The iconic font designed by Dutch design maverick Wim Crouwel could be downloaded for free from FontStruct. This digitised form of New Alphabet is entirely the credit of Matt McInerney, a designer based in New York and working in Pentagram. An earlier digital version was released by The Foundry in 1996 when David Quay worked closely with Wim Crouwel to digitize many of his typefaces.

New Alphabet, a distinctly geometric typeface devoid of any curves was developed and designed by Wim Crouwel and released in 1967 as part of his personal experimentation to design a typeface under the limitations of the then cathode ray tube technologies used in data display screens. It streches the boundaries, and it blurs the differences between alphabets, abstraction is at its mightiest. If you feel like you could do a little less with legibility and a little more with experimentation and head straight to FontStruct.

Mico is a Brazilian artist who is currently pursuing his masters degree in graphic design and illustration from Central Saint Martins in London. Musical Philosophy is a series of exquisitely designed posters by Mico, each one of which brilliantly visualises memorable quotes from songs such as Man in the Mirror, Like a Rolling Stone, Civil War, Ruby Tuesday and the like. An inspirational personal project, here are a few of my favourites to get you started in this creative journey.

It is often mistaken that Arial owes its existence to an avaricious software giant while the veritable truth is it was created in 1982 for IBM’s first group of laser printers. Cassified as Neo Grotesque, the inexperienced eye is oblivious to the subtle differences between Arial and its much revered older counterpart Helvetica, to the designer however, it is a subject of much disquietude. So deep is our discontent that we now have games where Helvetica literally thrashes Arial under its weight.

Even if you never get the chance of stepping inside the Dept. of Typography of any university let alone University of Reading, it should not impair your desire for learning the same. I understand that you have been through as many “Typography Basics” essays and tutorials as there are typefaces on this planet but few are authoritative commentary and most are a collection of paragraphs attempting to inculcate in you half a millennia of gathered knowledge within a thousand or so words long an article ; let’s face it, the attempt itself is unfeasible.

There are carefully crafted lessons that should suffice as the starting point for your own discoveries without being misdirected at the very beginning. This is my list of favoured choices, and yes they are free.