NEW: TYPE DESIGN DEGREE
August 17th, 2010 by Ryan McGovern. Published under Trends, Typography. No Comments.
Something that is both wonderful and surprising will happen in October. Students at the Cooper Union in New York will attend classes as part of a new masters degree program in typeface design called Type@Cooper. The wonderful part is that its happening at all; the surprising part is that its the first of its kind in the United States.
Cara Di Edwardo, professor and coordinator of Type@Cooper notes a resurgence in hand-lettering through digital media as one of the motivations behind the new program. Students can still register for this program through August 31st, but must have an undergraduate degree or professional experience in type design, graphic design or related fields.
There is a part of that last sentence that I also find interesting. “…or professional experience…” implies that no formal education is needed to take this masters class. Some may find it controversial, but I think this is a positive trend in the design community. Think about it; how many amazing design practitioners and creative minds admit during interviews that they’ve had little to no formal education? And this is not to downplay college design programs- I value the design education that I experienced. Humans are still learning about LEARNING, so it is a plausible conclusion that not every creative mind needs to obtain a bachelors of fine arts to be successful as a professional designer.
Here’s a list of classes that they offer as part of the program. If you love type like Kanye, you might cry while reading the following:
CORE CLASSES:
Introduction to Typeface Design
Tools and Technology
Calligraphic Letterforms
ELECTIVES:
The Drawn Letter
Experiment and Expression in Letterform Design
GUEST LECTURES:
Turning Lead into Gold: 19th-Century American Type Foundries & Their Specimen Books – Stephen O. Saxe
Type Design & Production, The Revolutionary Years – Mike Daines
The Guardian Egyptian – Christian Schwartz
Round Pegs in Square Holes: Developing Type for Screen-based Media – Roger Black
