Playing Games and Telling Stories

Typography is taught as a core subject within the majority of graphic design degrees. However, because of its rich theoretical and practical content, typographic teaching carries a series of inherent challenges. In order to develop typographic awareness, students are expected to learn about a wide array of subjects, from the history of their writing system, to current typesetting conventions and, in some academic programs, even typeface design.

Gamification (the use of game principles) and storytelling (contextualization) are two powerful tools to address such information overload. Gamification motivates students to learn by introducing several mechanics (progress, narrative, control, feedback, collaboration, challenges, mastery, and social connections) which help them retain information and develop new skills. Storytelling, on the other hand, provides a narrative structure (setup, confrontation, and resolution) to typography, presenting both its historical and theoretical content in a contextual manner.

This presentation will showcase examples on how gamification and storytelling can be, and have been, implemented within typographic education (focusing on the learning improvements and risks of doing so). Its main objective is to open a dialogue between educators, professionals, and students on how to address typographic teaching and, by consequence, typographic learning.