Steve Jobs would probably watch this Today at Apple event

A really interesting event on typography from Apple

Apple’s retail stores have had to change their approach, and this means some really fantastic free Today At Apple sessions have been available across the pandemic. The company’s event tonight is particularly interesting – I think Steve Jobs himself would have tuned in.

Make type talk

The reason I think Jobs would have been interested is that it is all about fonts.

The one thing college dropout Jobs was enthusiastic about was calligraphy, and this is why the Mac put type at the center of the original computing experience.

“I learned about serif and sans-serif typefaces, about varying the amount of space between different letter combinations, about what makes great typography great. It was beautiful, historical, artistically subtle in a way that science can’t capture, and I found it fascinating,” said Jobs during his famed Stanford University Commencement speech (below).

The event tonight will see award-winning designer, Caterina Bianchini of Studio Nari explain how to make typefaces talk.

[Also read: 6 things you never knew about Apple retail]

Looking to the year ahead, she said: “I am hopeful for a year filled with positivity, even if that energy only comes from putting a difficult year behind us. If we can at least try and channel this newfound resilience and strength, and apply it positively throughout everyday life, I think we’re in for a much better 2021.”

Bianchini has worked with big clients, including Apple Music, Nike, Vogue and Selfridges.

What you’ll learn

The talk will cover topics including:

• How typographers embed emotion into their designs.
• The importance of shape and colour in letterforms.
• You’ll then get hands-on to create an original poster composition, using iPad and the Procreate app.

This is part of a series of free sessions designed to inspire creativity in photography, art, design, coding, music and more from Apple and design and art publisher, It’s Nice That.

It’s Nice That also offers a huge collection of articles, advice and other resources that might be of interest to creatives – take a look.

How to take part

The global session runs between 6.30pm-8pm (GMT) 2:30pm-4pm EDT and 12am-1.30am IST. This session will be presented in English and a British Sign Language interpreter will be present.

To join, you will need a computer, laptop, mobile or tablet device; a stable internet connection; and the Cisco Webex Meetings app.

This is just one of a wide number of interesting creative sessions into April.

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