TYPEFACE DESIGN
2025 2024 2023
BOSTON UNIVERSITY
RUIJIE CHEN
DOVES TYPE
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I started with Doves Type because of its history—it carries a kind of quiet tension. While redrawing it, I noticed that the uppercase and lowercase felt disconnected. Some of the serif details made it seem like two different systems trying to coexist. I decided to adjust the serif forms, especially in the lowercase, to make the relationship between cases more balanced. I didn’t want to modernize it too much, but I also didn’t want to treat it as a fossil. I kept its proportions and overall rhythm, but cleaned up certain curves and spacing issues so it could work better in a contemporary setting. The goal wasn’t to improve it, just to let it breathe in a new context.
Doves type specimen by Ruijie Chen
Reference type specimens
Doves type specimen by Ruijie Chen
Doves type specimen by Ruijie Chen
Doves type specimen by Ruijie Chen
Doves type specimen by Ruijie Chen
Doves type specimen by Ruijie Chen
Doves type specimen by Ruijie Chen
Doves type specimen by Ruijie Chen
Doves type specimen by Ruijie Chen
Doves type specimen by Ruijie Chen
Doves type specimen by Ruijie Chen
Doves type specimen by Ruijie Chen
Doves type specimen by Ruijie Chen
TYPEFACE DESIGN
2025
2024
2023
INSTRUCTOR
Christopher Sleboda
TEACHING ASSISTANTS
Amanda Mundy (2025), Ash Wei (2024)
DESIGN
Erica Pritchett · Built with Cargo
ABOUT
This site documents student work from an advanced typeface design course taught by Christopher Sleboda and open to students in the MFA Graphic Design and BFA Graphic Design programs at Boston University, as well as students in the School of Visual Arts—including those in the new Visual Narrative MFA. The course provides a rigorous introduction to the conceptual and technical processes involved in creating original digital typefaces. Students explore the foundations of letterform construction—including structure, proportion, counterform, spacing, and rhythm—while developing their own typefaces.
Through research, sketching, and the use of digital tools like RoboFont, students engage with typographic history and contemporary practice to design functional and expressive typefaces. Each student produces a working font and a printed type specimen. This site showcases the results of that work, reflecting diverse design approaches and a deep engagement with the craft of type design.