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If you've ever wanted to study with the best typographers in Italy while eating gelato and overlooking beautiful Italian scenery, then sign up for the 2010 SVA Masters Workshop in Venice and Rome.

For two weeks, students will be immersed in multidisciplinary design: architecture, art, literature, and typography. As the website states, "Our workshop in design history, theory and practice is an intensive period of study that enables students to research and analyze the roots of typography, draw type and letters from the classic models while practicing contemporary design with Italian and American designers and design historians."

2010 SVA Masters Workshop
Design History, Theory and Practice in Venice and Rome
May 30–June 5, 2010: Venice
June 6–12, 2010: Rome
Program Tuition: $6,700
Tuition includes all accommodations, continental breakfast, workshops, transportation for off-site visits, guided tours of architectural and archaeological sites, train from Venice to Rome, receptions.

The application deadline is March 15, 2010.

However, if the $6,700 tuition sticker shock leaves you paralyzed, you can still embody la dolce vita by becoming a fan of the SVA Masters Workshop Facebook Fan Page.

SVA Masters Workshop, Italy Part 1

In Venice, classes were held at the beautiful Fondazione Claudio Buziol (www.fondazioneclaudiobuziol.org), which at one point was supposedly home of Napoleon Bonaparte. Instructor Louise Fili lead us through daily fun mini-excursions through Venice, always making a stop to recap the day’s lecture over gelato. Our guest lecturers included an introduction to Venice by Giorgio Camuffo, designer and principle of Studio Camuffo (www.studiocamuffo.it) and an overview of 600 years of the history of Italian graphic design in a 45 minute keynote presentation by Carlo Branzaglia, a professor of design theory and criticism at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Bologna.

 


And although we missed the highly anticipated Venice Biennale (the grandest stops on the art-world grand tour, a Miss America pageant for art), the Venice portion of the program was filled with grand art-stops of its own like a trip to Fabrica (www.fabrica.it), a day at the Rialto market with Louise Fili, an incredible trip to Tipoteca (www.tipoteca.it), a superb museum of type and printing, and an unforgettable visit to Gianni Basso, Venice’s oldest letterpress shop (who doesn't own a cell phone, let alone a website). Each day was so packed, and so different, it left little room to develop a daily routine, but thanks to Louise, I did take habit to constantly photographing store signs, typography and being on a constant lookout for orange and melon fruit wrappers.

The final presentation in Venice felt much too similar to a year that I thought I just finished. Am I back in class? I thought this was vacation. I'm binding books on vacation! Nevertheless, about 7 of us didn’t sleep the night before the final presentations, plugging away, printing and binding our books with less than sufficient supplies (scissors and glue sticks anyone?) In the end, everyone’s presentation went off without a hitch and the hard part was over, but sadly, so was half of the trip.

SVA Masters Workshop, Italy Part 2

The second part of the program in Rome was less exciting and more classroom-orientated, but immensely educational nonetheless. This was an intense typography boot camp with incredible lectures by graphic designer Cristina Chiappini (www.cristinachiappini.com), Italian typographer Mauro Zennaro (www.scriptoria.it) and British typographer James Clough who teaches history and theory of typography at the Milan Polytechnic University (Politecnico di Milano, www.polimi.it).

We also had plenty of off-site visits to collect typography and inspiration for the Rome guidebooks. Mauro Zennaro took us on a walking tour through Rome and its inscriptions. The interesting part of the walking tour was learning about the history of each inscription and being able to take it away through rubbings.

Another interesting visit was at the Museo Nazionale Romano (www.roma2000.it), where we saw incredibly well-preserved epigraphs. James Clough guided us through the museum, which is home to one of the richest and most important epigraphic collections in the world. We walked through three floors of ancient typography--the museum holds approximately 10,000 stone inscriptions, almost all of them in Latin and in (surprisingly) excellent condition.

To round off our typographic extravaganza, the week ended with an in-depth site visit to the Roman Forum with archaeologist Dr. Darius Arya. The Forum was the central area around which the ancient Roman civilization developed. Starting at the Trajan’s Column, a famous landmark in the history of typography, and ending in the Palatine Hill, Darius was both passionate and knowledgeable about the history and structure of these magnificent ancient ruins.

Finally, we ended with a visit to the Colosseum. As we emerged from the subterranean tunnel, the gigantic stadium appeared. It looked old, large, and epic. The Colosseum was the site of gladiator battles and even had the capability to be covered in water for naval skirmishes. Stepping out from the dark arch to look over the ruinous field, you could almost hear the raucous chants of 50,000 Roman spectators. We walked around all levels, took photos, and made rubbings from the original typography inscriptions on the walls.

In Rome, the SVA community gathered for a small SVA MFA Design Alumni Dinner with fellow participants Celina Carvalho, ’03, Yifat Anzelevich ’02, Elizabeth Morrow-McKenzie ’02, Tarek Atrissi ’03 (who came in from the Netherlands to be a guest critic), and yours truly. The gathering also included SVA and Rome faculty. It was a beautiful summer night, and we had dinner outside at Vecchia Roma, a charming trattoria in the heart of the Ghetto. It was a great way to catch up with everyone and hear about what they've been doing since graduating from the program.

The final presentations in Rome were much more casual—they had to be! We didn’t have a reliable printer, scanner or internet! For the most part, everyone took a more relaxed and fun approach to the guidebooks and presentations. The Rome guidebooks were more typography-centric, and more of the typography rubbings and type sketches made it into the guidebooks.

The program quickly came to an end, and we celebrated by going out (finally!) with the Italian students who were the "classroom aides" during the week. Overall, it was a really educational experience and I would definitely recommend it to anyone interested in typography, history, design, food, and of course, beautiful Italy.

I was recently a participant in the new SVA Masters Workshop: Design History, Theory and Practice held in Venice and Rome. The program was immensely educational and inspiring. Italy is a country with so much history in every turn—every corner has its history preserved and you can’t help but be in awe walking around the enchanted streets of Venice or the imperial ruins of Rome. Studying visual communication in the birthplace of Western typographic tradition was truly an eye-opening experience.

Italians seem unconcerned by the priceless art treasures and ancient ruins which lie casually among the buildings and workings of their hectic 21^st century city, and I’m glad to have been a part of it, even if it was only for 2 weeks.

I toured some of the most impressive studios and met incredible Italian designers and typographers—all of which I will cover in separate posts in the days to come.

The program was an intensive study of typography, history, practice, culture and gelato. In both cities, each participant (there were 11 in Venice, and 13 in Rome) created a personal and unique guidebook to Venice and another to Rome that drew on each person’s journey. Incorporating typography, history, your own photos, etc., each person created their own version of a guidebook through the city. To supplement the project, each day was packed with visits, field trips, guest lectures and classes.

Overall the program afforded me the opportunity to see typography through a completely different lens. I left with an incredible sense of history of type and a greater understanding of where Western typography was born. Every guest lecturer and field trip was filled with so much history and information that I would’ve loved to have a semester dedicated to each person’s lecture. I’m thrilled to have had this opportunity to study the roots of typography with these great masters.

The trip was an unforgettable learning experience. I discovered that I could have gelato 4 times a day, and still not get sick. I learned that “Italian time” means a lecture that starts at 6:30pm will be announced that it starts at 6:00pm because Romans are notoriously late. Finally, I gained an incredible wealth of knowledge on the influence of Italian architecture, fashion, typography and even cuisine on today’s contemporary design that will stick with me for a long time.

Stay tuned for more posts on Italy.

Grazie mille. A presto! Ciao ciao!

Additional photos and daily recaps are on the SVA MFA Design website
Posted tweets are found on the Italy Masters Workshop Twitter page