About TypeMedia

Type and Media is a full-time one year master program in type design at the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague (KABK), NL. The first semester familiarizes the students with shaping letters in various media, from stone carving and calligraphy to vector graphics and code. In the second semester, students design and develop their own typeface project. This site showcases the final exam projects of the class of 2021.

We want to thank the department faculty, lecturers and workshop presenters during our year: Erik van Blokland, Marja van der Burgh, Paul van der Laan, Peter Verheul, Françoise Berserik, Just van Rossum, Peter Biľak, Petr van Blokland, Fred Smeijers, Tânia Raposo, Kristyan Sarkis, Ilya Ruderman, Frank Grießhammer, Aleksandra Samuļenkova, Minjoo Ham, Gen Ramirez, Zrinka Buljubašić, and the many people who took the time to join us online to give a talk and chat.

Website by Oleksandr Parkhomovskyy, Lukas Horn and Caterina Santullo. Desk photos by Sander Pedersen.

Set in CoFo Sans, generously donated and designed by Maria Doreuli of Contrast Foundry.

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Surround

Surround is a chromatic typeface system made for playful typesetting. It consists of 5 unique styles, that can be used both individual and superimposed. Possibilities multiply by varying what style, order and amount of layers you use. For full potential, it is powered by a series of Drawbot scripts. They allow rhythmic typesetting by alternating styles and amount within sentences or even words. It is tailored especially for analog overprinting printing techniques like Risograph and Stencil.

Ivo Brouwer

Ivo Brouwer is an independent type and graphic designer based in The Hague. Next to that, he is part of the High on Type collective, which specialised in experimental calligraphy. He teaches letter as/and/in image at the HKU University of the Arts Utrecht. Before MA TypeMedia, he earned his BA Communication and Media Design (2016) and attended the Type@Cooper Condensed Program, New York (2019). He is now available for new projects and collaborations.

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Process

The typeface takes foundational inspiration from Jazz music. Musical compositions consist of separate elements that together make a whole. Each of these elements have their specific function within the group. The improvisational aspect of this music was important for the design process. What would happen if you think of typesetting as composing music? How would you arrange a typeface family if you think of it like a band?