Professional Type and Typography

Understand type and get professional results

student working on laptop

Spring 2022 Dates (On-Campus)
NCC 002: March 12 - May 14, 2022 (skips Apr 16)
Time: Every Saturday, 2:00pm to 6:00pm
Tuition: $1,800*
Room: CC15A3**
**Please read the requirements for attending on-campus courses here.

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For hundreds of years, typography was a sacred art practiced by skilled artisans steeped in the craft of making printed documents look their best. But starting in the 1980's, the personal computer revolution took hold and before long desktop publishing was born. Suddenly new computer users were new typographers too. For many graphic designers this change was a god-send. No longer was type specified by manually marking up a physical document with cryptic numbers and symbols, and then waiting a few anxious days to get back the results. Seemingly overnight, typesetting one’s own type became either an instant gratification or a crushing disappointment.

This certificate course is for new creatives who need to create and prepare professional-level documents for print and screen. Through the use of weekly design projects, students will come to understand and appreciate type, and learn how to coax the best results from Adobe InDesign, the industry standard of page layout.

*If you think you are eligible for the 10% Alumni Discount, please complete the Alumni Verification Form prior to registration in order to receive your discount code.

Technology Requirements

Adobe InDesign CC, Adobe Illustrator CC, and Adobe Photoshop CC (most current version if possible). Not for beginners. All students must have at least a working knowledge of these three essential and industry-leading Adobe programs.

What You Will Learn

  • A brief history of type and typography
  • An understanding and appreciation of type categories like serif, sans serif, italics, display, script, and more
  • A deep knowledge of how to use Adobe InDesign to produce best-of-class publications for print or screen

View Outline

What You Will Get

Priceless tools for building a strong portfolio and the confidence to work in a modern creative design environment.
Note: this class does not teach typesetting for the web. Its focus is static layouts for print and screen only.

Why FIT?

  • Classes taught by top industry experts
  • Our focus is on helping you transition or advance your career
  • Earn a certificate from FIT/SUNY, a world renowned college of art and design, business and technology

Meet Our Faculty

Scott Citron

Scott Citron
Adobe Certified Instructor, Creative Cloud Design and Layout Solutions Expert; Creative Director/Owner, scottcitrondesign.com; Creative Director/Owner adobepowerhour.com
Scott Citron is the award-winning creative director of Scott Citron Design. Based in New York City, Scott specializes in designing books and magazines, advertising, and corporate identity systems. His clients include Adobe Systems, American Jewish University, ModernHEALTH, and Black Dog and Leventhal Publishers.

Scott is an Adobe Certified Instructor in Photoshop CC, Illustrator CC, InDesign CC, Lightroom, and InCopy. Recently he became an Adobe Certified Instructor, Creative Cloud Design and Layout Solutions Expert. Over the past 20 years his training clients have included Weiden + Kennedy, Simon & Schuster, Bloomberg Media, Meredith Publishing, Random House, Condé Nast, Martha Stewart Omnimedia, Toy R Us, the United Nations, Google, Yahoo!, Guggenheim Museum, and many others. Scott has also taught graphic design at Fashion Institute of Technology, Parsons School of Design, The New School, NYU, Pratt Institute, and The Cooper Union.

The former head of the New York InDesign Users’ Group, Scott has also written extensively on graphic design. A frequent contributor to InDesign Magazine, Scott is the author of Professional Design Techniques with Adobe Creative Suite 3 (Adobe Press), and the co-author with Michael Murphy of Adobe Creative Suite 5 Design Premium How-Tos: 100 Essential Techniques (Adobe Press), and Learn Adobe Photoshop CS5 by Video: Core Training in Visual Communication (Peachpit Press/video2brain).

Outline

  • Introduction to Type
  • Type Classifications
  • Creative Cloud Type Tools
  • InDesign Type in Depth
  • Paragraph and Character Styles
  • Paragraph Styles in Depth
  • Tables and Charts
  • Interactive PDF Forms
  • Magazine Layouts
  • Longer Books and Magazines
  • More Books and Advanced Techniques
  • Preferences, Shortcuts, and Working Smarter in InDesign

Assignments

  • Create and all-type business card
  • Design a résumé
  • Design a holiday card
  • Create a three-panel brochure
  • Design a fake poster for the Central Park Conservancy
  • Design a page for a cookbook
  • Import data into a table for an annual report
  • Design an interactive PDF form
  • Design a two-page magazine spread
  • Design a dust jacket for a book classic
  • Design a long book like Alice in Wonderland or other PD title

About the Center for Continuing and Professional Studies (CCPS)

FIT's CCPS offers credit and noncredit certificates and courses in fashion, business, design, technology, and marketing, to help you enter into or advance your career in the fashion and related industries. With short programs and flexible schedules, you can learn at a time and pace you can manage and afford.