Üsküdar Üniversitesi Faculty of Communication Visual Communication Department organized the event “Typography Talks, Typography 101: Everything You Need to Know About Fonts”. Designer-Typographer Mehmet Gözetlik was the speaker of the event. Gözetlik shared important information about typography and typography education with the students who attended.
“Typography Has Superheroes and Villains”
Gözetlik emphasized that language is one of the most important elements in learning typography; “If you want to learn typography, you must learn a language. Typography also has its superheroes and villains. In its simplest definition, a person endowed with typographic abilities and superhuman typographic powers is a typographic superhero. These superheroes fight against their enemies in the world of typography. The enemies in the world of typography are the usual suspects. Impact, Papyrus – an overly used font, typefaces, font faces – Papyrus and a program called Papyrus Watch are among the most troublesome of these.” he stated.
“Sometimes You Have to Run Before You Learn to Walk”
Continuing his speech, Gözetlik touched upon what needs to be done to become a typographic superhero; “If you don't have innate typographic knowledge, you need to develop yourself in this regard. You especially need to master centuries-old typographic knowledge and at the same time gain proficiency in typeface design. You also need to have noticeable knowledge to stand out. Sometimes you have to run before you learn to walk. This way, you can become a superhero in typography.” he said.
“I Try to Teach How to Learn”
Gözetlik continued by saying: “In my lessons and trainings, I try to teach how to learn rather than just teaching. Instead of giving you direct information, I will try to teach you how to improve your knowledge, where and through which channels you can learn. Our strongest resource is Google. If you search for typographic books, you can find the Desingers&Books list. If you want to improve your skills in typography, don't limit yourself to the internet. Research various book lists. Today, there is a lot of information we can access from our homes, from where we sit, but books have much deeper knowledge.” he concluded.