Differing Accents – First International Typographic and Lettering Conference of this kind at Prague College. From June 11 through June 14, 2012 at Prague College, Prague 2 –Vinohrady.

Prague College, in partnership with a British association uniting lettering professionals, Letter Exchange, and its partnering educational institution, Teesside University, will hold a four-day International Typographic and
Lettering Conference.

The conference will bring together renowned speakers from the UK and the Czech Republic. The UK speakers are mainly drawn from Letter Exchange, a UK-based organisation of professional practitioners covering the full range of lettering disciplines, from typography and type design to calligraphy and letter cutting. The
Czech speakers are drawn from a variety of academic backgrounds, graphic and typographic professional practice.

The themes and topics will be varied, but the underlying focus will be on traditional typographic and lettering practices from the past, the present, and looking to the future, as well as the underlying aspects of type as a craft. Topics will include a talk on the famous Czechoslovak type designer, Oldřich Menhart, the theory of
information flow from Ladislav Sutnar, the legibility, proportions and semiotics of Italian medieval manuscripts, national type identity and wayfinding systems, European diacritics, and the influence of Latraset among other interesting areas of typography and lettering. There will also be workshops and demonstrations from various practitioners, including stone letter carving, calligraphy, typeface design and early graffiti from the 1980’s.

Speakers presenting at the conference will include such names as Richard Kindersley, Veronika Burian, Stephen Raw, Oliver Linke, Colin Brignall, Iva Knobloch, Dave Farey, Filip Blažek, Errol Donald, and Mark Noad among other interesting speakers.

Student involvement and participation in its various workshops are integral to the project’s aims. The theme of the conference was designed by a Prague College student of the Higher National Diploma in Graphic Design, and it was voted on by Prague College’s students, faculty and staff as the winning design. The conference
is open to delegates from the UK and Czech Republic, students and members of the general public. The conference will require registration on Prague College’s website but will be free of charge. Prague College will also publish a special edition of the Research Bulletin issued by CRIS (Centre for Research and Interdisciplinary Studies) focusing on the speakers’ themes, academic and student related research and design projects.

“Geometry can produce legible letters, but art alone makes them beautiful.”
Paul Standard

Letter Exchange is an association uniting lettering professionals dedicated to preserving, promoting and developing expertise in the lettering arts. Its members offer services in calligraphy, letter cutting, design for print and web, typography, font creation, book design, signage, architectural lettering and lettering in other media, such as for film and TV.

Prague College is a British university in Prague offering undergraduate and graduate programmes in three schools: School of Business, School of Art & Design and School of IT & Computing. Prague College degree programmes are taught in cooperation with Teesside University on the bachelor and master levels and Higher
National diplomas are approved, accredited and externally verified by Edexcel.

http://www.letterexchange.org/about-us/events/differing-accents-conference.html