What You'll Learn

Course Outline

Sessions 1-3: Type Fundamentals

Anatomy and terminology, classification systems, evaluating typeface quality, licensing considerations

Sessions 4-6: Customization Techniques

Path editing, weight adjustments, terminal modifications, creating consistent curves, optical corrections

Sessions 7-9: Custom Lettering

Sketching approaches, geometric construction, digitization workflows, maintaining rhythm and balance

Sessions 10-12: Application and Refinement

Testing at multiple sizes, preparing font files, creating type-based brand systems, portfolio development

12 sessions over 6 weeks, twice weekly. Includes font resources and technical guides.

Typography makes or breaks a logo. You can have a brilliant concept, but if the type is wrong, the whole thing falls apart. The problem is most designers either use overused fonts or pick something trendy that'll look dated in two years.

This program focuses exclusively on type in logo contexts. You'll learn to evaluate typefaces beyond "I like how this looks" to understanding structure, weight distribution, and character relationships.

Custom modifications

Sometimes you find a font that's 90% right. We'll cover how to modify existing typefaces: adjusting terminals, changing weight in specific areas, creating ligatures, and customizing letterforms while maintaining consistency.

You'll also learn when full custom lettering makes sense and how to approach it. We cover both geometric construction and hand-drawn approaches, then refining in vector software.

• Analyzing type anatomy and how it affects readability at small sizes
• Pairing fonts when wordmarks need multiple weights or styles
• Letter spacing and kerning for display type
• Converting text to outlines and proper path cleanup

The technical exercises include recreating classic typographic logos to understand their construction, then applying those principles to original designs. You'll build a reference library of type treatments and learn efficient workflows for testing multiple options quickly.