Hours of work can yield beautiful type results, but what dark passenger may join a type designer during his or her year/s of hard work? Cancer? Probably. Reemergence of Asbergers? Definitely. Carpal tunnel? Most certainly.
So while working for the next two months, please remember to take breaks, walk around and stretch. For your health and the health of your growing young typeface. She won’t sell herself!

Due to the undergraduate exams, the MATD group has been forced into a mass exodus from the studio in which they sometimes work. The cozy Nightingale room, airy Tschichold room, and the library have become new homes for the typographic diaspora.

Gunnar and Erin joyously work away in their new studio, AKA Cafe Libro.

Yesterday was a day of grilled meat, mojitos, reluctant buses, and type talk; the MATD barbecue at Gerry’s house in beautiful Wokingham (if I misused a semi-colon there, too bad, I don’t want to hear about it). Anyway, the weather held out and in the end, everyone had a great time.

The mysterious Greek juice of Lord Gerrington.

Or so some say. Tom came and talked to us today about his methods in designing type—historical research, creativity, and how to rework and expand others’ type families. Here he is reviewing Gunnar’s typeface.

While strolling the streets of Amsterdam, we came across the Spikes & More shoe store. The store’s logo contains quasi-display lettering that bears a striking resemblance to the logo of the Edmonton Oilers hockey club, in Alberta, Canada, which has been in use for nearly 40 years.

There is a slight resemblance here.

Verdict = Originality FAIL.

The majority of us have returned to the British Empire. A few are still stranded in various countries (Israel and India) due to volcanic issues.

A box of Empire Matches, from yesterday's Michael Twyman packaging lecture.

We are currently in Amsterdam, having just completed a great evening with this year’s team alongside some alumni. Earlier today we visited The Hague’s Museum van het Boek, then returned to Amsterdam to enjoy works by Jan van Krimpen and Jan van de Velde at the easy-to-pronounce Universiteitsbibliotheek van Amsterdam. A visit to Nijhof & Lee Bookstore was fantastic, and some students were lucky enough to have seen the second floor.

Yesterday we all dined Chez Unger in beautiful Bussum. Gerard and Marjan were fantastic hosts and the food was great. The group returned to Amsterdam with full bellies and an increased appreciation of rabbits and their cunning ways. Some returned to lovely accommodations, and some returned to Hotel Brian.

Earlier in the week, we spent two days in Antwerp, Belgium, at the fantastic Plantin-Moretus Museum where we were given some fantastic demos by Guy Hutsebaut.

Tomorrow, we’re off to sunny Enschede. It’s been a great trip, with a terrific group and tons of amazing type.

As you may or may not have noticed, most of us in this year’s MATD program have been tweeting incessantly, yet neglecting the Emayteedee blog. No more.

Monotype’s Fonts.com website features an article about the two main programs for teaching typeface design – University of Reading and the KABK in den Haag.