Script Fonts Course by Type Design Class

The Script Fonts Course is a self-paced online video course by type designer Viktor Baltus, sold through his school, Type Design Class. It shows you how to take script lettering or calligraphy from paper and turn it into a working, connected script font in Glyphs. Along the way it covers how letters join, alternates, spacing and OpenType features, including initial, medial and final forms set up with a few lines of Python. Viktor offers help along the way, and the price is $249, excluding VAT.

Script fonts are among the hardest typefaces to get right. Every letter has to connect smoothly to every other letter, and a good script needs alternates so that repeated letters do not look mechanical. Hand-lettering artists often have beautiful drawings but no idea how to make them behave as a font. This course focuses on that specific gap, which general font courses usually skip or treat briefly.

What You Will Learn

The course concentrates on the techniques that make a script font feel hand-made. Topics include:

• Moving script lettering or calligraphy from paper into Glyphs
• Designing connections so letters join cleanly in any combination
• Drawing alternates to add variety and avoid repetition
• Spacing a connected script
• Setting up OpenType features for alternates and other substitutions
• Contextual forms for the start, middle and end of words, using simple Python

Who Is the Script Fonts Course For?

The official page names three groups: hand-lettering artists, calligraphers and designers, including type designers. If you sell lettering work, or have a notebook of brush or pointed-pen alphabets you would like to type with, this is the most direct fit within Type Design Class.

It is less suited to someone who has never drawn script letters at all, since the course starts from existing lettering rather than teaching calligraphy itself. If you are completely new to font software, the school's Font Making Course is a sensible first step.

Course Structure

The course follows the path from a lettered alphabet to a finished font:

• From paper to digital: preparing and bringing your lettering into Glyphs
• Connections: making joins that work across letter pairs
• Alternates: extra versions of letters for a natural rhythm
• Spacing: fitting connected letters evenly
• OpenType features: substitutions and contextual initial, medial and final forms with a little Python

The official page does not give a lesson count or total running time, so check it for the full module list. The school has also added seven "What's New" videos on Glyphs 4 to its existing courses.

Price and Access

The Script Fonts Course costs $249, excluding VAT. The Type Design Class courses page says enrolment opens twice a year, with the next enrolment listed for March 2027 and a waitlist in the meantime. Some course pages show a direct purchase button, so check the official page to see whether you can buy now or need to join the waitlist.

About the Instructor

Viktor Baltus is a type designer and illustrator with more than 20 years of experience in Adobe Illustrator, and the founder of an award-winning package design studio. He also created The Futur's Grids and Layout kit, which is listed on this site.

Things to Consider

• Software: you need Glyphs, which runs on macOS; check the Glyphs website for licence and trial options.
• Starting material: have a lettered or calligraphic alphabet ready, ideally scanned at good resolution.
• Code: the contextual forms use a few lines of Python; no programming background is mentioned as a requirement.
• Time: no total length is published, and connected scripts take patient testing, so allow plenty of practice time.
• Feedback: use the help on offer while you work rather than at the end.
• Order: consider the Font Making Course first if Glyphs is new to you.

How to Get the Most From It

Start with one word you love writing and make it work as a font before drawing the full alphabet. Test common letter pairs constantly as you build the Script Fonts Course project. A script that looks good in a single word but breaks in a sentence needs more work on its connections, and the earlier you see that, the less you redraw.

Start the Course

Interested in learning with Type Design Class?

Start Script Fonts Course

For the full syllabus and pricing, visit the official Type Design Class website.

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Last verified: November 12, 2026