A discount is available to Typographics conference participants. A promotional discount code will be found on the PDF of your conference ticket. Please apply the code to workshop registration.

This two day workshop is for everyone who wants to get a taste of creating designs programmatically with the Python programming language. You’ll work with DrawBot, a free and friendly environment that will give you instant visual feedback. The basics of Python will be covered, and you will learn how to use Python to create high quality vector-based output. We’ll start with programming vector shapes and we’ll end up with an overview of all the advanced (typographic) possibilities of DrawBot, which includes creating complex shapes and control of OpenType features. For added fun, you will learn how to make simple programmed animations, and export them as animated gifs.

No Python experience is necessary. This workshop can be followed by “Programming Animations with DrawBot”. These workshops can be attended in sequence and will give you a continuous four day workshop experience.

• You will need a MacBook, running OSX 10.9 or up, and the free DrawBot application (drawbot.com).

Just van Rossum graduated in 1989 at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in The Hague, where he studied with Gerrit Noordzij. After stints at Monotype in the UK and MetaDesign in Berlin he became an independent type designer, focussing on software design for type. His collaborations with Erik van Blokland under the name LettError became well known and their FF Beowolf typeface has been included in the permanent collection of the MoMa in New York. His FF Lefthand typeface is as ubiquitous now as it was when it came out in 1991. He co-wrote RoboFog with Petr van Blokland in the mid-ninetees, which can be seen as a prerunner of RoboFont, and has been a very influential type design tool due to its groundbreaking scriptability with the Python programming language. His TTX/FontTools library is a crucial building block for lots of font software. He also wrote the original version of the DrawBot application. Lately, his “Daily DrawBot” project drew some attention with its mesmerizing animated gifs.

Just teaches type design and programming at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts (KABK) in The Hague, both in the regular graphic design course as well as in the Type & Media master program.

• Daily DrawBot
• Drawbot