Home / ATypI 2026 Stanford
Date Wednesday, May 27th 2026
Venue Stanford University / Green Screen
Panel

Industry Classification and its Educational Echo. Searchability and sense-making

Ann Bessemans Sofie Beier Sofie Beier
RESERVE TICKET — Industry Classification Panel

Typeface classification today is shaped less by formal standards than by the practical needs of foundries, distributors, and digital platforms. While much discussion critiques the limitations of the Vox–ATypI system, less attention has been given to articulating what a future-oriented classification framework must actually address—particularly within a commercial ecosystem defined by searchability, tagging systems, and user navigation.

Workshop leaders:

  • Ann Bessemans
  • Sofie Beier

Voices from education:

  • Milda Kuraitytė (Vilnius College of Design)
  • Yves Peters (Artevelde University of Applied Sciences)
  • Maurice Meilleur (Iowa State University)
  • Thomas Phinney (Font detective, Type designer)

Voices from industry:

  • Dave Crossland (Google Fonts)
  • Gabbi Soong (arcoty.pe)
  • Tom Rickner (Monotype)
  • David Berlow (Font Bureau)

This panel examines how the industry currently categorizes typefaces: Are classifications primarily morphological, historical, functional, or market-driven? Would a shared standard across foundries improve clarity and interoperability, or would it restrict the flexibility required in a competitive marketplace?

The discussion also considers the feedback loop between industry and education but recognizes this might not be a simple 2-way relationship. Educational frameworks teach students to analyze typeface structure morphologically that develops and pushes their critical thinking into terminology and formal conceptual approaches. Industry platforms, meanwhile, optimize for user navigation and discovery, organizing typefaces by searchability, style names, and commercial categories. Yet, the terminology and conceptual structures taught in design schools shape how future designers search for and evaluate fonts as/for customers. Should industry classification mirror pedagogical frameworks, or should it evolve independently into parallel frameworks (creator- and user-focused)? And if misalignment exists, who ultimately adapts—the market or the classroom?

By addressing these questions, the panel aims to clarify whether greater coherence between teaching and commercial categorization is desirable—and what a future-facing industry framework should prioritize.

Resources

Ideally we can assume that all participants are familiar with these resources from ATypI: a resolution, a presentation and a panel discussion:

Speaker

Ann Bessemans

Ann Bessemans (prof. dr.), Belgium Hasselt_ is a legibility expert and awarded typographic designer who founded the practical legibility lab READSEARCH at PXL-MAD School of Arts and Hasselt University, where she also teaches and directs the international Master's program Reading Type & Typography. With a PhD (under the supervision of Gerard Unger) from Leiden and Hasselt Universities, her data-driven legibility research, supported by multiple Microsoft grants, aims to improve typeface design and typographies for diverse reading needs, including those with impairments. She actively engages in various academic and research roles, actively participating as a board of director at ATypI.

Sofie Beier
Speaker

Sofie Beier

Sofie Beier is a professor at the Royal Danish Academy and head of the Centre for Visibility Design, where she leads a multidisciplinary team exploring how typography and visual design affect reading performance. Her research is grounded in psychophysics and focuses on improving typeface legibility – particularly for readers with visual or cognitive challenges, as well as in demanding reading situations.

She is the author of Reading Letters: Designing for Legibility and the Type Tricks series, and has published widely on evidence-based approaches to typeface legibility. As co-founder of the typeface analysis studio Typ, she collaborates with industry partners to translate scientific findings into practical design solutions.

Beier has been a regular speaker at ATypI conferences for over two decades, sharing research that bridges design practice and scientific inquiry to advance typographic accessibility and reader-centred design.