art Institute of Colorado
Nowadays, quite a lot of Western designers add other scripts, like Cyrillic or Greek, to their typefaces. Fortunately, the time of “Cyrillic” which can’t be recognized at all, is gone, but does it mean that any recent Cyrillic designed by Latin-writing typographers is good? At the workshop we will discuss peculiarities of Cyrillic letterforms and design some most difficult Cyrillic glyphs in real time.
Wood Type Explorations
Cost: $100
Maximum Participants: 15
Location: Genghis Kern Design & Letterpress
Come get your fingers dirty while exploring the type and image collection at Genghis Kern, a letterpress and design shop minutes up the hill from downtown Denver.
Attendees will get the opportunity to print broadsides and more on multiple printing presses ranging from automated platens to simple proof presses. With a unique collection of over-sized wood type, a “choose your own adventure” ethos will be embraced.
No experience necessary, leave your mouse at home, and start thinking about a letter, word or phrase you want to see with ink on it so you don’t spend the whole time staring at an empty sheet of paper.
Thursday, August 13th
Half-Day Sessions: Morning
9:00 am – 12:00 pm
Webfonts & TrueType Production in Glyphs 2.0
Cost: $50
Maximum Participants: 20
Location: Art Institute of Colorado
Version 2.0 of the popular font editor Glyphs has significantly facilitated and streamlined the production of WOFF, WOFF2, and EOT. In this workshop, you will learn how to export your font into the webfont formats, subset it, and test it in various browsers. While we are it, we will optimize the font for the screen, thereby setting up autohinting and applying manual hints, for both PS and TT based formats.
Prior knowledge of type design or font production useful, but not required. Bring your own font, or use the demo font supplied.
Participants are eligible for an extended trial version of Glyphs 2.0 and a discount on the full app license.
Requirements: Workshop attendees must bring their own laptop with the following pre-installed software.
- Mac OS X 10.9.5 or later
- The latest version of Glyphs 2.0
Download (30 Day Free Trial) - Various web browsers
Thursday, August 13th
Half-Day Sessions: Afternoon
1:30 pm – 4:30 pm
Extended Latin Condensed
Cost: $50
Maximum Participants: 20
Location: Art Institute of Colorado
Do you know your ogonek from your háček? Your eng from your hooktop heng? Diacritics and extended Latin letters have been an integral part of the Latin script since its inception, and have a fascinating story. However, they have often been regarded as extras, or in the words of Jan Tschichold, “typefounders’ step-children”. Learn how to design these accents and characters with confidence and creativity, and leverage the tools in font design apps to reduce the effort involved. The session will be evenly balanced between history, technique and one-to-one coaching. Bring your fonts and enable them to sing the languages of Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas!