This course develops students' understanding of typographical principles through practical projects that require them to master techniques and technologies currently used in publishing.
The approach of the course is threefold:
Each of these elements is important and relies on the other two. The principles and standards of good typography are examined in the context of real-life applications, and these projects require students to become familiar with current computer utilities that enable them to achieve specific typographic effects.
I place the principles first because I believe that they are the most important and deep aspect of the course. Students will see that by understanding the underlying principles, they will be able to successfully apply them in the future, on projects whose parameters they cannot envision, when they will be using technologies that have not yet been developed.
Projects will be presented in a developmental sequence so that students are not overwhelmed by too many issues at once. The early projects will focus on one or two typographic variables, with other variables carefully constrained. Later projects will be more complex, and will also include more freedom for students to choose the dimensions, typefaces, and texts they want to work with.