Málaga Type

Back in August 2019 when I did Typoclass in Bulgaria with Rainer, I learned there would be a first edition Málaga Type with a Glyphs workshop, on 25th October. I felt so lucky for the opportunity. I told my Belgian friend Danny about it (who was also at Typoclass). He seemed convinced to come. So, in September, he surprised me by gifting me an entrance ticket for the conference as a Good luck for the beginning of my new life. New community.

Thanks to Rayitas Azules for making the event real, to Fabrica Cerveza Victoria for hosting it, to Glyphs for supporting the first edition of Malaga Type. 100+ designers, letter lovers and typographers came to share the space and the passion for Typography.

Salva Cerdá and Ana Moliz are the founders of Rayitas Azules and because of their passion for letters, they had the idea to bring typography to Málaga! They are also graphic designers and professors of editorial design and typography at the school La Gauss.

Málaga Type was my first Type conference. In the morning there was a workshop on Glyphs with Rainer Erich Scheichelbauer. He taught us how to to animate an icon in Glyphs, using Masters. You can check a tutorial on Masters and Instances here. And here is the result:

The conference started at 6. On the entry we received a goodie bag. We found seats. I was so excited to be part of this event. I feel absolutely lucky to be here for the first edition.

First guest lector was Noe Blanco, a female type designer based in Barcelona, she graduated with MA in Type Design in KABK, Den Hague. Currently, she is working for Klim Type Foundry, a New Zealand Type foundry. Noe told us about the redesign of National Geographic's typeface and how a few little adjustments changed the whole look completely. Read about it here.

Roberto Espartero y Juan Martín, creators of Alioli Es Ajonesa, told us more about their dedication to the cultural project of preserving the visual identity of Malaga, its typography signs, creative posters and identity brands by digitising them. I found their work inspiring. I didn't get a chance to talk to them at the event. However, they are based in Málaga and I am definitely getting in contact with them for a collaboration.

Pedro Arilla, a Spanish Type Designer based in London, working at Fontsmith as a Senior Type Designer. He is also known as Don Serifa for his podcasts on typography and for organising Glíglifo, an intensive typographic workshop. Pedro holds MA in Typeface Design from the University of Reading, in UK. Pedro also has a blog he kept during his studies there that really inspired me to push mine forward and keep writing about what is happening and what I am
going through. He talked about the Variable Logo he worked on in FontSmith. You can read
more about it here. I had a chance to talk to him briefly after the conference.

After the conference there was a Typequizz that was very funny. The fastest people received some really cool books and materials. There was enough time for networking, checking out some of the books and magazines, as well admiring Rolfpens calligraphy pens.

Málaga is not big, but the community of designers is very active. Most of my teachers from San Telmo were there. I was very happy to see them and talk to them. I had the chance to meet and talk briefly to Noe and Pedro, but also to Txus Marcano who was a former teacher in the my school, teaching Typography and Calligraphy a few years ago, but not anymore.