Get Your Typeface Reviewed by the Masters

It’s become a tradition — Matthew Carter, John Downer, and Akira Kobayashi will once again donate their time and expertise to lead their famous typeface critique sessions during TypeCon. These masters of the craft will offer gentle, constructive criticism to ten designers submitting a single type design for review.

Update! Our dear friend Matthew cannot make it for this year’s Type Crit. Standing in for him will be Mike Parker of Font Bureau. Mike was the director of new type development at Mergenthaler Linotype (the top type position in the world at the time) for two decades before going on to digital pioneering at Bitstream and Font Bureau. He is a good friend of Matthew’s and has worked with him for many years. We are delighted that Mike will join John and Akira for this round.

The rules are just a little different this year. Until Saturday morning, the Type Crit sign-up list will be reserved for designers who haven’t signed up for a critique in previous years. If spots remain open after that time, past “critees” are welcome to sign up.

A gentle reminder: Only single typefaces will be reviewed — no typeface families. Please bring printed specimens at a size that will easy for viewing and passing around the review table. Multiple copies of specimens are appreciated. No presentations on laptop computers will be allowed.

Want a peak at the critique sessions held at last summer’s TypeCon2007 in Seattle? SOTA volunteer Eben Sorkin has been working on multimedia showcases of the critiques and has posted the first one on YouTube. Enjoy.