- Instructor: Lynne Yun
- Parsons School of Design, Art Media & Technology
- PSAM 3010
- 4:00–6:40pm on Wednesdays, Spring 2021
Typeface design is a unique and important skill that profoundly affects visible language. The drawing of letterforms intersects with the history of graphic design and technology and affects every aspect of design practice from branding and editorial design to motion and interaction design. This course gives students an overview of the historic context of type design and an introduction to current methods from calligraphy to parametric type. Students will apply their knowledge to design an original typeface.
The Stroke (Weeks 1–2)
Students will be introduced to the history of letterforms and understand the relationship between technology and the written form. Students will learn the basics of calligraphy to complement their theoretical knowledge with practical experience as well as study historical models. Focus will be given to conceptual ideas such as modularity and how the tools influence the form (such as the axis).
The Letter (Weeks 3–5)
Students will be introduced to font-making software and related concepts such as vectors, bezier curves, and multiple masters. Students will practice drawing select letters by digitizing historical scripts or sketches. Focus will be given to conceptual ideas such as spacing, counters, design axis, and variable fonts in the browser.
The Alphabet (Weeks 6–15)
Students will propose and develop a full typeface (ASCII set). Focus will be given to creating a visual system of letterforms, with the consideration of the performability of the typeface in different print and technological settings. There will be an emphasis on spatial concepts such as spacing, where students will learn that designing the negative space is just as important as designing the positive outlines. Toward the end of the unit, students will develop a typeface specimen to showcase their typeface.
By the end of the semester, students will be able to:
- Understand a historical overview of letterforms
- Understand the modular nature of letterform systems
- Understand how type design intersects with the multidisciplinary nature of communication design
- Articulate and analyze letters and compositions
- Understand how to plot proper bezier vector points
- Designing a working digital typeface and supporting specimen display materials.
- Achieve fluency in industry standard software
- Know resources to seek inspiration & self-improvement
- Pencil and sharpener
- Eraser
- Ruler
- Masking or artists’ tape
- Pad of 9” x 12” Layout bond or tracing paper
- Black Zig Memory System Calligraphy Markers
- A range of sizes of black markers (.05 micron to fine sharpie)
- Mac with Glyphs app installed
Subject to adjustment.
| Week | Live Content | Asynchronous Content | Assignment |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | |||
| 2 | |||
| 3 | |||
| 4 | |||
| 5 | Small Group Crit Session: Propose 3 Proposals and get feedback | ||
| 6 | All Class Crit Session: Final Typeface Proposals | ||
| 7 | 1:1 Office Hours Crit Session | ||
| 8 | 1:1 Office Hours Crit Session | Reading: |
|
| 9 | Spring Break | Spring Break | Spring Break |
| 10 | |||
| 11 | |||
| 12 | |||
| 13 | |||
| 14 | |||
| 15 | All-class Final Presentation |
- Gerard Unger Theory of Type Design. Nai010, 2018
- Fred Smeijers Counterpunch: Making Type in the Sixteenth Century, Designing Typefaces Now. Hyphen Press, 2011.
- Cristóbal Henestrosa, Laura Meseguer, José Scaglione. How to Create Typefaces: from Sketch to Screen. Tipo e, 2017.
- Glyphs Essential Training by Charles Nix
- Glyphs App Tutorial Posts
-
Adhesiontext tool by Miguel Sousa
-
Text for Proofing Fonts by Jonathan Hoefler
-
Spacing Tests by Dan Rhatigan
-
Kern King by Leslie Cabarga
-
Galvanized Jets by Samarskaya & Partners
-
Kerning Pairs by Andre Fuchs
-
Micro Typography:How To Space And Kern Punctuation Marks And Other Symbols
- Letterform Archive Type Specimens
- Pre-Digital Type Foundry Catalogs by Stephen Coles
- Parsons Type Design 2020
- Yale School of Art, Type Design
- Type Media 2018
- Fonts In Use
- Archivio Tipograpfico
- Typographica: Type Reviews, Books, Commentary
- Alphabettes: Commentary by Women in Type
- South Asian Book Cover Collection by Erin McLaughlin
- Typographics: NYC, USA
- TypeCon: USA
- ATypI: International
- A Useful Guide to Bad Type by Erik Van Blokland
- Thinking With Type by Ellen Lupton
- History of the Western European Alphabet by Judy Ross
- Multisc 9155 riptual Typesetting by Beatriz Lozano
- On Type Classifications by Indra Kupferschmid
- Bézier Curves and Type Design by Fábio Duarte Martins
- NYT: The Difference Between Copyrights, Trademarks and Patents
- Punctuation(1): the linguistic side by Lisa Fischbach
- Butterick's Practical Typography
Evaluation and Final Grade Calculation
- Active Participation / Attendance 20%
- Weekly Assignments 35%
- Typeface Proposal 10%
- Typeface Specimen 10%
- Final Typeface 25%
- Total: 100%
Resources
The university provides many resources to help students achieve academic and artistic excellence. These resources include:
The University (and associated) Libraries
The University Learning Center
University Disabilities Service
In keeping with the university’s policy of providing equal access for students with disabilities, any student with a disability who needs academic accommodations is welcome to meet with me privately. All conversations will be kept confidential. Students requesting any accommodations will also need to contact Student Disability Service (SDS). SDS will conduct an intake and, if appropriate, the Director will provide an academic accommodation notification letter for you to bring to me. At that point, I will review the letter with you and discuss these accommodations in relation to this course.
Making Center
The Making Center is a constellation of shops, labs, and open workspaces that are situated across the New School to help students express their ideas in a variety of materials and methods. We have resources to help support woodworking, metalworking, ceramics and pottery work, photography and film, textiles, printmaking, 3D printing, manual and CNC machining, and more. A staff of technicians and student workers provide expertise and maintain the different shops and labs. Safety is a primary concern, so each area has policies for access, training, and etiquette with which students and faculty should be familiar. Many areas require specific orientations or trainings before access is granted. Detailed information about the resources available, as well as schedules, trainings, and policies can be found at resources.parsons.edu.
Grading Standards
Undergraduate
A student’s final grades and GPA are calculated using a 4.0 scale.
A [4.0]
Work of exceptional quality, which often goes beyond the stated goals of the course
A- [3.7]
Work of very high quality
B+ [3.3]
Work of high quality that indicates higher than average abilities
B [3.0]
Very good work that satisfies the goals of the course
B- [2.7]
Good work
C+ [2.3]
Above-average work
C [2.0]
Average work that indicates an understanding of the course material; passable Satisfactory completion of a course is considered to be a grade of C or higher.
C- [1.7]
Passing work but below good academic standing
D [1.0]
Below-average work that indicates a student does not fully understand the assignments; Probation level though passing for credit
F [0.0]
Failure, no credit
Grade of W
The grade of W may be issued by the Office of the Registrar to a student who officially withdraws from a course within the applicable deadline. There is no academic penalty, but the grade will appear on the student transcript.
Grade of Z
This grade is to be assigned to students who have never attended or stopped attending classes. Exceptions can be made if the student has completed enough work to warrant a grade (including a failing grade), and arrangements have been made with the instructor(s) and the Dean’s Office prior to grade submission. The Z grade does not calculate into the student’s GPA.
Grades of Incomplete
The grade of I, or temporary incomplete, may be granted to a student under unusual and extenuating circumstances, such as when the student’s academic life is interrupted by a medical or personal emergency. This mark is not given automatically but only upon the student’s request and at the discretion of the instructor. A Request for Incomplete form must be completed and signed by the student and instructor. The time allowed for completion of the work and removal of the “I” mark will be set by the instructor with the following limitations:
Undergraduate students: Work must be completed no later than the seventh week of the following fall semester for spring or summer term incompletes and no later than the seventh week of the following spring semester for fall term incompletes. Grades of “I” not revised in the prescribed time will be recorded as a final grade of “F” by the Registrar’s Office.
College, School, Program and Class Policies
You should include the following headings with the recommended text. Any policy specific to your class must also be clearly written in the syllabus. For example, many instructors create their own policies to cover a variety of classroom situations, such as late assignments, rewrites and extra credit; the use of cellphones, laptops, and other technology in the classroom; your expectations should you be delayed, or makeup exams/absence on exam days.
A comprehensive overview of policy may be found under Policies: A to Z. Students are also encouraged to consult the Academic Catalog for Parsons.
Canvas
Use of Canvas may be an important resource for this class. Students should check it for announcements before coming to class each week.
Electronic Devices
The use of electronic devices (phones, tablets, laptops, cameras, etc.) is permitted when the device is being used in relation to the course's work. All other uses are prohibited in the classroom and devices should be turned off before class starts.
Responsibility
Students are responsible for all assignments, even if they are absent. Late assignments, failure to complete the assignments for class discussion and/or critique, and lack of preparedness for in-class discussions, presentations and/or critiques will jeopardize your successful completion of this course.
Active Participation and Attendance
Class participation is an essential part of class and includes: keeping up with reading, assignments, projects, contributing meaningfully to class discussions, active participation in group work, and coming to class regularly and on time.
Parsons’ attendance guidelines were developed to encourage students’ success in all aspects of their academic programs. Full participation is essential to the successful completion of coursework and enhances the quality of the educational experience for all, particularly in courses where group work is integral; thus, Parsons promotes high levels of attendance. Students are expected to attend classes regularly and promptly and in compliance with the standards stated in this course syllabus.
While attendance is just one aspect of active participation, absence from a significant portion of class time may prevent the successful attainment of course objectives. A significant portion of class time is generally defined as the equivalent of three weeks, or 20%, of class time. Lateness or early departure from class may be recorded as one full absence. Students may be asked to withdraw from a course if habitual absenteeism or tardiness has a negative impact on the class environment.
I will assess each student’s performance against all of the assessment criteria in determining your final grade.
Academic Honesty and Integrity
Compromising your academic integrity may lead to serious consequences, including (but not limited to) one or more of the following: failure of the assignment, failure of the course, academic warning, disciplinary probation, suspension from the university, or dismissal from the university.
Students are responsible for understanding the University’s policy on academic honesty and integrity and must make use of proper citations of sources for writing papers, creating, presenting, and performing their work, taking examinations, and doing research. It is the responsibility of students to learn the procedures specific to their discipline for correctly and appropriately differentiating their own work from that of others. The full text of the policy, including adjudication procedures, is found on the university website under Policies: A to Z. Resources regarding what plagiarism is and how to avoid it can be found on the Learning Center’s website.
The New School views “academic honesty and integrity” as the duty of every member of an academic community to claim authorship for his or her own work and only for that work, and to recognize the contributions of others accurately and completely. This obligation is fundamental to the integrity of intellectual debate, and creative and academic pursuits. Academic honesty and integrity includes accurate use of quotations, as well as appropriate and explicit citation of sources in instances of paraphrasing and describing ideas, or reporting on research findings or any aspect of the work of others (including that of faculty members and other students). Academic dishonesty results from infractions of this “accurate use”. The standards of academic honesty and integrity, and citation of sources, apply to all forms of academic work, including submissions of drafts of final papers or projects. All members of the University community are expected to conduct themselves in accord with the standards of academic honesty and integrity. Please see the complete policy in the Parsons Catalog.
Intellectual Property Rights
The New School (the "university") seeks to encourage creativity and invention among its faculty members and students. In doing so, the University affirms its traditional commitment to the personal ownership by its faculty members and students of Intellectual Property Rights in works they create. The complete policy governing Intellectual Property Rights may be seen on the university website, on the Provost’s page.
CD Department Policy
A. Communication Design Zero Tolerance Attendance Policy
In order to foster a studio learning environment where we all learn from peers and through dialogue, timely and regular attendance is a strict expectation for all Communication Design students. Students who are not present in class are unable to meet the learning outcomes of a Communication Design course.
For classes meeting once a week, students are allowed 2 absences. For classes meeting twice a week, students are allowed 4 absences. Any absence beyond the allowed absences will result in an automatic failure (F) for the course. There are no excused absences. This applies to each and every student.
A student is deemed tardy if a student fails to arrive within 15 minutes past the beginning of class. 2 tardies will result in an automatic absence. A student who arrives an hour past the beginning of class will be deemed absent.
B. No Late Work and Missed Critiques
Work that is submitted past the assignment due date will result in an automatic failure for the assignment. For work presented in critique, absence at the critique will result in an automatic failure for the assignment.
C. CD App
Information about upcoming CD Lectures, events from AIGA NY/TDC, the CD Library, and the CD Paper Store can be found on the CD App.
https://cdparsons.glideapp.io/
To install the app on your phone:
For iOS users:
- Visit the link in Safari, tap on the "Share" icon located at the bottom of the page
- Tap the "Add to Home Screen" button
- Tap the "Add" button at the top right corner of the screen
For Android users:
- Tap on the notification banner at the bottom of the page (alternatively, you can tap the "Add to Home Screen" option inside the menu at the top right corner of the screen)
- Tap the "Add" button on the modal