There is something fundamentally wrong with the way typography is taught. Graphic design curricula seem to dismiss the value of typography within design education, and instructors virtually abandon pupils as they attempt to navigate through the process. Students are taught—incorrectly—that typography is a sideline skill, rather than part of the core of the graphic design profession. Typographic knowledge and wisdom should be attained through a comprehensive approach to visual and verbal communication. In most educational institutions, however, students try to find the easy way out, usually by asking which book on typography they should read so type will instantly make sense. While educators cannot make learning typography any quicker or easier, they can help students learn the craft in a way that will encourage investigation within a greater realm of communication.

In 1971 James Craig dedicated the first edition of his book Designing With Type to “every student who had to take typography and hated it.” This candid statement was toned down in the fourth edition to “every student who had to take typography and learned to love it.” The current, fifth edition is simply “dedicated to a new generation of graphic designers.” It is disappointing to see how Craig’s powerful statement has eroded when, nearly 40 years and numerous technological advances later, his original assertion still holds. Students continue to dislike their typography classes. The problem is that this is more a failing of the teaching and curricula than of the students.

In the majority of graphic design educational programs, typography is still taught as a linear process with a primarily aesthetic goal, and not as a communication method that utilizes a gathering of related subjects and methodologies. Since typography could be viewed as a thick slice of a layered cake that includes sociology, linguistics, psychology, aesthetics and much more, no single approach can be relevant.

A POSITIVE REACTION
While I had long harbored a desire to change how typography is taught, I wanted even more to change how typography is learned—and so began Type Camp. Type Camp aims to educate with the understanding that there is no single approach that applies to everything. To accomplish this, Type Camp needs to be flexible and relaxing and, at the same time, invigorating and interesting. And it really has to feel like camp.

Type Camp brings students and instructors back to a childhood summer camp environment where they are encouraged to explore physically and mentally while escaping the workaday world … but it’s also about just having fun. Type Camp has to be the antithesis of the environment that design schools have become. It must provide an atmosphere that seeks experimentation—not the typical school-based goal of perfection that leaves no room for investigation and exploration. The first Type Camp, held in the summer of 2007 on Galiano Island, off the coast of Vancouver, B.C., met all of these goals.

FREEDOM OF (TYPOGRAPHIC) CHOICE
Type Camp can be whatever the camper needs it to be. It can be rigid, filled with close guidance and detailed critique provided by instructors, or it can be days of experimentation with just helpful hints and suggestions. Type Camp’s overreaching goal is to be an enriching experience full of new ideas and subject matter. It can even be quite silly, with late-night games of typographic charades to act out tricky terms such as “boustrophedon,” “em dash” and “glyph.”

Of course, Type Camp is also a connector, with campers making friends and professional associations that last far beyond the days spent on the island. One of the constants of Type Camp Galiano is that it is beautiful, filled with walks along the island’s mountain ridges and scenic beaches. At its core, however, Type Camp is more than just an enjoyable annual event; it is a reaction.

TYPE CAMP TRAVELS TO LONDON
Last year the Galiano camp was supplemented with Type Camp London. The latter event featured five days of modern and historical typographic treasure hunting, concluding with the annual Typography Conference at the famous St. Bride Library. The vast collections at the St. Bride Library cover all aspects of printing—paper and binding, graphic design, typography, typefaces and calligraphy. A bonus was the opportunity for the London students to bypass the customary study of history-book reproductions by experiencing the original artifacts at the St. Bride Library. This allowed the campers to decide for themselves where they (and their heroes) fall within the continuum of graphic communication.

DIVERSITY & CHANGE
Type Camp will never be the same experience twice. The projects and events of 2007 will not be repeated in 2008. One reason why is that instructors and campers change every year. Campers are kept to low numbers so they can best explore their ideas with as much—or as little—guidance as they wish. Instructors have varied educational backgrounds and differing professional approaches, the more divergent the better.

At the two events held last year, attendees came from Canada, the U.S., Norway and China. They ranged from seasoned professionals with over 20 years of experience to junior designers still considering their future profession. Participants experimented and explored, succeeded and failed—all while discovering (or rediscovering) a passion for typography.

MORE CAMPS IN 2008
In 2008, there will be four separate Type Camps—and if interest requires, additional specialized short-term and weeklong events will be organized. An example is Type Camp Information Design, an effort to make the rapidly emerging discipline of Information Design more accessible to students and design instructors. The traveling aspect of the camp will be expanded, with a Type Camp India complementing another session of Type Camp London. Type Camp India will be a two-week design studio where students will be immersed in the rich typographic culture of Southern India. This camp will explore the visual design of information within a cultural context. It’s a powerful example of how Type Camp can help design and typography students gain access to vast and awe-inspiring resources in settings beyond the school library or city gallery.

PART OF A GREATER WHOLE
Type Camp is just one response to a greater need for the reform of typographic education. Graphic design programs must rethink the integration of all aspects of the typographic profession into their curricula. Until this happens, there will always be a need for Type Camp. It is my hope, however, that Type Camp will move beyond its founding as a reaction to lackluster typographic educational approaches and become a catalyst for every design student to learn not only what is, but what could be.

www.typecamp.org