2023 Annual TypeTogether Meeting

Welcome to the office party
You might wonder how it is that our small team is able to churn out such high-calibre work year after year, all while keeping a cheerful outlook and inviting others into our “office party”. We’ll give the answer at the end, but it all comes down to serving you with our skills. You are our “why”. It has always been that way, and it always will be.

TypeTogether is a small, decentralised company; we all live in different countries and use our specialities to serve your text, branding, and design needs. So because we are not around each other on a daily basis, we’ve made it a priority to meet in person once a year to hang out, learn new things, set the schedule for the next year, and buckle down to get some great work accomplished together.

This year we met near Arezzo, Italy to discuss our workflow, current projects, plan the next year (or three), learn from colleagues, and just have some fun reconnecting. We were also joined by some wonderful guests (now friends) as they led workshops for the team: experimentalist Danielle Duncan (Evans), specialist in handwriting styles Petra Dočekalová, and the duke of diacritics Radek Sidun. Here’s what our week looked like.

Day 1, Sunday: arrival
Almost everyone arrived today by plane, train, and taxi. Hugs and greetings were spread all around. Rooms were chosen, we began scoping out the best work areas, and had a great meal. This was the first time meeting a few new faces in person: Gerard Unger Scholarship winner Patrycja Walczak and type designer Yorlmar Campos, and they fit in with the team perfectly.

Day 2, Monday: lettering with Petra
We got right to work! After coffee! And breakfast! So... almost right to work! The communications team presented their progress on the Ploquine release graphics, and we all ooooo-ed and aaaaah-ed at it.

Petra Dočekalová led the entire team in a fantastic learn-then-do workshop on hand lettering and finding one’s own style. We began with extended times of writing at our own comfort level, then she introduced us to several styles and several pen and marker shapes to broaden our palette. Finally, we chose the best match of tool to our ability and produced a large poster in our selected style. Petra is the consummate encourager and is always joyful in her presentations, so the afternoon flew by too quickly and we all had a lot of fun learning.

Day 3, Tuesday: diacritics with Radek
The morning was stacked with individual and group work, followed by Radek Sidun’s presentation on diacritics in the afternoon. Radek brings years of experience designing accented characters to his clients, of which TypeTogether is one. We are fortunate to be able to depend on him for his opinionated insights, dry sense of humour, and depth of knowledge.

The evening concluded with a type[together] quiz, complete with prizes of handmade character pillows made by Elena’s mother.

Day 4, Wednesday: experiments with Danielle
After coffees and some food, we continued with individual and group work. Danielle Duncan (Evans) then led us in a tangible lettering workshop in the afternoon. We heard stories of experimentation, perseverance, and flavourful bliss, then were invited to create our own interpretations in an edible medium. Afterward, we imported them into augmented reality to make them part of our environment. It was good to get to know Danielle in a more social environment and she felt like part of our fun-loving team.

Grandfather’s clock
That evening, Patrycja gave a presentation on the history and progress of her scholarship-winning typeface Poltik, including passing around the old alarm clock found in her grandfather’s desk drawer that served as its inspiration. She also announced that she is creating a completely new text type family apart from the display, and, even though it’s early in the development, it is showing a lot of promise.

Day 5, Thursday: hiking & karaoke
The Czech crew left this morning and the team took the day off. Since our work and learning schedule is so intense, we always take a midweek break to do an activity for half the day. Last year it was a museum and beach excursion or a country bike ride. This year it was painting the toenails of local homeless dogs. (They deserve to feel pretty, too!) Just because Rover didn’t appreciate it, doesn’t mean we’re giving up. And I’m sure bite marks that bad don’t leave a permanent scar, right?!

Kidding, of course, but I had to see who was still reading. On the leisure part, ten teammates took a long hike down into town, then had lunch in a proper old-school Italian restaurant. The others took individual hikes, worked on projects, swam in the pool, or relaxed. Much hiking and swimming happened throughout the week, and we capped off the night with a rousing couple hours of karaoke, spontaneously initiated by Emma Marichal.

Day 6, Friday: wrapping up
Tom left for home, Danielle left to visit her ancestral Italian town, and the rest of us were enthralled by Elena’s masterclass on file and folder organisation. (Truly, some of her best and most impactful work!)

The afternoon was reserved for super-secret presentations and announcements, which will be unveiled during 2024. And if you’re not following us on social media, you’re missing some great stuff. Click here for FB, here for IG, here for Twitter, and treat yourself by signing up for our email with special discounts and helpful info.

We continued with work projects during any unscheduled time, and Pooja cooked a veggie Indian dinner that was an absolute hit to top off the week.

Day 7, Saturday: see-you-soons
We all said goodbye, reveling in the fun we had and the progress made, knowing we will see each other during our weekly video chats.
 

In closing: welcome to the office party
We started by asking how it is that we continue to create great typefaces that serve your needs. The answer is because we really enjoy each other, challenge each other to do better, love having fun, and are intent at improving what we do. And what we do is try to solve your modern problems though both our love for and skills in typography.

Together, our goal is to make your designs and your design choices easier and higher quality with greater aesthetic value. Yes, we exist for you. We exist to figure out ways of serving you better, and do this thing called type together.

So thanks for being part of our extended family and allowing us the benefit of working hard with you.

All our best,

TypeTogether team (and friends)