Type as Image
SPRING 2026
Professor Mary Banas
SMFA at Tufts
Email: When contacting me, use both my Tufts email and
my Gmail
Office Hours: Fridays from 12–1pm, on zoom, or by appointment
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https://calendar.app.google/fjv8YceUnWXn5AJj8
please book this by 8am on Fridays.
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Syllabus:
01 Description
02 Learning Outcomes
03 Assignments
04 How We Work
05 Studio Culture
Tufts University Policies
Calendar
Readings
Tutorials (how to print!)
Review Boards: Advice
Events
Project Briefs:
Submit work:
01
Franken-form!
Franken-form Overview:
You will familiarize yourself with different type classifications. Then you will choose at least 4 typefaces from 3 different categories (Serif, Sans-Serif, Script) to make 6 compositions. Using scissors and xacto knives, you will cut the typefaces up, noticing the interesting parts, and create completely new glyphs combining 2-3 typefaces at a time. What you make may resemble a letterform, but most likely it will not.
This is going to be an exercise in looking closer at letterforms, appreciating their nuances and beauty, and creating something completely new.
Credit: This project is a modified version of an original by Lucy Hitchcock.
Readings:
Thinking with Type by Ellen Lupton
“Concord and Contrast”
“There is no such thing as neutral graphic design”, Eye on Design
© Professor Mary Banas, Fall 2025School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts Universitysmfa.tufts.edu