Type Design Workshop 2025

The Summer 2025 Type Design Workshop—10 intensive online days of immersion in letterform design and font creation. Over 60 hours of theory and practice, lectures and discussions, work on paper and in vector.

Throughout the two weeks, students will fully immerse themselves in working with letters and go through the process from calligraphy and sketching to formulating a concept and creating their first font file. They will come out not only with their project but also with a wealth of knowledge and unique experience.
This course is suitable for experienced graphic designers, creative directors, typography teachers, design graduates, and font enthusiasts who want to learn more about typeface creation.

During the course, you will explore the following topics:
• Calligraphy as the basis for creating typeface design. Writing with pointed and broad-edged pens. Roman and italic styles;
• Lowercase and uppercase letters and their construction;
• Sketching for typeface design;
• Type classification and typeface parameters: proportions, contrast, weight, statics and dynamics in type. Form and counterform;
• Print type classification and its applications in the modern days;
• Latin vs Cyrillic. Glyph construction. Objectivity and prejudice. Language-specific forms of Cyrillics;
• Typeface repertoire. Variations of numbers, punctuation marks, different constructions of symbols within one font file, alternative forms, etc. Similarities, differences, applications. Rules and exceptions;
• “Optics” in the typeface design;
• The existing software overview. The basics of working in a font editor. The fundamental knowledge about the spacing and kerning;
• OpenType font format. Creating and using OpenType features;
• Variable fonts;
• Typeface licensing. Typeface testing. Renting fonts. Type foundries and services overview. Ethics in the process of purchasing and using typefaces.

Over the years, the instructors and guest lecturers have included: Kirill Glushchenko, Anatoly Grashchenko, Konstantin Yermenko, Olga Kovalenko, Elena Novoselova, Daria Petrova, Irina Smirnova, Alexander Tarbeev, Oleksiy Chekal.

Course coordinator: Anastasia Balashova.

Student Contest!
1 student (or student) from a full-time university department can join the course for free if they win the contest. Stay updated through our social media: Instagram, Telegram.

*Please note that the basic toolset is included in the course fee.