Start with the Basics of Font Making
Draw, space, and export your first font, with zero prior experience needed.
✓ Beginner-friendly videos
✓ Start now, at your own pace
✓ Learn the basics in 75 min.
✓ Improve your fonts
$79
New to font making?
This mini-course is your perfect first step. In this accessible video course, you’ll get a hands-on introduction to Glyphs, your new favorite Mac-based font making software.
Draw your first letters with the Pen Tool
Get hands-on with Bézier curves and the Pen Tool so that you can start drawing your first couple of clean, professional-looking letters. You’ll learn essential techniques for smooth curves, path directions, and editing so your letterforms are both precise and visually appealing.
Add your first accents
Learn how to add accents so your font supports more languages and feels complete. You’ll discover how Glyphs simplifies accented characters with the help of components and anchors for a more inclusive and polished typeface.
Work with repeating shapes
Components are the beating heart of repeating shapes like serifs, so to save time and streamline your workflow, you’ll learn to rethink the way you construct your letterforms that share similar parts.
Learn all about spacing
Understanding ‘sidebearings’ and spacing principles allows you to let your letters sit beautifully next to each other. You’ll learn to adjust spacing by eye and test your characters in words so your font reads smoothly and rhythmically.
And of course type with your first font
Learn to generate and install a test font on your computer so that you can use it and update it in real-world design tools like Illustrator or InDesign, and see your work come to life.
This course is for you if:
You’ve never opened Glyphs but want to try it out
You want to take the Script Fonts Course or the True Italics Course but have never worked with Glyphs
You want to get started without feeling overwhelmed
What you’ll need:
A Mac with Glyphs installed (you can use the free 30 days trial!)
Absolutely no prior experience needed
A bit of curiosity and 75 minutes of focused time
By the end of this course, you’ll have:
Drawn your first basic Serif and Sans Serif letters
Learned how to space them so they look good together
Added your first accented characters for multiple languages
Exported a real, working font you can type with
The confidence to keep learning, experimenting, and creating fonts
The Basic skills to take the True Italics Course, or the Script Fonts Course.
Want to make fonts with multiple weights?
The mini-course offers a good introduction to using Glyphs and creating simple fonts, it serves as a the perfect base for taking the Script Fonts Course, or the True Italics Course but it does NOT cover topics like:
Drawing of all upper- and lowercase letterforms, punctuation
Western European diacritics
Advanced components like Rounded corners, Ink traps, Segment components
Multiple weights like Light and Extra Bold and variable fonts,
Helpful plugins and scripts
OpenType features like ligatures and discretionary ligatures
Kerning, spacing groups, kerning pairs, and tips and techniques to achieve professional-level fonts.
If you're aiming to develop a more complex and versatile typeface, or wish to deepen your understanding of font design, the Font Making Course provides the comprehensive instruction needed to advance your skills. + You can ask me anything along the way in the course modules.
Hi, my name is Viktor
I’ve taught more than a thousand creatives how to build fonts from scratch and I know how overwhelming it can feel at the beginning. That’s why this course is short, clear, and focused on just what you need to get started. No fluff. No steep learning curve. Just small wins and simple tools to get you moving.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Yes. Once you’re enrolled, you have the flexibility to start at your own pace, whether that’s next week, a few months down the road or even next year.
I want the courses to fit into your schedule, not the other way around.
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No. You don’t need to purchase both. The Glyphs Basics mini-course covers the basics of the full Font Making Course, though everything is newly recorded, so it’s not the same videos, but there’s an overlap in what you learn.
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You’ll get full access to all videos, plus the guidebook. No need to wait for new content to appear, you can dive right in!
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No, this mini course is fully self-paced and designed to be easy to follow without additional support. All the resources you need are included in the course content. If you're looking for guided help or feedback, we recommend checking out our full courses that include instructor support.
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Yes! Like all of our courses, this one is 100% online. You can learn at your own pace, on your own schedule, from anywhere in the world. Stuck on a technique? No problem, just scroll back, rewatch a lesson, and pick it up again whenever you’re ready.
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Yes. This mini-course is specifically made beginner-friendly to help you draw, space, and export your first characters, with zero prior experience needed.
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To follow this course, you’ll need to install either Glyphs 3 or Glyphs Mini. I recommend using Glyphs 3. It handles components more smoothly, and gives you access to more advanced features down the line.
Curious about the differences between the two? Check out this blog post. You can also try Glyphs 3 for free with their 30-day trial, available on the official website.
If Glyphs 3 isn’t within your budget, Glyphs Mini is still a great option. You’ll just need to adapt some of the techniques, and the interface may look a little different from what you see in the course videos.
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Let’s be honest, “lifetime access” is a bit of a stretch. You’ll have guaranteed access to the course materials for at least 5 years, or as long as the content remains relevant to the current version of the Glyphs software. For full details, please check our Refund and Cancellation policy.
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While this Glyphs Basics Mini-Course offers a solid introduction to using Glyphs and creating simple fonts, it does not cover several advanced topics that are included in the full Font Making Course. These advanced topics include:
Drawing of all upper- and lowercase letterforms, punctuation, Western European diacritics, advanced components like rounded corners, ink traps, segment components, and cap components, multiple weights like Light and Extra Bold and variable fonts, helpful plugins and scripts, OpenType features like ligatures and discretionary ligatures, kerning, spacing groups, kerning pairs, and tips snd techniques to achieve professional-level fonts.
If you're aiming to develop a more complex and versatile typeface, or wish to deepen your understanding of font design, the Font Making Course provides the comprehensive instruction needed to advance your skills.
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The price is shown without VAT because some customers (e.g., businesses) can reclaim VAT, and VAT rates vary by country. The total price, including VAT, will be shown at checkout based on your location. Please fill in your Business Vat ID upon checkout.
Any additional questions? Feel free to email us at info@typedesignclass.com
Start Today: Learn the Basics of Font Making
Draw, space, and export your first font, with zero prior experience needed.
✓ Beginner-friendly videos
✓ Start now, at your own pace
✓ Learn the basics in 75 min.
✓ Improve your fonts