WALK THROUGH

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Workshop 21.06-02.07.2021

Blend writing systems in the Latin grid of Unicode, take a walk through classification boxes with «non-latin typeface», re-invent reading with asemic script design…

How to work on unclassifable? How to question standardization in type design?

With a series of collective exercices of observation, tool experimentation, type and specimen design, this workshop proposes an introduction on typography and its politics. An invitation to explore the relationships and influences between design and techniques through societal and design issues.

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DAY 1 — Monday 21.06

9h30 — Introduction on the workshop's topics and program

11h — Street walk ↝ gathering writing systems. Take photos (or drawings if you don't have a camera) of different writing systems (different scripts but also: braille, music notations, etc) + classification: sort images, select + upload on the cloud.

13h-17h — Collective discussion on the walk's documents.

WALK, LOOK, TAKE A PICTURE, UPLOAD, DISCUSS

INSTRUCTIONS

Think and/or re-think

Observe, resize, select, rename

Once you have taken your photos, the next step is to sort them out; choose what you want to keep in your collection of photos and find a way to classify them.

Simply cut out the part of the picture that gets your interest (resize, crop,…), you can also make the photos black and white in order to emphasize a specific detail.

Try to categorize your folders by choosing words to name them.

Ask yourself why you choose some and not the rest.

You can also complete your collection by picking pictures from other students (upon their agreement).

Tomorrow we will dig deeper into how your decisions were made, how the words were chosen, etc.

RECORDING INTRO

DAY 2 — Tuesday 22.06

9h30 — Presentation on typographic classifications ↬ history, evolution, criteria and limits
Digital walk through Unicode ⇝ principles and contemporary questions

11h — Typographic tools experiments ↯ create your own tools!

15h30-17h — Group discussion on the tools & creation, questions, doubts…

∿ Walking through Classifications ∿∿∿

∿ Walking through Unicode ∿∿∿

UNICODE / IN AND OUT OF THE BOX

The Unicode as it materializes in FontForge ↗ each glyph its box.

With the collective Bye Bye Binary we were looking for a place to integrate our genderfluid glyphs…

DINDong by Clara Sambot

Ourobouros genderfluid glyph by Hélène Mourrier

Baskervvol genderfluid glyphs by Bye Bye Binary

First we did it in Unicode no wo·man’s land (no Unicode reference), which isn’t handy when you want to find and use the glyphs, neither for cross-fonts compatibility.

The new plan is to get together and squat a space in Unicode named “Private Use Area-A”.

Another geeky reference of Unicode squatters: the Medieval Unicode Font Initiative MUFI project https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medieval_Unicode_Font_Initiative#Private_Use_Area

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KEYBOARD ISSUES

Loraine’s handmade multiscript keyboard (Western Armenian, 39 letters) …

UNICODE REFS SHARED

https://decodeunicode.org/
https://unicode-table.com/en/blocks/basic-latin/
Sucessful entries in the Unicode: Kore cebeli, by Mohamed Bentoura Bangoura and Lucille Guillon
The beautiful story behind the Adlam script https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adlam_script
https://www.instagram.com/bye.byebinary/
ASCII chart
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ASCII

PRESENTATION PDFs

CLASSIFICATION presentation by Émilie
UNICODE presentation by Émilie

∿ Walking through Writing tools ∿∿∿

TYPOGRAPHIC TOOLS EXPERIMENT

• create a tool that doesn't exist yet (in the field of typography), or re-appropriate an existing tool

• draw existing letters or glyphs from yesterday's images or create new ones using the new tools

Read more in the “Thoughts & instructions section →

THOUGHTS & INSTRUCTIONS

Homo Sapiens are one of the species that have the ability to create tools.
They create tools to make their life easier.
By doing the same things with the same tools, do we participate in a uniformisation of design ?
What if we used our everyday tools/applications/softwares consciously and reappropriate them differently ?

NOW, IT’S YOUR TURN : Create or re-apropriate a tool.
Create a dialogue between you and the tool.
Try to listen to your tool, don’y try to over control it.

Try to draw existing letters or glyphs from your yesterday’s images or simply create new ones, using your new tool.
Let us keep it simple : the medium on which and with which you use your tool stays the same : ink on paper

Time is limited. No need to overthink, find any object nearby and tranform it to a tool.

No need to have something sleek and perfect. The aim here, is to experiment new tools.
Don’t be afraid to show us your experimentations.

The process, the approach, the overall reflection is more important than the final result.
Consider this work as part of a larger project.

PRESENTATION PDF

TOOLS presentation by Garine and Lisa

TOOLS ⇄ PRACTICE ⇄ TOOLS

http://osp.kitchen/foundry/belgica-belgika/

TOOLS REFS SHARED

The Secret History of Writing Episode 1-3
L’Odyssée de l’écriture (Arte, 1ère partie)
Fast forward video with many examples of codex http://czyborra.com/unicode/emojidick.pdf
UNCONTROLLED TYPES by Plotter Drawing video

Day 3 — Wednesday 23.06

9h30 — Gathering glyphs in a font
Digital typography tools
Use & test tools ↝ forming affinities

13h-17h — Gathering writing systems ↣ making groups

TYPE DESIGN TOOLS

Glyphs https://glyphsapp.com/

RoboFont https://robofont.com/

FontLab https://www.fontlab.com/font-editor/fontlab/

FontForge http://fontforge.github.io/

Python scripts http://i.liketightpants.net/and/programmatically-manipulating-typefaces
OSP cheatsheet

∿ Walking through Digital tools (1) ∿∿∿

∿ Walking through Digital tools (2) ∿∿∿

∿ Walking through Chinese script ∿∿∿

TOOLS TO TRAIN (Latin-centered)

Metaflop: https://www.metaflop.com/modulator

Type Kerning: https://type.method.ac

Type drawing: https://shape.method.ac

Type ragging: https://fathom.info/ragtime/game.html

Type war (guess which typeface): http://typewar.com

سواد Sawād Arabic Type Platform

A tool and platform created by Sina Fakour:

https://www.sinafakour.com ♥y

(notice that the font we use miss some characters…)

More multiscript tools!

Ukelele, Unicode Keyboard Layout Editor for the macOS

New Multi-Script Typefaces 2016

Hyperglot tool to show which fonts support which scripts

In between day 3 and day 4

Designing specimens, posters with the workshop's materials, continue with the ongoing projects!

∿ Walking Through Writing Systems ∿∿∿

Day 4 — Monday 28.06

9h30 — On writing systems ⇉ presentation through African writing systems

13h-17h — Group work — individual/group feedback

REFERENCES

Saki Mafundikwa (researcher about all African writing systems)
Talk: A Typophile’s Twenty-Year Adventures in Zimbabwe

Kigelia project https://kigelia-font.com/

Bruly Bouabre: Bete creator

Tapiwanashe S_Garikayi

Adam Yeo

Sebastian Tapinawashe Gariyaki user ande type designer

Adam Yeo researcher designer and type designer

Clara Balaguer, here, here and here!

How Jihee Lee Breaks Down the Cultural Boundaries Built By Stereotypes

MORE ⇶

Nontsikelelo Mutiti, Thread & Tête à tête

La Horde du Contrevent est un roman de science-fantasy1,2,3 écrit par Alain Damasio

https://raphaelbastide.com/avara/

Variable fonts

Type Media responsive

Neva Zidić

Glyphs — creating a variabke font

Variable Font Preview plugin for Glyphs

Very-able fonts

Underware’s own technology for variable fonts

Day 5 — Tuesday 29.06

9h30-17h — Group work — individual/group feedback and coaching

LINKS SHARED

Andrea’s master project Za, a typeface proposal thought to serve primarily the Zapotec language

Mayan glyphs system
Theory and Method in Maya Decipherment, Marc Zender
Alexandre Bassi: Les hiéroglyphes mayas + other video

Amy Suo Wu, A Cookbook of Invisible Writing

Toki Pona language and writing system http://tokipona.net/ (Thanks Alex for sharing!)

Dead drops

Unpredictable Shadows is the name of a font by Colin Doerffler, in a book called New Aesthetic — A collection of independent type design (highly recommended by Roni!)

Day 6 — Wednesday 30.06

9h30-17h — Group work — individual/group feedback and coaching

End of the week

(to be discussed with the group when exactly)

Presentation and end party!

LOGISTIC TOOLS

JITSI to meet:
https://jitsi.kh-berlin.de/walk-through-blend-bend

SLACK to communicate: walkthroughblendbend.slack.com

CLOUD for sharing files:
https://vk.next.kh-berlin.de/s/Z6yFddMABpaQ5JH
password protected: aipMm2fQ

TYPE DESIGN TOOLS

LINKS

“TypoFiction” Asemic Writing workshop led by Mohamed Gaber & Farah Fayyad // TypeLab Sandberg https://gue3bara.github.io/TypoFiction/

Quarantype https://www.fonderie.download/quarantype.html

Queer collaborative font https://salty.website/

Li Beirut https://arabictype.com/font-li-beirut/

CONNECTING FROM A—Z joins twenty-eight designers in creating one diverse alphabet, as a way to connect during the recent period of social distancing. The project was conceived as a chained event: Each designer received a letter, already designed by a colleague, and has been asked to design the following one in the alphabet. The previous letter could be used as an inspiration or connecting point of dialogue for the next design. Each letter was delivered within one day, making it a dynamic and playful experience. https://a-z-presents.com/

Source website: http://fonts.github.io/typographic-collaboration/

participants

Hagen Schönfeld Alexandra Ruppert Emile Cerf Maïa Kleinknecht Mine Deniz İlhan Birgit Kunz Polina Ryman Christian Sommer Lena Richter Christine Meyer Andrea Jimenez Roni Vesely

A PROPOSITION BY

Émilie Aurat is a graphic designer and typographer based in Paris. In 2018 she worked on Afàka, a XXth century sillabary for the Ndyuka language, an English-based creole of Suriname, as part of the Missing Scripts program of the ANRT in Paris.

Garine Gokceyan is an independent graphic designer based in Brussels and born in Beirut, working on multidisciplinary pedagogic and social projects using Armenian, English, French and Arabic languages.

Lisa Huang 黄丽莎 is a type designer specialised in Latin and Chinese scripts, currently based in Paris, France. Her interest in type and typography focuses on multi-cultural works, especially those mixing Latin-French and Chinese writing systems which mirrors her life as a multi-cultural human. She has lately worked on the digitisation of Nüshu script to join Noto Sans typeface family.

Loraine Furter is a graphic designer and researcher based in Brussels, active in the fields of hybrid publishing, intersectional xfeminism and non-normative typography.

https://www.design-research.be/multiscriptes/

FONTS

Authentic Sans is a typeface designed by Christina Janus and Desmond Wong which explores the semiotic and aesthetic idiosyncrasies of the anonymous Latin glyphs included with CJK system fonts; the typeface aims to subvert the Eurocentric standards of typographic quality and refinement. https://authentic.website/#sans

VTC Du Bois is a typeface named after American sociologist, historian, civil rights activist, Pan-Africanist, author, writer, and editor W.E.B. Du Bois, William Edward Burghardt Du Bois. Vocal Type foundry designs fonts inspired by social movements: “each typeface highlights a piece of history from a specific underrepresented race, ethnicity, or gender—from the Women’s Suffrage Movement in Argentina to the Civil Rights Movement in America.” https://www.vocaltype.co/history-of/du-bois.