About

Spec

Spec shows both the graphic and functional sides of abstraction. Half of the family is designed for up-close viewing, and the other half is for long-distance: Spec Near and Spec Far. Near compresses the alphabet, simplifying shapes and crunching letter-widths. Far interprets the same shapes in a cruder manner, ruthlessly prying negative spaces open and filling closed forms. Across the whole family, Spec lets the reader’s mind do some of the work.

Ryan Bugden

Ryan Bugden is an independent graphic and type designer based in Brooklyn. Before graduating from Type and Media, he received his BFA in Graphic Design from RISD, completed the Type@Cooper Extended Program, and worked as a senior designer at Pentagram and Red Antler. He is now taking on new projects and teaching at his type design course Type Sessions.

a

b

c

ryanbugden.com

Type and Media is a master’s course in typeface design at the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague (KABK). During the first semester, the students have several ongoing modules with concurrent projects, interspersed with a diverse set of workshops. During the second semester, each student focuses on a single project. This site showcases the final projects of the class of 2019. Enjoy!

Special thanks to the faculty and supervisors at Type and Media for their expertise, wisdom, and support: Erik van Blokland, Peter Verheul, Paul van der Laan, Peter Biľak, Françoise Berserik, Frank Grießhammer, Petr van Blokland, Marja van der Burgh, Fred Smeijers, Just van Rossum, Jan Willem Stas, Ilya Ruderman, Kristyan Sarkis, Timothy Donaldson, Bas Smidt, our guests Paul Barnes and Henrik Birkvig, and our neighborly friends Tânia Raposo, Namrata Goyal, and Phill Specter.

The t]m19 graduates are Alexis Boscariol (France), Anya Danilova (Russia), Céline Odermatt (Switzerland), Ethan Cohen (United States), Eva Abdulina (Latvia), Fabiola Mejía (Costa Rica), Joona Louhi (Finland), Luke Charsley (United Kingdom), Michelangelo Nigra (Italy), Ricard Garcia (Catalonia), Rutherford Craze (United Kingdom), and Ryan Bugden (United States).

Website by Rutherford, Ryan, Ethan, and Alexis. The typefaces used are Brenner Sans, Action Text, and Action Condensed, courtesy of Typotheque, Letterror, and Commercial Type. Thank you!