Increase your rates and make more money? Easy.
Land a job at a sweet design firm? Cake.
Get more referrals and clients? No problem.
Convert more visitors into customers? Done.

You’d be surprised how far a little extra design can take you. When I was in college, I freelanced on the side, earning a little extra cash to buy books and food. (I clearly had my priorities in order.)

When I started, I was often paid below minimum wage. I had no experience and just wanted to get by. Everything about my interactions was second-rate. My resume looked awful, my invoices used templates, and my proposals were ugly.

After about a year and a half, I realized that the only thing keeping me from charging more was the perceived value I offered potential clients.

They saw me as an amateur because all my materials were amateurish.

I’m just some random guy from Memphis, Tennessee. I come from a family with a long history in the military. I was supposed to be a mathematician or scientist. I went to school for Cognitive Science, not design.

If anyone was supposed to quit on design, it’s me.

I was struggling to learn design. I was getting paid next-to-nothing. And I was nervous about my future.

…and that’s when everything changed.

A few months later, I landed my first multi-thousand-dollar design contract. A few months after that, an even larger contract. The next thing I knew, I was getting paid more than $125 per hour doing design work. All in a matter of months.

So what changed?

Why was I making $4.33/hour one summer and $100/hour months later?

It’s simple.

I learned typography.

How to learn typography the right way

Hi, I’m Lucas Czarnecki. I’m the founder of Type365.

Over the past few years, I’ve taught typography to thousands of aspiring designers.

But it wasn’t always easy.

I was a math nerd growing up. I always thought I would be a scientist. Then, halfway through college, I realized that I wanted to make the world look a little better and function a little smoother.

So, I decided to pursue design.

Which basically means: I messed around in Photoshop a lot, looked up slick templates online, and asked random people for critiques.

I was going nowhere. Fast.

And my few freelance clients wouldn’t even pay me minimum wage. It was like they were doing me a favor by letting me work for them.

After a while of struggling, I finally said screw it.

I stopped messing around with bad tutorials and random people’s feedback.

Instead, I focused on the most essential, ages-old design skill: typography.

I looked up the required reading for the world’s top design programs—then read those books. Thousands of pages.

I found in-class projects that typography professors ran around the world—then I went home and did the projects myself.

I reached out and interviewed some of the world’s best designers.

I even designed a (terrible) font, so I could better understand the font-creation process, and what that means for typography.

I hacked together a Frankenstein design education from the bits and pieces I could find.

Along the way, I redesigned those awful branding materials, increased my freelance rate to more than $125/hour, spoke at TypeCon and TED^x, and taught Typography at the University of Virginia

This course is built on the science of learning. It’s made of easy-to-follow videos that are designed to keep you moving forward. (No one hour videos that are impossible to digest.)

Each week, you’ll have a series of videos, an assignment to push your limits, and a Q&A session to keep you on track.

No more guessing
No more trial-and-error
No more dense, boring books
No more random tutorials
No more useless feedback

1. Type

Great typography starts with a deep and clear understanding of type itself. Beginning with type anatomy, we work our way up through categorization to type pairing. You’ll learn how to describe fonts, differentiate among typefaces, and make intelligent font choices in your designs.

Module Goal:

Know type from back to belly and make great type selections.

2. Space

Dark space, white space, negative space, letter space, glyph space… Ultimately, typography and graphic design is about control and allotment of space. In this module, we explore the different kinds of space, what they mean, and how to adjust them in your designs.

Module Goal:

Use space effectively to create pleasant reading experiences and stunning designs.

3. Contrast

Contrast underlies all design. For example, if there isn’t enough contrast between type and its background—then the type will be completely illegible.

And yet, many designers know only a handful of methods for creating hierarchy: weight, color, and scale.

Learning the many ways you can create contrast in your designs will unlock your imagination. You’ll have a full toolkit at your disposal when building hierarchy.

Module Goal:

Create contrast and hierarchy in your designs using more than a dozen methods.

4. Layout

How many layouts have you seen today? Chances are just a few: grid and bilateral—and they probably weren’t that good.

In this module, we’ll go over seven different layout systems in depth. You’ll know how to use grid and bilateral layouts better than a vast majority of designers. Not to mention the systems they haven’t even heard about.

Module Goal:

To set type beautifully, using seven different layout systems.

Course Resources

Resource #1
Unlimited Coaching

You will have a direct line to me.

For 6 months after the start of Intro to Type, you’ll be able to contact me anytime and get answers to your questions. This is a lifeline that extends well beyond the conclusion of the course material.

Want feedback on a design?
Need help picking a font?
Having trouble with a project?
Contact me.

Normally, this kind of contact is reserved for my $125+ per hour clients. As a member of Intro to Type, you get it for free for six months.

My answers will be delivered over email—sometimes as text, sometimes as video. Sometimes I’ll want to hop on Skype with you to talk through a design.

Resource #2

Intro to Type is designed to include as many learning moments as possible.

So at the end of each week, we’ll get together for a live Q&A session. Bring your questions and I’ll bring answers.

I’ll show you behind the scenes of my design process and help you on your sticking points.

The webinars are hosted right here, complete with live chat so you can ask questions and get answers in real-time.

Resource #3
Personal Feedback on Every Assignment

To help you learn typography as quickly as possible, Intro to Type includes weekly assignments.

The assignments are designed to gradually increase your typographic skills, but honest feedback is essential to get the most out of any exercise.

In addition to unlimited coaching and weekly Q&A sessions, I’ll give you detailed feedback on every weekly assignment. This will superpower your education, giving you actionable ways to grow as a typographer.

Resource #4
Private Intro to Type Community

By joining Intro to Type, you are joining a community of driven, aspiring designers and typographers.

You’ll have access to a private Facebook Group comprised entirely of Intro to Type students. There, you can share your work, ask questions of your peers, gain encouragement and accountability, and grow as a class.

I will be a regular in the Community, answering questions and sparking discussions—so you’ll never feel nervous or shy about engaging with your peers.

Resource #5
Weekly Lesson Downloads

Videos are wonderful, but sometimes you want to print something out and read it—sometimes you want to look at something on paper and take notes on it.

I’ve put all the course material into weekly PDF downloads for you to download. Altogether, these PDFs make up the length of a full book on typography.

They’re your cheat sheets, handy anytime and anywhere you need them.

How much does it cost?

So many people could be designers—so many people have good taste. But without a plan to get better, they never produce good designs.

If you want to be a designer—you have two options:

Option #1: Mess around with design on the side.

You can play around with Photoshop or Illustrator late at night. You can post your work online and ask people for feedback. You can tell yourself that one day you’ll become a designer.

But without a game plan, indulging your dream but never committing to it, you’ll never design anything truly good.

And the entire world will be worse off because of it.

Option #2: Join Intro to Type and let me help you achieve your goal…

• Increase your freelance rate and stop worrying about money
• Land a job at sweet design firm and start your career
• Take your business to the next level through better design
• Make a name for yourself as a designer

What’s it going to be?

This is how Intro to Type is meant to be taken. It’s the full University-level experience, with all the bells and whistles. The course, feedback on all your work, weekly group Q&A sessions, and unlimited one-on-one coaching for full 6 months. If you want to become a real typographer, this is for you.

If you just want the essential typography lessons and course features, the Standard package is for you. You won’t receive a certificate or unlimited coaching for 6 months, but you’ll have everything else, which is more than enough to become a bona fide typographer.

Designer on a budget? The Starter package gives you an insane bang for your buck. You’ll learn everything in course—I just won’t be able to guide you along so closely. To be honest, back when I was a cash-strapped college student, this is what I would have bought. Every great designer started somewhere—start here.

100% Money Back Guarantee

I want you to become a typographer. It’s my #1 goal with Intro to Type, so if I fail, then I don’t deserve your money.

If you aren’t a better designer by the end of the course, I’ll give you all your money back.

If this happens, all you have to do is email me showing that you’ve made an honest effort*, and that you’re not a better designer.

*To me, this isn’t anything crazy. You need to show that you’ve watched the videos, completed the homework assignments, taken any feedback into consideration, participated in the online community, etc.

Mike Breger

University of Virginia Typography Student, 2015

DO NOT buy this if you’re looking for quick tips

This course requires that you actually put in effort.

If you’re just looking for a template, or a tutorial on Adobe products. Then this isn’t for you. If you’re looking for some design ideas to just try out, then do not buy this.

There’s no shortcut to becoming a typographer.

I’m here to teach you everything, answer your questions, give you feedback on your work, and hold you accountable. I am not here to design for you.

But if you’re ready to become a better designer and learn how typography works…

If you’re ready to stop messing around and gain confidence in your design choices…

This is what I wish I had when I was starting out. There’s nothing out there like Intro to Type.

Let’s get started.

Are you ready to learn typography?

Zuhayr Ahmed

University of Virginia Typography Student, 2015

When does the course start?

You’ll get access to the introductory lessons right away (within 24 hours) after registration.

Week one of the course—Type Anatomy—starts April 1st.

The final week of the course—Putting it Together—is the week of June 17th.

Will this course be updated?

Yes! Intro to Type will continue to be updated over time. Specifically, I’m launching it each Spring and Fall. Expect major updates before each launch.

How long will I have access?

Forever! Well, at least until the internet isn’t a thing anymore. Or if I go bankrupt.

Because of who knows what could happen, I hesitate to promise “forever,” but you can expect at least several years of access.

How much of the course is new, versus what’s on type365?

Type365 is great, and I love writing articles for it. But to really dig in, I needed to create Intro to Type.

Think of a blog post on Type365 as a page or section in a book. Intro to Type is a full University-level course.

What is the structure of the course? Can I watch ahead?

No. The course is designed to teach you new things each week for 12 weeks. Think of it like a semester at college.

I don’t want you watching ahead for two reasons:

1. Watching ahead could mean watching out of order. It could mean skipping assignments. It could mean lots of things that ruin the system of the course.

2. Watching ahead means leaving your peers behind. Between the group Q&A sessions and the Intro to Type Community, I want everyone in the class to work together and help each other. If you’re on week 3 when someone else is on week 6 or week 1—that doesn’t help anyone.

What if money is tight? How can I afford this?

Ultimately, that’s up to you.

But the monthly payments on the Starter package come out to $1.75 per day. Skip that afternoon coffee and learn typography instead.

University students paid $3,000 in tuition for an older version of this course, so the prices are as low as I can make them.

Also, if you think in terms of return on investment—this might be the best purchase of your life. I’ve spent thousands and thousands of dollars on conferences and books to learn typography, and I don’t regret a cent of it. It’s been the best investment I’ve ever made.

How many hours will I need to spend each week on the course?

It depends on how good you want to get.

The videos alone take around an hour per week—sometimes more.

The homework should take around another hour or so per week.

The webinars each week will be as long as they need to be to answer everyone’s questions. Let’s say another hour.

Then there’s participation in the Intro to Type Community. Probably half an hour.

But honestly, you’ll get out what you put in. If you’re making a true effort in the course, it should take around 3 or 4 hours per week. But that’s good! Why spend money on something you aren’t willing to spend time on?

What if I’ve never designed anything?

That’s completely fine! In fact, that might be useful.

Intro to Type is a complete system that will take you from “What is a sans serif font?” all the way to “I think that paragraph’s measure is too wide, and the baseline grid seems off. ”

Long story short—no experience required. 🙂