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Typography Fundamentals

DESIGN X450.9

40710
Delivery Options Online

The Typography Fundamentals course will provide students with a broad understanding of contemporary typography and how to make intelligent, confident typographic design decisions. It is intended to help students develop a professional grasp on the craft of typography and the application of professional processes to content design. It will consider technology, across multiple media. You will receive an overview of the evolution of typography in both forms and printing technologies and you will also gain industry knowledge and printing standards.

Some of the topics you will learn through this class are: grid systems, (column, manuscript and modular). Swiss typography, type classifications which is fundamental to understand and setup typography and type anatomy. Learn how letterpress works and know that it is still highly used in 2021. Gain skills in designing book layouts, and get a grasp of web type, the ideal type set up for websites and applications as well as Google fonts.

By the end of this class, you will be able to identify general typeface and font families, examine and analyze individual letterforms and typefaces, develop micro and macro-typographic analytical abilities, create basic letterform designs, display knowledge of typographic sequencing and progression, and produce great typographic layouts.

Get a glimpse of what our former student Ankita Mantri designed for this course. See some samples of hand-lettering digitized by former student Ian Erlich and be ready for the world of expressive typography by breaking the type rules after you learn them.

Prerequisites:

Working knowledge of InDesign as you will be required to use this software for your project(s).

Course Outline

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Course Learning Objectives

University of California ,Berkeley, Extension designs the best possible online learning experience for you with an unparalleled Typography Fundamentals syllabus to prepare you with the skills needed and a quality portfolio to become a confident design professional.

  • Identify general font families
  • Examine and analyze individual letterforms
  • Verbally articulate typographic attributes and concepts
  • Develop micro- and macro-typographic analytical abilities
  • Create and refine basic letterform designs
  • Display knowledge of typographic sequencing and progression
  • Create even and complimentary texture with type
  • Apply typographic and design principles to projects
  • Establish effective typographic hierarchies
  • Identify historical type classifications
  • Write and understand type specifications
  • Create optically space display type
  • Develop creative typographic design solutions
  • Understand how text is used via a grid system
  • Demonstrate the visual and functional differences between display and text typography

What You'll Learn

Students will design pieces of varying formats using typography alone and in combination with photographic images and illustrations. For each project, students will design for both print and digital delivery. Students will also learn technical aspects of type specification. They will learn to balance aesthetic and technical considerations and to be creative while working within given constraints.

  • Context within typefaces
  • Individual letterform structure
  • Typographic vocabulary
  • Letterform structure
  • Contextual design concepts (applicable to typographic concerns)
  • Typographic application
  • Readability
  • Legibility
  • Typographic layout
  • Type classification
  • Type essential
  • Type anatomy
  • Typesetting
  • Grid systems
  • Creating emphasis with type
  • Typographic hierarchy
  • Modern grammar and punctuation
  • Sequencing
  • Graphic design and typographic layout
  • Book structure
  • Book design

How You'll Learn

We are online! All of the design classes are conducted remotely including: video classes, mentor-led learning and peer-to-peer support through our student online platform called Canvas. 

  • Lectures
  • Reading assignments
  • Quizzes at instructor’s discretion
  • Small-group activities
  • Homework assignments
  • Capstone project

Is This Course Right for You?

The Typography Fundamentals class is intended for anyone willing to learn about typography and how it works for professional layouts in graphic design or visual design. Any person who handles content design, marketing and/or social media can benefit from this course. Our experienced instructor provides practical Information in Typography Fundamental skills and monitors your development along with peer-to-peer support on our student online platform.


Other classes to be considered: Photoshop, Web Design With HTML5 and CSS3

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Sections

Section 034

Sep 06 to Nov 22

Type: Live Online

Instructor:

  • Shelley Gruendler

Cost: $1,040.00

See section 034 Details

Type Live Online

Days

Sa

Time

9:00AM to 12:00PM Pacific Time

Dates

Sep 06, 2025 to Nov 22, 2025

Location

Live Online

Schedule and Location

View Details

Instructional Hours

36.00

Location

Live Online

Delivery Options

Online

Available for Credit

2 semester units

Section Notes

Course meets from Sept 6 to Nov 22.

Type Live Online

Access classroom-style interactive learning from anywhere in the world! Attend scheduled online sessions with your instructor and classmates in addition to completing your coursework.

Live Online format allows you to take classes from anywhere with an internet connection. Learn more about this format.

While this course is entry level and suitable for people from any discipline, it requires a working knowledge of InDesign, do not enroll if you don't know InDesign.

Equipment:

  • Apple MacBook or PC
    • 8 to 16GB RAM

Software: InDesign and Illustrator, student discount https://www.adobe.com/creativecloud/buy/students.html 

Fall 2025 enrollment opens on June 16!

This course applies to the following programs:

Professional Program in Graphic Design

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Required Courses

  • Visual Design Principles
  • Illustrator I
  • InDesign
  • Typography Fundamentals
  • Photoshop I
  • Web Design With HTML5 and CSS3
  • Graphic and Web Design Portfolio

Courses for Further Advancement

  • Essentials of Motion Graphics
  • Adobe Digital Tools
  • Diagramming and Prototyping for UX
  • Illustrating Children's Books
  • Essentials of User Experience (UX) Design
  • User-Interface (UI) Design
  • Branding

Learn More About This Program

Professional Program in User Experience (UX) Design

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Required Courses

  • Essentials of User Experience (UX) Design
  • Diagramming and Prototyping for UX
  • Visual Design Principles
  • User Research for UX
  • Information Architecture (IA) and Content Strategy
  • User-Interface (UI) Design

Electives

  • UX Design Portfolio
  • Qualitative Research: Design, Implementation and Methods
  • Quantitative UX Metrics and Research
  • Accessibility in UX Design
  • Web Design With HTML5 and CSS3
  • Typography Fundamentals
  • Illustrator I
  • Photoshop I
  • InDesign
  • Branding

Learn More About This Program

Notes

Departmental contact: extension-graphicdesign@berkeley.edu


Instructional Types

Live Online
Live Online courses provide an interactive learning experience with scheduled synchronous online sessions held via Zoom video conferencing (Pacific Time). Learn more about the Live Online format.
Online, Start Anytime
Continuous enrollment course begins when you enroll. You have a minimum of 90 days and a maximum of 180 days to complete the course.
Online, Fixed Date
Enroll in this course by its start date and complete it by its specified end date. There are no live sessions, but plenty of opportunities to collaborate with your classmates and instructor.
Classroom
Take classes in-person at one of our buildings or partner locations.

English Language Proficiency Requirements

All of our courses are taught in English. If English is not your first language, please use the following test scores as guides in order to be successful:

  • TOEFL: 90
  • IELTS Academic Format: 7
  • DAAD: C1
  • TEM-4 or TEM-8: Level 70
  • Duolingo: 125

Note: You do not need to submit test scores.

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Shelley Gruendler

Dr. Shelley Gruendler, the founder of TypeCamp.org, is a typographer, designer and educator who teaches, lectures and publishes internationally on typography and design. She holds a Ph.D. and an M.A. in the history and theory of typography and graphic communication from the University of Reading, England and a Bachelor of Environmental Design in Graphic Design from North Carolina State University.

Shelley has presented at TypoBerlin, ATypI, TypeCon, How, AdobeMAX, and TEDx; has published articles in the Adobe Create blog, the Adobe Typekit blog, 365 Typo, Communication Arts, How, Slanted, and Step; and has judged international typography for Communication Arts, visual communication for Core77 and book design for the Alcuin Society. Both Shelley and Beatrice Warde are extremely proud to be members of the Alphabettes.

DESIGN X450.9 - 034 - Typography Fundamentals

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