The type industry is changing fast. Between consolidation, shifts in distribution, open-source libraries, AI, and the pressures of an increasingly crowded marketplace, running a sustainable practice has become much harder. For many emerging designers, the question is no longer how to draw better letters, but how to create the conditions that allow their work to reach an audience. This series explores a shared anxiety: Is there a future in type?

Through conversations with people who have built new models, we'll examine what it takes to move beyond making typefaces to shaping the field. What did it take? What did it cost? And what can we take away from their experiences?

Type Electives Virtual Lecture Series:

Building our little internet village for independent type foundries and designers

Selling fonts and opening a foundry became simpler over the past 15 years. But it's still a complex, time and resource consuming process that prevents many designers from taking the plunge. And even after launch, the marketing effort it takes to become known can prevent many talented people from succeeding. Having walked this road ourselves at NaN, we decided to lower the barrier to entry into the type industry by creating a platform that simplifies and automates a lot of the process: trial font generation, licensing, web specimen creation, invoicing, etc. Welcome fonts.xyz.

This session will feature a short presentation, followed by a conversation moderated by Flavia Zimbardi, and an open Q&A for attendees.

The event will be hosted online via Zoom.

We look forward to having you with us!

Jérémy Landes

Jérémy Landes (he/him) is a French type designer, the studio manager at NaN, and has hands all over the place at fonts.xyz. Founded in 2020 by Luke Prowse in Berlin, Germany, NaN has differentiated itself from the start through a slap-happy approach and playful relationship with technology, pushing the boundaries of type expression while releasing retail fonts and servicing leading organizations such as Costa Coffee, Channel 4, Wise, Deezer, and Amazon.

Instagram: @nan_xyz, @fonts_xyz, @studiotriple_