The basics to make Burmese font: concept, techniques, software skills and typography knowledge are tailored to give interested individuals in Myanmar font making Course, organized by Goethe-Institut Myanmar and Talking Types designers. The course was led by experienced local type designers Ko Zin Bo and Ko Htun Naung, and supported by Ko Htet Aung Khine.
Course Overview
The course spanned two months, running every Saturday, and covered both theoretical and practical aspects of type design.It was designed for beginners, offering them a step-by-step approach to understanding the intricacies of font creation, from fundamentals to concept, standards and digital rendering. Eight participants completed this intensive course.
The curriculum included:
Designer Ko Zin Bo's Lessons:
- What is Typography
- Type Classification
- Legibility and Readability
- Stroke and Contrast
- Typeface vs Font
- Body Text vs Display
Designer Ko Htun Naung's Lessons:
- Interface and Tools
- Setting your Metrics
- Starting the First Letter Frame
- Create Myanmar Alphabet
- Ligatures and Alternatives
- Spacing and Kerning
- Font Info and Exporting
- Error & Problem Solving
Participants' Journey and Motivation
The course attracted a diverse group of individuals, ranging from graphic designers to type enthusiasts. The well selected 8 participants also demonstrated significant improvement, gaining confidence in their technical skills and creativity.
Trainer’s Notes and Reflections
Designer Htun Naung
“In the course, we provide practical training on font design software, explaining structure and proportions in detail. We also assign homework and offer feedback and critiques on letter designs. The trainees are proficient in using software tools and demonstrate creativity in their letterform designs.
In future sessions, we should place more emphasis on teaching kerning and metrics so that students can gain a deeper understanding of these concepts.”
Designer Zin Bo
“This course was created to bring more systematic approaches to typography, which is much needed in the field of Myanmar graphic design, and to nurture type designers who can develop better Myanmar typefaces. I am very pleased to see the participants’ enthusiasm and dedication to learning.
We, as trainers, have also learned a lot from their needs, curiosities, and the challenges they face.”
Designer Htet Aung Khine
“Thanks to the efforts of Ko Zin Bo and Ko Htun Naung, as well as the dedication of the trainees, I had the opportunity to gain teaching experience. Additionally, I learned about the challenges posed by the differences in type design software across Windows OS systems.”
Lessons Learned and Future Aspirations
In designing typefaces, we must balance practicality with visual appeal. When creating a font, the width, weight, and detailed adjustments of optical elements are extremely important. A font’s main responsibility is to ensure a smooth reading experience and to deliver content efficiently, so every detail is carefully considered.
Therefore, fonts should be created with their specific purpose and requirements in mind. Beyond artistic appeal, fonts must be practically versatile and able to maintain beauty across various shapes and transformations. We also ensure that fonts are functional and successful on all platforms.
When we began creating Myanmar typefaces, we noticed a lack of precision and standards related to Myanmar typography. Although the Burmese script emerged around the 11th century AD and moveable type were used after the 17th century, it’s difficult to trace the exact forms and structures of the characters that were used. In the 1980s, Burmese ASCII fonts were introduced, and by 2015, Unicode fonts were available. However, it took us a long time to solve issues with keyboard layouts, scripts, and standards. As a result, the typographic system has remained underdeveloped.
Many of the typefaces still in use today are based on designs originally intended for signage and printing. Because of this, we need to put more effort into studying and developing a more systematic approach to Myanmar typography and type design. Recently, we’ve started to define essential type anatomy standards for Myanmar typography. Moving forward, we will continue to study the historical aspects of type design, work on typeface classification, and establish more practical and fundamental standards for typeface usage.