
A small introduction to the first part of this course.
Learn the basis of sketching. Make quick prototypes. Know where to start.
Start digitizing the letters you drawn in the first part. Learn the foundation of digital typography: the bezier curve.
Adjust diagonals to match vertical stem width, applying skew and selective rotation for balance. Fix bold connections at acute angles, tune the v width, and finalize all lowercase letters.
After design, let's do the space and the kerning. Add rhythm and start thinking of your project as a whole.
Explore kerning, adjusting negative and occasional positive values to refine glyph pairs. Create groups to apply shared shape adjustments, lock for exceptions, review metrics across combinations for precise typography.
We have reached the final stage.
Design your own fonts through iterative experimentation, exploring typography secrets and refining your project as you test new ideas and share results.
This class will walk you through the process of choosing the most appropriate font for any given project.
Explore how long or short texts guide font choice, balancing readability and legibility to reduce fatigue. Learn how whitespace, contrast, and serif calligraphy affect reading speed.
Learn how fonts differ on print and screen, including ink spread and traps on uncoated paper, and the pixel-grid adjustments for readable on-screen text.
Evaluate the value of free versus paid fonts by considering licensing and legal use, supporting font foundries and designers, and choosing fonts you can legally invest in for fresh type.
Explore a font collection that saves historically important typeface designs, from Garamond for long text to modernist display typeface and the humanist Tieger.
Explore selecting the next form for a project book, shape the format in your mind before you see it, and share your collection in the project section to inspire others.
This course is divided in two parts. One about designing fonts and other about choosing fonts.
Design Your Own Fonts: From Paper to Screen
To design a font might look like an overwhelmingly tedious and extremely difficult task, and in a way it is. No magic bullets here. However there are ways to speed up the process as well as to make it fun!
In this class the Type Designer Natanael Gama will teach you how to create your own fonts without going nuts. From paper sketching all the way to export the digital font file. The only thing required for this class is a bit of courage. Remember that the bigger the challenge the bigger the reward. To type your own font can be an epiphanic experience!
Pick the Right Font: When to Choose Comic Sans Over Helvetica, And Much More
Nowadays there are thousands of fonts available for you to choose from. How can you know which one to choose for your next project? What’s the difference between a web-font and desktop font? How to pair fonts? Which fonts are more suitable for long strings of text? What kind of font design works better in a small font size? Or even the million dollar question: What’s the problem with Comic Sans?
Those questions and many others are answered by the type designer Natanael Gama in this class. Whether you are graphic designer, or web designer, or even if you just like to play with typography, this class will boost your capacity to make wiser and more effective typographic choices.
Let's do it?