Anyone have a type design thesis or advice to share?
I have settled on type design for my senior BFA thesis. Unfortunately that’s not something a thesis anyone has done at my school in a while, if ever, so I don’t know how prepared my professors will be to guide my through this. So as part of my research I am looking into how people handle a type design thesis at schools where such a thing is not a rarity. If anyone has posted a BFA type design thesis online, published it in a magazine, or just wants to email me a PDF I would really appreciate knowing about it—and might even cite it! I would also appreciate any advice on potential pitfalls to avoid, timesavers to keep in mind, or unexpected and overlooked sources of information.
15.Aug.2007 5.40pm
I highly recommend reading Kai Bernau’s Neutral. It wasn’t a thesis per se, but it was a school project on type design and very interesting academically.
15.Aug.2007 5.44pm
My Type Design Philosophy by Martin Majoor
15.Aug.2007 6.20pm
Stephen, do you know of anybody in the US that sells the Neutral book? I am trying to avoid ordering too many books from the other side of the pond—the weak dollar, conversion fees, and shipping costs add up fast.
My Type Design Philosophy by Martin Majoor
Actually, I just read the first half of that one and was inspired to post this question ;)
15.Aug.2007 6.39pm
James, I don’t know if this is useful, but Reading’s Department of Typography has an online list of past theses, with links to the ones that have been published. There’s no direct link; sorry — you’ll have to click on “research” and then, on that page, “past theses”. Good luck!
15.Aug.2007 6.51pm
“Neutral” is sold only by Kai himself, so I’m afraid that’s the only way to get it.
15.Aug.2007 8.19pm
1. Have a clear problem you want to solve with your design—a clear brief.
2. Use Briem and Tracy.
3. Use Typophile.
4. Keep your supervisor on board so you don’t have bad surprises.
15.Aug.2007 10.37pm
There’s a wiki for the MATD program at Reading, and if you look through the listing of graduates you can see many of the essays and dissertations they’ve done.