234: Baselines and Basslines with Jamie Chang of Manic Type
- Diana Varma
- Mar 18
- 2 min read
Welcome back!
This is the fourth episode in a 5-part guest lecture series, speaking with a diverse range of design and typography pros from across North America!
This episode features Jamie Chang, founder of Manic Type based in Toronto, Canada. Jamie is a type designer, letterer and educator. His foundry produces winning commercial and custom typefaces. Commissions and collaborations include: Apple, ABC Dinamo, Canada Type, The Northern Block, OCAD U, Type Electives, Publicis, Jacknife, Food Media, Toronto Design Directory, Atélier Next Door. Jamie is a graduate of the Type@Cooper Condensed Program and earned his MDes from Type and Media KABK. You can find his work on Adobe Fonts, Type Network, Future Fonts and manictype.com.
In this conversation, you’ll hear Jamie draw parallels between brand identity design and type design, you’ll better understand his process and hear about ways that designing a typeface can get out of hand (in a both a good way and bad way). You’ll hear how Jamie decides what kind of type to design next, demystifying the licensing of his fonts, and why he doesn’t use AI in his process. Finally you’ll hear why creativity shouldn’t always be the goal.
The thread that travels throughout the conversation is a brilliant analogy comparing the type design industry to the music industry. You’ll never look at a font (or a guitar!) the same way again.
This episode was recorded as part of a guest lecture series in GCM 806 - Advanced Typography in winter 2025 at The Creative School at Toronto Metropolitan University.
Let’s listen in…
About Our Guest:
Jamie Chang, founder of Manic Type based in Toronto, Canada. Jamie is a type designer, letterer and educator. His foundry produces winning commercial and custom typefaces. Commissions and collaborations include: Apple, ABC Dinamo, Canada Type, The Northern Block, OCAD U, Type Electives, Publicis, Jacknife, Food Media, Toronto Design Directory, Atélier Next Door. Jamie is a graduate of the Type@Cooper Condensed Program and earned his MDes from Type and Media KABK. You can find his work on Adobe Fonts, Type Network, Future Fonts and manictype.com.
---
Music:
A Kwela Fella - John Bartmann licensed under a CC0 1.0 Universal License
Talk Paper Scissors Theme Music: Retro Quirky Upbeat Funk by Lewis Sound Production via Audio Jungle