Special Topics in Graphic Design: Open Source ran from January to May of 2018 at the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA). The course asked students to explore F/LOS software and ideologies in producing graphic design. Other than “earnestly experiment with F/LOS tools,” the main projects were working with the MICA library on an identity and print materials, and collaboratively writing, designing, and printing a book that was exemplary of and about our F/LOS exercises and experiments. Each week we discussed how F/LOS’s ideas and technologies might serve the students’ (and the greater design communities) needs better than mainstream offerings.

Three lectures and workshops at MICA inspired the class’ origins. Loraine Furter and Eric Schrijver, members of a collective known as “Open Source Publishing,” ran two workshops: one using public domain resources in one’s design practice, and one customizing open source fonts. David Crossland of Google Fonts visited MICA and demoed new open source variable typefaces that Google and Type Network , collaborated on. Ending his lecture, Crossland explained how he ended up working at Google Fonts in the first place: being a lover and supporter of F/LOS. With Furter and Schrijver’s examples for how design practice might embrace F/LOS, and through casual conversation with Crossland about his libre font and software background, F/LOS ideals and tools felt like good exploratory territory for a graphic design course.