The Alchemist’s Magic (Thomas Hoyer: 2.5 day)

Level: intermediate

Have you been to all the workshops, gathered scripts, techniques and tools, but never learned the “spells” to turn these ingredients into a piece of fine art? Thomas Hoyer is one of the few calligraphers with a masters in graphic design and who mainly works as a freelance designer.

Join him for a fun ride into the design world and let your mind run wild and stoke the fire of your imagination. Learn how to design a text, a word, the letters themselves. How to visualize a text‘s content. How to add emotion and expression to your lettering. How to twist and turn the usual into the unusual. How to use both sides of your brain. And, best of all: How to break all the rules you have ever learned.

This workshop is not about a finished piece but to create a “spell-book” filled with ideas to browse through if you have a text you want to write but have no idea how to. Ideas that can be used with any script or calligraphic tool you are familiar with and with any skill level.

Supply List: Your basic kit, and everything you like to work with. Some quotes with about 10-15 words.

About the instructor: Writing and creating letters has been a passion for Thomas Hoyer for more than 30 years. He studied graphics and calligraphy with Prof. Werner Eikel in Aachen, Germany (the home town of Charlemagne), and has been influenced by the thoughts of Hans-Joachim Burgert. Hoyer’s focus is the visualization of a text’s content and the conviction that every letter is only a definition with infinite possibilities of shape. He has worked for the Calligraphy Department of the Office of Foreign Affairs, and now works as a freelance lettering artist for design agencies, institutions, and private persons. His 18 years of teaching experience include workshops for Russian type designers in Moscow, and he teaches widely throughout the US and Canada.