Encoded Letters with GridType | workshop by Katharina Nejdl
In this workshop we explore how type design can become a process of encoding, translating ideas, data, or emotions into visual systems. In typography, letterforms always encode more than just the words themselves. Their form, structure, and rhythm become part of the message and shape how we experience written language.
We will work with GridType, an experimental tool for creating modular typefaces within customizable grids. Inspired by stencils, display technology, and geometry, GridType allows you to generate grids, draw letters within them, and export them as a font. Through hands-on experimentation, participants will learn how to use this tool to bridge the gap between logic and expression, structure and play.
Encoding means shaping a rule-based visual language, a type system that hides, reveals, or transforms information. You will choose something to encode, such as a feeling, a message, a pattern, or data, and design a typeface where that encoding becomes visible through form. The workshop offers space to reflect on how systems and tools influence creative decisions, and how code can be used to uncover new aesthetic possibilities.
No prior knowledge is needed, just bring your laptop!
About Katharina Nejdl
Katharina Nejdl is a graphic designer, developer, and educator interested in using digital technologies such as web, augmented reality, and artificial intelligence as graphic tools. She co-founded andshymagazine.com, an online literature magazine that explores new ways of reading, writing, and publishing digitally. Currently she is researching coding as a tool for design and developing the grid-based parametric type tool GridType. She also teaches coding courses and gives workshops internationally.
As part of Iterations 2025, this workshop connects to the program’s exploration of collaborative and process-based artistic practices. It invites participants to rethink how design systems, algorithms, and human intention intertwine, turning the act of writing and drawing letters into a shared experiment in translation and transformation.
Encoded Letters with GridType | workshop by Katharina Nejdl
In this workshop we explore how type design can become a process of encoding, translating ideas, data, or emotions into visual systems. In typography, letterforms always encode more than just the words themselves. Their form, structure, and rhythm become part of the message and shape how we experience written language.
We will work with GridType, an experimental tool for creating modular typefaces within customizable grids. Inspired by stencils, display technology, and geometry, GridType allows you to generate grids, draw letters within them, and export them as a font. Through hands-on experimentation, participants will learn how to use this tool to bridge the gap between logic and expression, structure and play.
Encoding means shaping a rule-based visual language, a type system that hides, reveals, or transforms information. You will choose something to encode, such as a feeling, a message, a pattern, or data, and design a typeface where that encoding becomes visible through form. The workshop offers space to reflect on how systems and tools influence creative decisions, and how code can be used to uncover new aesthetic possibilities.
No prior knowledge is needed, just bring your laptop!
About Katharina Nejdl
Katharina Nejdl is a graphic designer, developer, and educator interested in using digital technologies such as web, augmented reality, and artificial intelligence as graphic tools. She co-founded andshymagazine.com, an online literature magazine that explores new ways of reading, writing, and publishing digitally. Currently she is researching coding as a tool for design and developing the grid-based parametric type tool GridType. She also teaches coding courses and gives workshops internationally.
As part of Iterations 2025, this workshop connects to the program’s exploration of collaborative and process-based artistic practices. It invites participants to rethink how design systems, algorithms, and human intention intertwine, turning the act of writing and drawing letters into a shared experiment in translation and transformation.