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IDG2013

Calligraphy and Font Design

Choose study year
Credits 7.5
Level Intermediate course, level II
Course start Spring 2025
Duration 1 semester
Examination arrangement Aggregate score

About

About the course

Course content

The students are introduced to the fundamental principles, techniques and skills of calligraphy and typeface design. The course contains excercises and two individual projects. Formative-iterative supervision.

Learning outcome

  • The student will develop basic knowledge and skills in calligraphy and the tools involved.
  • The student will develop further knowledge of letterforms and the connection between analog and digital tools, form and expression, and the connection between use context and letterform.
  • The student will during the course draw a calligraphic alphabet and design a typeface with a full Norwegian alphabet within a given genre of typefaces and for a specified purpose.

Learning methods and activities

  • Lectures and individual project, with supervision (formative-iterative evaluation)
  • Sketches, the work process, and the end result must be documented.
  • Indivdual type face design project, with supervision

The course is run by a professional calligrapher and typeface designer.

Further on evaluation

Individual assignments in calligraphy and type design. Summative assessment at the end of the semester: Passed / failed. If one of the assignments fails, this assignment must be taken anew through a later run-through of the course.

The practical design projects will be included in the individual student's work portfolio. The projects may eventually, by the individual student's choice, be included in the individual student's presentation portfolio at the end of the third and final year.

Specific conditions

Admission to a programme of study is required:
Graphic Design (BMED)

Required previous knowledge

The course is limited to students in the program Bachelor in Graphic Design.

  • IDG1101 Typography I
  • IDG1010 Typography II
  • IDG2312 History of Typography

Course materials

Jenssen, Helene (2016). Kompendium: kalligrafi & skrift. Oslo. Henestrosa, Cristóbal, Laura Meseguer, og José Scaglione. (2017). How to create typefaces: from sketch to screen. Madrid: Tipo e.

SUPPORTIVE LITERATURE: Ahrens, Tim, og Shoko Mugikura (2014). Size-specific adjustments to type designs. München: Just Another Foundry. Beier, Sofie (2017). Type tricks: your personal guide to type design. Amsterdam: BIS Publishers. Beier, Sofie (2012). Reading letters: designing for legibility. Amsterdam: BIS Publishers. Character design standards [www.microsoft.com/typography/developers/fdsspec/ overview.aspx]. Cheng, Karen (2006). Designing type. Yale University Press. FontLab users’ manual for Macintosh [www.fontlab.com]. Haralambous, Yannis (2007). Fonts & encodings. Sebastopol: O’Reilly. Noordzij, Gerrit (2005). The stroke: theory of writing. London: Hyphen Press. Rask, Trine (2007). Skriftdesign: grundprincipper og arbejdsproces. København: Grafisk Litteratur. Rask, Trine (2009). Skriftdesign: øvelser på papiret. København: Grafisk Litteratur. Smeijers, Fred (2011). Counterpunch: making type in the sixteenth century – designing typefaces now. 2nd ed. London: Hyphen Press. Southall, Richard (2005). Printer’s type in the twentieth century: manufacturing and design methods. London: The British Library. Unger, Gerard (2018): Theory of Type Design. Rotterdam: Nai10.

Credit reductions

Course code Reduction From
IMT2013 5 sp Autumn 2019
IMT3012 5 sp Autumn 2019
This course has academic overlap with the courses in the table above. If you take overlapping courses, you will receive a credit reduction in the course where you have the lowest grade. If the grades are the same, the reduction will be applied to the course completed most recently.

Subject areas

  • Design Methodology

Contact information

Course coordinator

Lecturers

Department with academic responsibility

Department of Design