“TypeCooker is a tool for generating type-drawing exercises. The system creates a random list of requirements for a typeface, but with relevant criteria. Each exercise will contain different rules. That does not necessarily result in a nice, pretty or useful design, but it will always be possible to design something to fit the problem.”, according to the TypeCooker website.
On Friday participants of the workshop were able to draw according to the recipes they picked and if they were brave enough, they could hand in their results to the chefs themselves – being prepared for a hardboiled critique the next day.
During this fun hour the two professors from the Royal Academy in the Hague discussed as many drawings as possible and brought great entertainment to the crowd. With markers, scissors and tipp-ex they improved or deconstructed the sketches with charming comments that made the audience frequently burst out into laughter. Due to mysterious and secret criteria, the award winners got elected and rewarded with special prices, that should help them to overwork their half baked drawings.Erik van Blokland
Type Designer, Programmer (The Hague)
Erik van Blokland is Co-Developer of robofab and UFO. He works as Type Designer and programmer and he teaches at Type & Media at the KABK in The Hague.
Paul van der Laan
Type Designer, Typographer (The Hague)
Paul van der Laan lives and works in The Hague and is founding partner of Bold Monday typefoundry. He is also staff member of the KABK Type & Media masters course in type design. He has designed a diverse collection of typefaces including Oskar, Flex, Feisar, and a variety of custom fonts for worldwide clients such as Audi, USA Today, General Electric, NBCUniversal and Rijksmuseum Amsterdam.
/JR