By Roza Melkumyan
Special to the Mirror-Spectator
YEREVAN — On the evening of Thursday, September 2, typography enthusiasts and newcomers to the artform alike gathered in the courtyard of Keerk & Co cafe for Yerevan’s very first Type Thursday event.
For those who don’t know (and I definitely didn’t know), Type Thursday is a monthly meeting for people who love letterforms, graphic forms of letters that are either written or rendered in a particular type font. Letterforms can be found just about everywhere, from the dropdown list of fonts in your Microsoft Word toolbar to nametags to storefront signs to the words and letters that make up a product’s branding.
The typical Type Thursday begins and ends with social time and drinks for members of the community. But the real fun starts with an hour of Type Crit, a moderated group critique of up to three projects-in-progress that involve letterform design. As an attendee, you are encouraged to ask questions and give constructive feedback, but you are also welcome to simply sit back and listen. Often, the discussion is moderated by a Type Thursday dialogue lead who has extensive experience in letterform creation and usage.
Participants are encouraged to submit any and all things typographic to the discussion that might benefit from the feedback of type designers and educators. You could present sketches of some lettering you came up with, type used in advertising or posters, or typeface – a group of characters, letters, and numbers that share the same design, such as the Times typeface family, which includes the Times New Roman font.