Bending the Rules of Letterforms and Contemporary Type Design
with Anne-Dauphine Borione (alias Ando and Daytona Mess)
The Workshop
In this workshop, we will explore and bend the rules of type design by creating a full alphabet - from the initial sketching phase to a complete set of inventive, playful letterforms. Starting from the predefined structure of a pixel font, you will learn how to push, stretch and reinterpret its building blocks to form new shapes and discover unexpected typographic possibilities.
The Details
Type design is by nature a world of conventions. However, with new tools, approaches and ways of thinking, we can challenge our preconceived ideas of how a typeface should look, feel and present.
By bringing in elements like play, joy, and freedom, we give ourselves permission to break habits, bend conventions and discover fresh, unexpected ways that type can communicate.
During this two-hour workshop, you’ll move between hand sketching and digital tools, letting curiosity guide us as you explore the space between legible and illegible, readable and unreadable. This kind of open, joyful experimentation often leads to surprisingly precise ideas, and sometimes even better ways to express meaning through letters.
You’ll learn how to work with an existing structure (in this case, the building blocks of a pixel font) and turn it into something entirely your own. Using Fontra (a free type design software for both Mac and PC) you’ll create your own typeface: a full alphabet, lowercase, uppercase, or even a unicase set.
Along the way, you’ll learn how to:
Navigate type design software
Set up a font and think about letter construction
See type as a system (not just individual drawings), and how one letter can influence the next
What you’ll need:
Bring some grid paper or a notebook for sketching (A4 or similar), plus drawing tools such as rulers, pencils, erasers and a few pens (preferably black) of different sizes and tips. Please install Fontra before the workshop through the link below.
Install Fontra
Four Sessions Workshop
5th September - 12th September 2026 - 12th September 2026 -19 September 2026 and 3rd October 2026.
All session start at 2pm. CEST
Duration approx 90m.
Online.
Bending the Rules of Letterforms and Contemporary Type Design
with Anne-Dauphine Borione (alias Ando and Daytona Mess)
The Workshop
In this workshop, we will explore and bend the rules of type design by creating a full alphabet - from the initial sketching phase to a complete set of inventive, playful letterforms. Starting from the predefined structure of a pixel font, you will learn how to push, stretch and reinterpret its building blocks to form new shapes and discover unexpected typographic possibilities.
The Details
Type design is by nature a world of conventions. However, with new tools, approaches and ways of thinking, we can challenge our preconceived ideas of how a typeface should look, feel and present.
By bringing in elements like play, joy, and freedom, we give ourselves permission to break habits, bend conventions and discover fresh, unexpected ways that type can communicate.
During this two-hour workshop, you’ll move between hand sketching and digital tools, letting curiosity guide us as you explore the space between legible and illegible, readable and unreadable. This kind of open, joyful experimentation often leads to surprisingly precise ideas, and sometimes even better ways to express meaning through letters.
You’ll learn how to work with an existing structure (in this case, the building blocks of a pixel font) and turn it into something entirely your own. Using Fontra (a free type design software for both Mac and PC) you’ll create your own typeface: a full alphabet, lowercase, uppercase, or even a unicase set.
Along the way, you’ll learn how to:
Navigate type design software
Set up a font and think about letter construction
See type as a system (not just individual drawings), and how one letter can influence the next
What you’ll need:
Bring some grid paper or a notebook for sketching (A4 or similar), plus drawing tools such as rulers, pencils, erasers and a few pens (preferably black) of different sizes and tips. Please install Fontra before the workshop through the link below.
Install Fontra
Four Sessions Workshop
5th September - 12th September 2026 - 12th September 2026 -19 September 2026 and 3rd October 2026.
All session start at 2pm. CEST
Duration approx 90m.
Online.
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