Do It Again Experimental Typography Workshop - Matthew Wizinsky & Reneé Seward

Recorded during TypeCon2016: Resound in Seattle, Washington
Most design curricula sequentially build upon foundational studies, including typography, toward increasingly complex conceptual applications of these foundations. However, it is not uncommon for students in their final year to lose sight of these foundations, even neglecting the core competencies that brought them to that point. This presentation shares the process and results of an experimental typography workshop that unifies accumulated conceptual abilities with fundamental competencies. The three-week workshop tasks graphic communication design students in their final semester to revisit fundamental typographic and compositional ideas and engage in directed play to nurture an ongoing personal and iterative relationship with letterforms. The objective is to fuse conceptual and fundamental competencies as students prepare to produce their capstone projects. One of the most significant parameters is that students must work with their hands to draw and manually manipulate forms and compositions, culminating in a poster that depicts “process as narrative.” The spirit of the workshop is: play first, rationalize second, judge last.