Basic Python Programming for Typeface Design
with
Ben Kiel
This workshop will be part pre-recorded tutorials, and part synchronous office hours. Details and Zoom links will be posted in Extended Program Slack channel.
Typeface design has a long tradition of its practitioners creating their own custom tools to aid the design process. The Python programming language is the modern-day equivalent of a punch cutter’s counterpunch. Using Python allows the designer to focus more on the design of a typeface by automating repetitive tasks. In this workshop, students will gain a basic understanding of how to program in Python and how to use those skills in Robofont. In the first part of the workshop, Python and basic programming concepts will be introduced with the use of Drawbot, a Python environment created to teach designers programming. After the core concepts are introduced, the workshop will move to exploring how to apply them as part of the typeface design process in Robofont. At the end, students will have the skills to create their own digital counterpunches.
About Ben Kiel
Ben Kiel works as a typeface designer and a partner at XYZ Type from a backyard studio shed in St. Louis, Missouri. Running a type foundry brings together Ben’s diverse background in graphic design, coding, letterpress printing, and type history. After studying graphic design and computer science at Washington University in St. Louis, he completed an MA in Typeface Design at the University of Reading in the UK. Ben began his career at House Industries, then ran a solo design practice for several years before co-founding XYZ Type. Ben has taught at MICA, Washington University, and Type@Cooper.