Have a look at Type Salon’s diverse projects. From fonts in use, case studies of retail and custom fonts, to the workshops and conference presentations.
Designing typefaces
4 – 9 September, 2023
Hosted by Hostel Pliskovica
We are thrilled for our upcoming Tipo Brda workshop in the form of a 6 days long type camp, where you will have the opportunity to expand your type design and lettering skills. Whether you are a seasoned designer or just starting out, this workshop will provide you with a unique chance to explore the fundamentals and design process. You will learn about the process of designing a typeface from start to finish, including sketching, digitizing, and refining your design. During this hands-on workshop, you will learn about the basics of calligraphy (foundation hand), sketching with double pencil, principles of type design and how to effectively use skills of type design in your projects. Led by experienced professionals, this workshop promises to be a valuable and rewarding experience for all participants. You will also have the opportunity to network with other designers, exchange ideas and get feedback on your work.
Exploring letterforms
12–17 June, 2023
Lead by Alja Herlah, Nejc Prah, Zoran Pungerčar
Hosted by ALUO
We have seen quite a few technological milestones in the realm of communication design in the last two decades. Rise of social media, specialized websites and blogs with design content, festivals and conferences, new reproduction processes, global industrial standards, all have tremendous impact on typography as a core discipline of visual communication. Typography was always strongly connected with technology and deeply rooted in culture and language. Nowadays, the typographic culture and language are globally popularized.
There are many emerging communities of type designers and of type users also in places with less typographic tradition. Plenty of online tools enable expressive generative typography with endless possibilities of manipulation. Opentype supported by Unicode standard, webfont formats, browser and programming languages development, variable fonts, intuitive font editors, git repos, … all enable exponentially growing font production and market. However it seems the mainstream digital offer somehow lacks originality of innovative letterforms out of the widespread conventions framework.
Digital tools and devices benefit us in many ways. The accuracy, speed, capacity of either production or dissemination is exceptional compared to past technologies. On the other hand, interaction with computers always happens through the interface. This is frustrating. The analog workflow: brain, hands, tool is different and rewarding. It challenges opposite, alternative creative processes, and leads us to unpredictable results. Results that visually help us to answer the initial questions of this research:
What can be a letterform?
How can letterforms develop?
How can letterforms become typefaces?
Creating letters based on Jože Plečnik
September 10, 2022
Workshop was organized by Type Salon.
Hosted by MAO
First, we build the letter shapes and place them in the inscription, since the letters are rarely used by themselves. In this way, we will learn about the principle of drawing letters, which was used by Plečnik himself – he drew letters for his inscriptions on buildings. Letter forms were based on the shape of a circle and a rectangle.
Weekend on script lettering with Ivan Castro
September 10–11, 2022
Workshop was organized by TIPO BRDA with help from Type Salon.
Hosted by MAO
We experienced how to approach a script lettering piece, from the first sketch to the final work. After practicing the foundations of brush-written calligraphy and through slide presentations and practical demonstrations, we learned the basics of lettering, sketching techniques, the logic of rhythm, composition and all that technical stuff that makes a difference. We also learned different ways of starting a script lettering work, and everyone got to do their own project that consisted of a logotype or a short sentence, with the help of the personal tuition of the instructor.
Experimental Calligraphy
June 11–13,2021
Mestni muzej Ljubljana
In June 2021, we organized a workshop with Tipo Brda society and Dutch calligrapher and lettering artist Guido de Boer. The event took place at the City Museum of Ljubljana, Slovenia. This three-day experimental calligraphy workshop introduced the participants to new ways and ideas on how to start or upgrade their calligraphy skills. The first part of the workshop was dedicated to the traditional form of calligraphy writing, later we explored and learned about new approaches and tools for experimenting and expressive writing. The final result was a group collective zine, everyone contributed their alphabet they designed during different calligraphy games..
Online International Summer School 2020 UL ALUO Type Design with Gerry Leonidas
August 20–24, 2020
Online workshop was organized by UL ALUO,
with help from Type Salon and Tipo Brda, coordinated by Domen Fras.
The online course begins with an understanding of type genres and helps participants conceptualize typefaces and plan typeface families. It introduces writing, sculpting, and synthetic methodologies for style consistency. Systematic development across styles and optical sizes is supported with workflow examples and test documents. Beginning participants will develop with a clear understanding of typeface design spaces, and develop skills for translating their sketches into workable fonts that can be used to typeset test documents. Experienced participants will be able to refine their designs, understand how to position typefaces for specific markets, and explore originality and identity within realistic briefs. The material used in the course can be documented, shared, and re-used.
Plecnik typeface,
designed on the basis of hand drawn letters by Jože Plečnik from the archive collection
Plecnik House Ljubljana
July 2–October 17, 2021
Plecnik is a typeface, designed on the basis of research of the archive collection of hand drawn letters by Jože Plečnik. The most renowned Slovene architect is best known for his architectural works, but his influence on Slovene typography is somewhat less accentuated. From the initial architectural plan to the final details on the building, Plečnik planned his projects in a holistic and careful manner; which follow a unified concept and create a thoughtfully designed finished whole. Inscriptions on monuments, book typesetting, book covers, architectural plan elements, ex-librises, additions in the form of ornaments, initials – these are also among Plečnik’s prolific works, which had a strong influence on Slovene typography.
The exhibition showcases the research and development of the Plecnik typface. Typeface and Plecnik booklet are available in our shop.
Wesna typeface,
design based on Slovenian interwar posters (1st half of 20th century).
Mestna Hiša Ljubljana
October 12–November 20, 2022
Typeface Wesna was created as a reflection of the current state of design whose starting point is rooted in the letterings from the Slovenian posters from the interwar period. Bold strokes, condensed letterforms, sharp stroke joints and unique features are combined in the typeface. Wesna preserves the Slovenian typography heritage and establishes the connection between the past and the present through new digital formation.
The exhibition showcases the story and design of the Wesna typface. Typeface Wesna is available in our shop.
Typography day 2021
September 2021
We presented our latest project and exhibition: Plecnik.
INDIGO design festival
11. 9. 2020
Trg francoske revolucije, Ljubljana
We have been given the opportunity to give a public presenation on Indigo design festival. We talked about the story that inspired us to develop and design our typeface Spektra.
TypeWKND online conference
24–27 September 2020
Online Type Conference
We have been given the opportunity to give an online presenation on TypWKND online conference. We talked about the story that inspired us to develop and design our typeface Spektra. Watch our recorded video presentation here.