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:

On Our Terms

Three independent foundry owners discuss what it actually takes to earn a living in type today. How do different business models, collaborations, teaching, grants, and publishing shape the decisions they make—and the futures they're trying to create? What do they optimize for? What have they consciously walked away from? And what advice would they give someone starting out?

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!

Rutherford Craze

Rutherford Craze is the lead type designer at Mass-Driver, an independent foundry based in the Netherlands. His practice emphasises the craft of type design, combining historical research with modern technology to create highly functional, original typefaces.

Since 2020, his foundry has both embraced new ideas — being the first to combine the company-size pricing model with an all-inclusive licensing approach, and among the first to provide unrestricted trial fonts — and held firm against others, avoiding generative AI and requiring manual approval for customers in high-risk industries.

Instagram: @mass.driver

Maria Doreuli

Maria Doreuli is a San Francisco–based type designer and educator, leading Contrast Foundry. Her projects, ranging from traditional to experimental and from self-initiated to commercial, have been honored with numerous international awards, including ADC, D&AD, Morisawa, Red Dot, and Type Directors Club (New York). Most recently, Contrast Foundry collaborated with Collins to create custom typefaces for Muse Group.

Instagram: @doreuli, @contrastfoundry

Céline Hurka

Céline Hurka is an independent type designer based in The Hague, NL. In her practice, she aims to play with, question, and break the conventions that have prevailed for the past hundreds of years. Céline's typefaces are deeply personal projects and are inspired by her long-term interest in type history, technological innovation, personal stories, pop culture, flowers, and universal emotions. She lectures at the Type and Media Master program in the Hague and her work has received various awards and stipends, most notably the Young Guns22 issued by The One Club for Creativity in New York.

Instagram: @celinehurka