 Hi, oh Okay, so last year we give a talk at the LGM about Libre typography and our excitement with the new developments the ad font-face property Google web funds and all that jazz but now one year after we would like to talk about the goals and how we can push Libre typography further and and create an ecosystem and a way to keep it going and We think that in this aspect We identified four problems that we think the proprietary model for type design doesn't solve So we would start with this idea that type design is hard slow and for experts only The idea that when you are doing a font, it's something that will take you years a process that will go on for a really long period of time where you'll do lots of experimentation and iterations until you achieve a final finished font and if you compare that with the things that were seen happening now and for example Vernon Adams, which is a little bit of our Type hero in the sense that every week. He's putting something new out there and showing that to create a typeface You really don't need to Be there by yourself alone for five years at least Designing a font and also this idea that it is a long process Like last year we did a workshop here at media lab where we designed a font together with a group of 20 people and it turned out really well and This idea that you have to have a coherent thing in the end It doesn't mean that you have to do it by yourself and that it is an expression of your personal style and Also the thing with being an experts only task so it it requires a lot of Technique and you need to be aware of many specific details and it's something that will require your full attention Then the second thing that when you release a font that the design is final that it is a finished thing and a stable thing and It's very common if you ask fellow designers if they have a Font and that they will answer yes, but I didn't finish it and someday I will do that So this idea that you'll only release it when it's complete and finished and that what do you have? While you didn't get to the final Part of the design that it's something that you cannot put out there and maybe inspired by the the free software way of Development and the idea of release early release often We can actually put a typeface out there without waiting for this long process to end and getting a Moment that we think it's the final where when things are set in stone and in this case We have the typeface that we did for the magazine prop courier Which is a typeface that we are improving and releasing every time we do a new number of the magazine Right so problem three Proprietary type tends to be generic. So if you think about Fonts like Helvetica Dean Gotham Which was made famous by the Obama campaign in 2008 or a neutrophase, which is another really Overused typeface. They're usually more often than not geared to the widest Audience possible and the widest kind of uses and then you kind of miss out With this whole global typeface uses you miss out on local sensitivities and you also go towards a very weird homogenization of A static homogenization as you can tell by when you see the kind of designs that feature Helvetica and the kind of dry Expression that it might bring This is an example of stroke fonts which have been used for either printed circuits or Penplotters which are definitely not mainstream uses of fonts and that's probably why you want you'll very rarely find This kind of typeface which is drawn with the stroke On a proprietary workflow on the other hand we kind of need it Because we have a pen plotter and we like to work with it So we use thankfully we have public domain fonts to work on And also this idea of catering to local Aesthetics and local culture. This is a typeface from a designer from Porto where we come from which is really an aesthetic That's really really Particular to Porto. It's a creative commons licensed font and we really like this We really like this idea that instead of trying to find the one typeface like Helvetica the uber neutral typeface we can actually look for thousands millions of local expressions crystallized in local typefaces and Cricks is another wonderful example of a local typeface that has a local meaning. This is a Sticker typeface that OSP have been showcasing in other LGMs and It's a very Very specific to this Harbeck neighborhood, which is a Brussels neighborhood and the design that you'll find there the kind of Letter heads that you'll find there and this revival that then was made by OSP makes a lot of sense there and Even though you can use it Context it's not intended at all to be neutral in this case. We don't like this idea of neutral and Finally the problem of centralization Generally typography and type design is centralized around institutions like a type I my fonts font fonts and MA core master courses like the University of Reading or the the other type media course in the Hague and this leads to very small cycles circles very small circles very restricted circles and Knowledge necessary for instance for shipping fonts. How do you publish a font usually gets? Limited to these small circles we can find instances like foundries Libre foundries like Vitef or OSP foundry Even though I think it's not fair to talk of a whole Libre type ecosystem because right now This is Google web fonts apparently now. It's called Google fonts. We found yesterday But the thing is it's pretty awesome. It's wonderful that it exists. It's a wonderful effort So with that out of the way it also poses a Bit of an issue with regards to centralization Because everything is there and then you the ecosystem becomes dependent on the actions of a single agent like This latest development when the Google fonts team announced that they will begin showing results for proprietary typeface Which is something that we totally don't agree with. We're not getting into that but then if We have an ecosystem centralized ecosystem with few players instead of a diverse Ecosystem and here we'd like to remind this the point of diversity raised by Chris Kelty in his talk and The idea that the ecosystem will be more stable the more agents there are and this is our Last problem that we think maybe there might be close to solving with Libre type of yeah, this is VTF type foundry and the OSP type foundry So what we think we're missing here is a scene events and institutions that can bring the things that are happening already together and that can help them grow even more and We think that Before if you what we need is more foundries. So if you think about the idea of foundry it evokes this This environment with a space with lots of machines heavy machines and involving lots of costs and work But nowadays if you think what is a foundry it's actually just a website a website where you put funds and people can download them so why not start your own foundry and The only things that you need are a font editor tools for shipping and the website itself One example that really got us thinking about the need for a scene and the advantages of a scene is the Serreria Workshop that we led and that ended up in among other things in the typefaces that you are seen in the LGM signage This came out from these walls which you might have seen also on that side of the building And then we just started developing them Collaboratively sharing knowledge and sowing seeds of something that would be coming So besides the typefaces themselves Which we were truly surprised to find in the LGM Identity which we were not involved in and in the media lab Prado identity, which was the biggest surprise of all besides that We found we were really delighted to find people who attended the workshop here at the LGM and specifically we were talking to Pablo over there who Who was telling us that he and other people just went on using Principles that we showed in the workshop to go on doing more workshops and thinking of how to go on with this and The What we really liked was that they were really into this idea of a Madrid type Libra type scene Which is actually coming together apparently and we're really excited about this and and this is what got us thinking Yeah, we need a porta type scene besides the Madrid type scene. We need a Brussels type scene and we need a London type scene and And when I mean type scene here, I mean Libra type of course Because of course the traditional type scenes are there They're small circles as we said, but and by scene we like this idea of the demo scene for instance this group of enthusiasts with who gather in these really big gatherings or the model train model Conventions and we were thinking yeah, it would be really beautiful if we had this because LGM happens once a year. That's clearly not enough for us because it's also not just about type and So what is stopping us from having this local scene? Well, the thing is that it's easy to start something start a project is always an exciting thing and in the case of a type Face it's fun to draw letters But then when you go into finishing the font and that's the really hard part when you need to deal with all the not so fun things as spacing scurnings packaging the font log the metadata and the documentation so that is That's what is pushing many people to Just getting the drawings that they already have and do a finished thing and putting it out there So we started playing with this idea. Why not do a starter kit something that will make these hard tasks of finishing and shipping easier So just not to promise too much. We're not presenting a starter kit This is an idea we have and we are going to show some baby steps that we have been Working on for that might lead to something like this and we'd like to put it to your appreciation And then we can think together what this Kit actually could be or if it should be at all. So we started with tiny type tools, which is a library that we've been Irregularly Developing which are font forage scripts for hacking type and which made these Publishing shipping and editing tasks a lot easier for us because they're really boring. It's the kind of work that Honestly, I don't think anyone really enjoys the process of Dealing with saving the fonts in different formats publishing them online and so on so Just quickly we have a github repository for this And I have fun convert that simple script that will convert your typeface from any format to any other format Perfect for creating a shipping Ready version of a typeface and this is an example for releasing in two different formats. Then we have Filters FFF filter stands for font forage filters, which then became ttt tiny type tools And font forage has these awesome effects like shadow outline inline and so on which are hidden in the interface Well, not hidden but not you don't have an ad at the at the font forage website Like you can apply shadow effects, but you can and you can actually make Funny things. We'll come back to this So in the command line you can we just made the set of scripts that automatically generates these other Versions like outline versions which in proprietary typefaces usually have to pay for another weight just to have the outline versions With these tools you get them for free And transpacing this was a tool that we made to transplant spacings The thing was we like throwing typefaces. We don't like to space them Spacing them is basically that determining how much space goes in between each character and each specific pair of characters It's a really long job. It's the one that they say that takes years So what we did was a script that gets your font with no spacing at all You just drew the letters and then you just find a similar font with a decent good spacing And then you end up with a font with decent spacing Which is better than nothing and it's better than just shoving it aside and saying yeah someday I will finish it And we all know that won't happen So this is a handy script and it also works with kerning pairs not perfect, but It works for us And by the way every one of these scripts can only be used on Libre fonts And that's something that we kind of make a point of Emphasizing because no you law will allow it to modify and redistribute the proprietary font so Again, we're talking really about specific things about type that respects your freedom And for the website part we have been working and you can see that the commits have been for quite a long time, but Django application Django is a web framework Basically, we want to make a simple Simple system that you can just install in your server and gives you a CMS where you can upload fonts edit their Data and not bother with anything else and then it will give you a nice interface Preview specimens and so on. We are still developing this And if you're interested in this let us know Because we really don't want to be alone in this effort So this would be our Clues to begin thinking how can we provide the tools to build a DIY type foundry, which is what we want because we really want things to happen and so this is a screenshot of the Font foundry that we're launching this afternoon. It's not online yet, but it will soon be Because of some server problems. Yes, and so it's called a ox shark font works We have a Portuguese name and we will have both websites Portuguese and English because we really want to focus on this idea of showcasing what's happening around us in a local scene and So what what was our idea with with this foundry? So going against the someday. I'll finish it. We decided to ask a few friends That we know that they had funds that were not finished and we proposed them that we that they give us the funds We will finish them do the spacing package it and and launch it But for that to happen, they need to agree that it will be released under the open font license So in a way, we're working as Font editors in an editorial kind of way so we take care of editing the font as you edit an article and in exchange We release it in a free In a free with a actually free license And it's also a way for us to make our friends get in touch with the Floss tools the free culture and all these ideas So I'll go through the funds that we're launching very quickly This is a font inspired and a lettering in facades in Porto. It was started in 2004 and It had a lot of different names and we finally finished it and are launching it today then another font that was started three years ago and inspired in accidents accidents grotesque and That was also waiting for spacing and kerning and all the things Le Jerk, which is a typeface by Frank a debut that we got a French typographer We got in touch with because we saw this specimen On his blog that we really liked and he was not going to finish the typeface. So we proposed to finish it for him Then the font for the magazine prop courier Seheria, which we did here in media lab with new weights outline and shadow and Then the color fonts which belong to this jQuery library that we developed about a year ago And that we had to make a pack of multicolored fonts so fonts with variants so that you can use with more than one color, right so our We we just did it also because we have to put our money where our mouth is We want to tell people build your own foundry. So we start ours and and we ask you do better than us do better than this Please because we really want to have a network. We don't want to be the people who release this we want people to get our fonts and Make them better make them worse, maybe and It's actually pretty pretty fun process because you get in touch with wonderful people And you can get them in touch with the principles that we espouse here in this community. So if I'm pretty sure that anyone here Will have some letters that are either drawn in a notebook or designer friends who have them And this would be our challenge and if okay if in your head there is still an issue and I shall conclude About hey, but there is this step that I really don't know how to overcome. We really want to help you here So we really want to go on the discussion. How can we make it easy to start a foundry? How can we make a libero type scene and how can we help you to find the charm of quick brown foxes Thank you So two questions for one of October they will stay in Madrid for Two more weeks because they're part of the interactive us project So if you're in Madrid, there's probably a chance you can speak to them in person I have a question you were mentioning that The release earlier really is that there is the impression that type is stable and it shouldn't Change and it must be finished before it is released I Think in some sense there is a reason for that because if you have a font and you're have Suddenly versions of the same font your documents change Do you have any idea on how to approach that problem or some kind of I think you would need Some sort of versioning within your font Files or whatever Yeah, that's an excellent question. It's also And one we don't have a quick answer for that other than Well versioning a font would be the logical choice and the font for a format actually lends itself really well to versioning and I think yeah, I think this also shows that Version numbering for instance is really important and keeping track of versions In the same way that you do with software and before you launch a backwards and compatible version You make it clear that this will break things and this is probably Something that an author will need to take care with Although on the other hand I don't think because I wouldn't be Defending that this is an absolute premise for a font to be released Otherwise that might lead to exactly the oh, yeah, this detail is missing and I'll take care of that And then the font will be dropped to return it and also this idea that if you put it out there probably someone will be Wanting to give you a hand and help with what's missing Too many questions so Okay What will you do if a whole bunch of people like me start sending you fonts because I would love it if you finished my fonts sure We'll politely ask you to build your own foundry because that's exactly the purpose now You're totally right and we've been thinking about this. Well, what about submissions and On one hand, we don't we don't want to be the dump the dumpster of unfinished fonts We actually will Want to provide the tools so that anyone can actually take this on and it's easier said than done, of course It's an it's still something that will need a lot of thinking of how what kind of tools do you need? But with regards to our own foundry, we actually make a point of us being the ones looking for them Even though feel free to send to send any font But we would argue that We would rather kind of make it easier for people to make to Package their own fonts and having these tools ready so that you don't have so that this question doesn't even pop up because An ideal world would be the one that you just have this Facility of finishing your font available because you have a foundry next to you But again, wonderful question and something that we cannot really deal with at the moment because we would be overwhelmed if we had to Finish but that's also a nice challenge. So by all means again send us your fonts and we will Try to figure out a quick way to deal with all of them, I guess Okay, thank you very much a big applause for one of our two