C
ome and see the graduation projects of our students. Each year, several dozen students complete our yearly programmes, and at this exhibition they present their graduation work.
The students of this year’s Expert Class Type Design all produced a contemporary type family suitable for a wide range of applications – such as editorial, branding and packaging. They were tasked with designing and developing an expanded typeface family exploring not only roman but italic and bold styles as well.
The completed book design projects vary in approach – from commercial to artistic, but in every case the creativity is striking!
Original text typefaces from the Expert Class Type Design
In the English-language Expert Class, students from ten different countries spent eight months developing an extensive type family, for use in a wide range of graphic applications. The designs focus on text typefaces inspired by historical examples but with the aim to develop something fresh and new. Students devote significant time to all stages of the design process from sketching and drawing to digitising and manufacture.
This past year, the course has been led by renowned British type designer Jeremy Tankard. Step by step, the group was introduced to the craft’s intricacies. Students learn to trust their ability to sketch letters before moving to the computer to develop their ideas digitally. The course not only discusses the history of type design and its changing technologies, but also the practical requirements of designing type today, with hands-on training in industry standard software such as Glyphs.app and RMX Tools.
Some of the type designs presented include:
- a contemporary corporate typeface for the art academy where our Polish students work
- an improvement of Intertype Ideal (1928), originally designed for The New York Times, now better suited to multilingual typesetting
- a strong typeface for dictionaries, inspired by Monotype Modern Wide
- a historical interpretation of 16th-century Renaissance types, with an italic in a Baroque style
- a refined interpretation of a proto-roman from 1480, used by 40 printers in Venice, now extended with italic and bold variants
- a text face inspired by 1970s radio amateur magazines, designed for complex kerning pairs and accent combinations
- a playful interpretation of the calligraphic work of Maria Strick (1577–1639), of whom four writing manuals survive, remarkable given the limited access women had to education at the time
Creative book design
The Saturday programme of the Plantin Institute of Typography provides, within one academic year, all the knowledge and skills needed to design books, whether self-published or for a publisher. This year, the selected books are more diverse than ever; from photo books and a vegan cookbook to artists’ books, short story collections and poetry volumes. Students choose their own graduation project but consistently collaborate with an external partner to realise their design. This year, instead of display cases with copies kept behind glass, you’ll find well-designed presentations and physical dummies you can browse and enjoy.
Some of the book designs on show include:
- artist books in collaboration with Bianca Baldi, Leto Erin Keunen, and Lou De Smedt
- books about the archives of Paul Ibou and Julian Key, preserved by the Letterenhuis
- a photo book featuring the work of concert photographer Senne Houben, created with direct access to his archive
- a meta-design: an instruction manual on self-publishing photo books
- a sustainable architecture book
- a book on edible bouquets from a picking garden, illustrated with woodcuts from the collection of the Museum Plantin-Moretus
- a book on an unusual archive of everyday photographs taken by Congolese members of Amicale des Marins Congolais
- a collection of stories by Hungarians who fled to the Netherlands after the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, brought up-to-date with recent interviews
Practical information
- From 27 July to 18 September 2026
- Letterenhuis, Minderbroedersstraat 22, 2000 Antwerp
- Weekdays from 10 am to 6 pm. Free admission
- Also open during Museumnacht Antwerp (1 August, 7 pm – 1 am, only with Museumnacht ticket)
