Python Scripting for Type Design

‌A fun, practical workshop about how to use Python scripts to improve font production—for type designers with little to no coding experience.

A little bit of scripting knowledge can speed up your workflow, improve your understanding of how fonts work, and enable you to spend more time on important creative decisions.

Scripts are simple instructions for your computer (or font software) to accomplish a repetitive task. For type design, scripts are written in the programming language Python.

Need to change something simple for hundreds of glyphs in your font? Find yourself repeating soul-crushing technical tasks again and again? Tired of writing spacing strings yourself (“HHAHHAOOAOO HHBHHBOOBOO…”)? Type design is full of repetitive tasks, and many of them can be accomplished with a script.

A big focus of this workshop is understanding scripting—what it’s capable of, when it’s helpful, when it isn’t, and how to continue learning on your own.

Want to learn more before committing to the workshop?
Join our Q&A Zoom call!

This series of workshops is hands-on, engaging, and pragmatic. We will focus entirely on type design use cases for Python—building scripts together piece by piece, at a manageable pace. While I have many examples for us to learn from, the most exciting ones are those that you and other participants think up!

Working on a font with tabular figures? Let’s write a script to help! Need to adjust the position of all your top diacritics? We can do that together.

If you have taken other Python classes, this will feel different.

• Understand what scripting is and what it’s capable of in the context of type design.

• Feel less intimidated around code.

• Understand when scripting makes sense, and when it’s more efficient to do something manually.

• Learn the basics of Python, basic programming concepts, and the essential skill of breaking down “problems” into a sequence of solvable steps.

• Feel empowered to write your own basic scripts, suited to the needs of your font projects.

• Type designers of all skill levels; students and pros alike.

• The curriculum is designed for those who do not know how to code or who only know a little bit of code (ex: “I learned some JavaScript years ago”).

• If you have considerably more experience with programming, I will try to provide you with additional guidance and projects. If there are enough students like this, I may break them into a separate group.

Glyphs and RoboFont users are equally welcome. I have taught this workshop simultaneously in Glyphs and RoboFont. I also have Glyphs and RoboFont versions of all scripts and resources.

• I expect each participant to have basic proficiency with Glyphs or RoboFont, and a license to one of them.

• You will need Zoom and a reliable internet connection.

• Participants should have experience making fonts, even as a student, and should be familiar with things like anchors, tabular figures, and spacing strings.

• To make this workshop as practical and relevant as possible, everyone should have a font project to work with. Please let me know in advance if you do not.

• I will assign one or two little scripting challenges each week, as homework. These will help you practice and get closer to your personal scripting goals.

• Plan to dedicate 2-3 hours to scripting and homework each week.

Peter Nowell is an independent designer and teacher based in New York City.

His design portfolio spans UI/UX, web design & development, branding, print, and custom typography, for clients as small as San Francisco’s Juice Shop and as large as Apple. Peter’s work has been honored by the D&AD Awards, the W3 Awards, and the Type Directors Club.

His online courses platform Sketch Master has trained thousands of designers around the world, and he has led workshops for design teams at Google, Fitbit, and many creative agencies.

Since graduating Type@Cooper, Peter has built custom Python scripts for other type designers, consulted about font production, and developed Font Proofer—a new tool for testing your typefaces insanely fast.

If you are passionate and determined to take this workshop but it presents a financial hardship for you, let’s talk. There isn’t a one size-fits-all approach to this, so please describe your situation and needs in the Financial Assistance section of the main application.

It’s no secret that both the type design and software development industries lack the diversity of the people they serve. It’s not even close. To support a more inclusive, equitable, vibrant, and collectively-brilliant future, a limited number of spaces in this workshop are reserved for anyone who identifies as Black, Indigenous, or a Person of Color.

If you are interested in applying for a fully-paid BIPOC scholarship, please fill out this short addition to the main application.

Please note that the BIPOC scholarship is separate from financial assistance. Financial assistance is open to anyone and is based on need, whereas the scholarship is based on identity and potential for impact—not financial need. Before being reviewed by a panel, scholarship applications are anonymized and any information about financial need is excluded. Applications are evaluated based on how impactful the workshop could be for each individual and their goals. If you need financial assistance, please provide that information as if the scholarship didn’t exist.

This workshop is full, and no longer accepting applications.
See the link below to be notified when the workshop happens again.

If you are interested in taking the workshop, please fill out this short application. If you have more questions, or would like to see examples of what we’ll make in the workshop, join our Zoom Q&A call (details and link above).

Applications will be accepted through March 21, but space is limited and certain to fill up before then. I’ll follow up with you to confirm your place in the workshop, provide the final times, and share the payment link.