First Linotype Font Techology Forum

Hermann Zapf (one of the best-known font designers). He designed classics such as Optima, Palatino and the modern bestseller Zapfino. He gave a high-profile lecture on quality in font design, which was greeted with rapturous applause by those who attended.

Yuri Yarmola and Kyrill Murzin (software developers, Fontlab Ltd., Russia) presented the latest developments in their FONTLAB 4.0x beta font development software. The planned release of Fontlab 4.0 in the middle of this year will give a large group of font designers their first opportunity to create OpenType fonts in a convenient development environment.

Harold Grey (Adobe Systems Inc., USA, Product and Market Development Manager) presented the new OpenType font format.

Thomas Phinney and David Lemon (both from Adobe Systems Inc., USA) explained the creative and technical possibilities for creating Opentype fonts with the Adobe Font Development Kit (FDK).

Thomas Caldwell, representing Linotype, informed participants about Linotype’s future font development strategy and Milo Ivir gave the font designers valuable tips on creating better quality fonts using simple means.

Peter Lofting (Apple Computer Inc., USA) detailed the latest developments in Apple Inc.’s digital fonts and the font projects that have just been completed to accompany the release of its new OS X operating system. One of these is Linotype Zapfino in Apple’s own AAT font format.

Professor Lucas de Groth (LucasFonts, Berlin) presented his research on simplified, systematic kerning for digital fonts.

Mike Duggan and Greg Hitchcock (both from Microsoft Corp., USA) explained technical and legal aspects of the eBook format and the theory and practical uses of ClerarType, whose innovative anti-aliasing functionality has contributed to the greater legibility of fonts on modern flat screens. Meanwhile, ClearType has become a standard component of Microsoft’s own eBook reader.

Laurence Penney (MyFonts.com, UK) trained designers in methods of optimizing TrueType fonts for the screen. (Technical term = hinting)

John Hudson and Ross Mills (both from Tiro Typeworks, Canada) are proven font tool experts with Fontlab 4.0 and Microsoft VOLT. They used practical examples to give a wide-ranging overview of OpenType’s technical and creative possibilities.