So how difficult is Chinese typography? Very!

Interesting and insightful, Typegeist's latest entry in its series of talks is all about Chinese type design and the multiple challenges it demands from the creatives in the country.

In the interview, Synoptic Office’s Caspar Lam and YuJune Park invited leading type designers from mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong to discuss the present and future of Chinese type design. Joe Chang, Julius Hui, and Li Zhiqian answer every bit of question on the massive work that a standard Chinese text font demands (it contains a minimum of seven thousand glyphs) and the new technologies that are about to change the way type designers work on Chinese characters. 

"How would you define Chinese typography?" asks Synoptic Office. "Difficult" answers Julius Hui. "There is nothing called Chinese typography right now because we don’t have textbooks on it or even a definition of Chinese typography. Many people think they are doing Chinese typography. However, I would say they are just playing with type or making typographic design. Hopefully, type education will improve."

Variable fonts and advanced software are sure to change the way Chinese typography will evolve, especially online. Read more insights on China's typographic evolution here.