Type@Cooper
Type@Cooper is the post-graduate typeface design certificate program of The Cooper Union in New York City. It offers Extended and Condensed certificate programs, public workshops, and the free Herb Lubalin Lecture Series, serving working designers and typography professionals seeking specialized type design training.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2010
- HeadquartersNew York, United States
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingServices
What Type@Cooper does
Type@Cooper is the post-graduate typeface design education program of The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, a private tuition-free college founded in 1859 in New York City. Launched in 2010 by Cooper Union's Continuing Education Department, Type@Cooper was the first dedicated post-graduate certificate program in typeface design in the United States. The program operates with a small core team of 6 staff and draws on a network of more than 100 instructors, guest critics, and workshop leaders drawn from the professional typeface design community.
The portfolio consists of two certificate programs — the Extended Program (three ten-week terms) and the Condensed Program (a five-week summer intensive priced at $5,525 per accepted student) — supplemented by open-enrollment public workshops, the free Herb Lubalin Lecture Series (recorded and distributed via Vimeo), and the co-organized annual Typographics Design Festival. Curriculum emphasizes hands-on typeface creation using industry-standard tools such as RoboFont and Adobe Creative Suite, with instruction spanning technique, technology, aesthetics, history, and theory. Cohorts are intentionally small (up to 16 in the Condensed program, up to 18 in-person or 14 online in the Extended program) to preserve close instructor interaction.
Revenue mechanics rest primarily on certificate program tuition, supplemented by non-refundable $75 application fees, $25-per-term workshop registration fees, and ancillary event revenue. The free lecture series and Typographics festival serve as community-building and top-of-funnel marketing channels rather than direct revenue streams. As a non-profit educational line of Cooper Union's Continuing Education Department, Type@Cooper does not have independent ownership, outside investors, or venture funding; it operates within the institution's tuition-free mission and is not accredited by the NYS Department of Education.
Type@Cooper firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Type@Cooper
- Legal name
- The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art
- Website
- https://coopertype.org
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2010
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Type@Cooper is the post-graduate typeface design certificate program of The Cooper Union in New York City. It offers Extended and Condensed certificate programs, public workshops, and the free Herb Lubalin Lecture Series, serving working designers and typography professionals seeking specialized type design training.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Type@Cooper industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Design Education
- NAICS
- Professional and Management Development Training (611430)
- SIC
- Services-Educational Services (8200)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Short-Term Certificate & Micro-Credential Programs (International) (EDAIAIAI)
Keywords
Where Type@Cooper is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- New York
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices4 records
Markets served
Type@Cooper business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others
Revenue model
- Certificate Program Tuition: Primary revenue stream from tuition fees for the post-graduate certificate programs. The Condensed Program costs $5,525 per accepted applicant, paid in full by a specified deadline.
- Application Fees: Non-refundable application fee of $75 required for each program application submission
- Workshop Enrollment: Public workshops are available for individual enrollment, with registration through the Continuing Education office or online portal. A one-time per term $25 registration fee applies.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| One time/ perpetual license | Multi-year contract | Condensed Program (5-week intensive) |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Public Workshops |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels6 records
Type@Cooper product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Type@Cooper delivers post-graduate certificate programs in typeface design at The Cooper Union in New York City, offering two tracks: the Extended Program (three terms of ten weeks each) and the Condensed Program (a five-week, 166-hour summer intensive). Beyond certificates, it runs public workshops, the free Herb Lubalin Lecture Series (recorded and posted on Vimeo), and the annual Typographics design festival. Students learn technique, technology, aesthetics, expression, history, and theory by designing their own professional-quality digital typefaces.
Product overview
Type@Cooper is an educational program at The Cooper Union in New York City offering post-graduate certificate programs in typeface design. The portfolio consists of the Extended Program (a three-term, 30-week certificate program), the Condensed Program (a 5-week intensive summer certificate), public workshops on lettering and type design topics, the free Herb Lubalin Lecture Series, and the annual Typographics Design Festival. Together these offerings provide comprehensive education in typeface design from foundational skills to advanced techniques, serving both certificate-seeking students and the general public.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Herb Lubalin Lecture Series: A free public lecture series that thematically follows the curriculum of Type@Cooper, offering students deeper insight into specific typography topics. Recordings are available on Vimeo.
- Typographics Design Festival
Products and services
- Extended Program (Type@Cooper Post-Graduate Certificate) Three-term post-graduate certificate program in typeface design (each term ten weeks), exploring typography through creating one's own typefaces with instruction in technique, technology, aesthetics, expression, history, and theory. For designers seeking formal post-graduate specialization.
- Condensed Program (Type@Cooper Post-Graduate Certificate) Rigorous 5-week, on-campus summer certificate program providing 166 in-class hours of foundational typeface design, calligraphy, history, theory, and digital production techniques. For designers seeking an intensive summer alternative.
- Public Workshops Workshops taught by industry professionals covering lettering, type history, typeface design, technology, and production, available to the general public through Continuing Education enrollment.
- Herb Lubalin Lecture Series Free public lecture series thematically following the program curriculum, offering deeper insight into specific typography topics, with recordings published online via Vimeo.
- Typographics Design Festival Annual design festival devoted to typography featuring talks, workshops, tours, book fair, TypeLab, and conference events, co-organized with the Herb Lubalin Study Center.
Quantifiable outcome
- 166 in-class hours in 5-week Condensed program; Extended program spans 3 terms of 10 weeks each
- +1 more outcomes
Companies that use Type@Cooper
Customer profileSegments2 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
Type@Cooper technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature3 records
Type@Cooper partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Four partnerships are on record, tiered core.
- Letterform ArchivecoreIn 2015, The Cooper Union partnered with the Letterform Archive in San Francisco to launch Type@Cooper West, a west-coast offshoot of the Type@Cooper program. This partnership evolved into the independent Type West program in 2018, demonstrating a successful collaboration that expanded the reach of Cooper's typography education model.
- TypeCulturecoreTypeCulture provides generous sponsorship for the livestream and recording of the Herb Lubalin Lecture Series, making educational content accessible to a global audience through the Type@Cooper Vimeo channel.
- Herb Lubalin Study Center of Design and TypographycoreThe Herb Lubalin Study Center at Cooper Union, a public graphic design archive emphasizing hands-on access to design and typography ephemera, is the sponsor of the Herb Lubalin Lecture Series. The Study Center opened in 1985 as an archive of modern design free and open to the public.
- Typographics Design FestivalcoreType@Cooper and the Herb Lubalin Study Center launched the annual Typographics design festival in 2015. The festival features talks, workshops, tours, a book fair, TypeLab, and more. Many Type@Cooper events are planned to coincide with the festival.
Scale indicators5 records
Recent moves10 records
Expansion highlights4 records
Type@Cooper competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- Royal College of Art: UK-based postgraduate design school with type-related specializations. Broader portfolio than Type@Cooper but competes for international design students seeking advanced credentials.
- School of Visual Arts (SVA): NYC-based design school that offers continuing education and degree programs overlapping with Type@Cooper's domain. Local NYC competitor for the same cohort of working designers.
- Rhode Island School of Design (RISD): Prestigious US design school with a graphic design program that includes typography. While not specialized in type design, it is a comparable destination for top US design talent.
- Parsons School of Design: NYC-based design school offering degree and continuing education programs in graphic design with typography components. Local competitor for working designers seeking advanced education.
Direct peers
- Type West (Letterform Archive): The successor to Type@Cooper West, Type West is a San Francisco-based post-graduate type design program that emerged directly from Type@Cooper's 2015 partnership with Letterform Archive. It is the most direct comparable program in the US typeface design education niche.
- University of Reading MA Type Design: UK-based MA in Type Design with a long history of producing professional type designers. Comparable structure (post-graduate, specialized, small cohort) to Type@Cooper's certificate programs.
- Werkplaats Typografie: Dutch post-graduate program in typography and type design with an experimental, project-based pedagogy. Comparable in selectivity and niche specialization to Type@Cooper.
- ECAL Master Type Design: Swiss post-graduate Master program in Type Design at ECAL (Lausanne). Competes for the same international pool of serious type design students with a similarly condensed, intensive structure.
- KABK Type & Media (Royal Academy of Art, The Hague): Premier international post-graduate program in typeface design at the Royal Academy of Art. Highly selective, project-based curriculum and global faculty — the international benchmark for programs like Type@Cooper.
- HfG Karlsruhe: German university of design with a recognized communication design program that includes type design instruction. Comparable European alternative for students considering Type@Cooper.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Type@Cooper social profiles
Digital presenceType@Cooper financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Type@Cooper leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles10 records
Type@Cooper funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Type@Cooper M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Type@Cooper
What does Type@Cooper do?
Type@Cooper delivers post-graduate certificate programs in typeface design at The Cooper Union in New York City, offering two tracks: the Extended Program (three terms of ten weeks each) and the Condensed Program (a five-week, 166-hour summer intensive). Beyond certificates, it runs public workshops, the free Herb Lubalin Lecture Series (recorded and posted on Vimeo), and the annual Typographics design festival. Students learn technique, technology, aesthetics, expression, history, and theory by designing their own professional-quality digital typefaces.
Is Type@Cooper a public or private company?
Type@Cooper is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was Type@Cooper founded?
Type@Cooper was founded in 2010. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Type@Cooper based?
Type@Cooper is headquartered in New York, United States, in the North America region.
How does Type@Cooper make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Certificate Program Tuition is the primary driver. The others are application Fees and workshop Enrollment.
Who are Type@Cooper's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are Royal College of Art, School of Visual Arts (SVA), Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) and Parsons School of Design. Direct peers are Type West (Letterform Archive), University of Reading MA Type Design, Werkplaats Typografie, ECAL Master Type Design, KABK Type & Media (Royal Academy of Art, The Hague) and HfG Karlsruhe.
Does Type@Cooper have an API?
No public API is recorded for Type@Cooper.
What industry is Type@Cooper in?
Type@Cooper's product category is Design Education. Its primary akta.pro industry code is EDAIAIAI, Short-Term Certificate & Micro-Credential Programs (International). Its NAICS code is 611430 and its SIC code is 8200.