Creative Explorations in Variable Fonts, with Arrow Type and Undercase Type

Stephen Nixon (Arrow Type) will share the design & development process behind Recursive Mono & Sans. Started as a thesis project for TypeMedia 2018, Recursive takes its initial inspiration from "single-stroke casual," a warmly-energetic genre of sign painting, but evolves this idea into an extensive, screen-first variable font that is at home in code editors, technical blogs, and apps.

Undercase Type will discuss their inaugural release, Fraunces, a display "Old Style" typeface inspired by the mannerisms of early 20th century types such as Windsor, Souvenir, and the Cooper Series. Designers Spencer Charles and Flavia Zimbardi will speak about their creative inspiration, development process, and technical challenges of designing a multi-axis variable font.

Fraunces & Recursive were both commissioned by Google Fonts to explore the creative & technical possibilities in variable fonts, and they are available on GitHub as open-source fonts & educational resources.

Stephen Nixon is a type designer & developer based in NYC, working as Arrow Type. He is currently creating fonts for modern typography, upgrading Google Fonts projects into variable fonts, and helping other foundries with type production & mastering. He is a graduate of the TypeMedia masters program at the Royal Academy (KABK) in The Hague, class of 2018. Before that, he worked as a brand experience & software product designer at IBM and studied Graphic Design at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. He has previously given talks at TypeCon Education Forum & Typographics TypeLab, and he volunteers with Code Nation to introduce NYC high school students to web development (sneaking in small doses of design & typography education whenever possible).

Flavia Zimbardi is a typeface designer and visual artist, partner at Undercase Type. Native from Rio de Janeiro, she is currently based in New York and has collaborated with renowned foundries such as Frere-Jones, Commercial Type, and AdobeFonts. Flavia is an alumn of the Type@Cooper Extended Program and was the first Brazilian woman to have a typeface awarded by the Type Directors Club in 2018, with her graduation project Lygia—which was later selected for the 8th Latin American Typography Biennial (Tipos Latinos). From 2005 to 2013 she worked for some of the leading magazines in Brazil receiving recognition by the 9th, 10th & 12th Brazilian Graphic Design Biennials, and serving as editorial design Judge for its latest editions in 2017 & 2019.

Venue & Timing

Time : Mon Apr 06 2020 at 06:30 PM to  08:30 PM
Venue : The Cooper Union 41 Cooper Square Rose Auditorium New York, NY 10003, The Cooper Union 41 Cooper Square Rose Auditorium New York, NY 10003, New York, New York City - 10003
Website :

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