type.today playlist: mastering

We asked our authors what music they listen to while working on mastering and hinting

March 17, 2025


We divided the type design process into four stages. The first is sketching and drafting, the second — drawing the typeface and expanding the glyph set, the third is kerning, and the fourth is mastering. Then we asked our authors to send five tracks that they listen to during each of these stages, and combined them into four playlists.

In this material, we share what music our authors listen to while working on mastering and hinting. You can listen to the full playlist on Spotify, Apple Music, and SoundCloud.

ah

  • Alja Herlah Spektra
  • Type Salon, co-founder


as

  • Anna Seslavinskaya Healthgoth
  • Be Unicorn, creative director


ad

  • Anya Danilova Normalidad
  • Independent type designer


cs

I have a tendency to listen to the same album over and over until a project is finished. When I used to proof a lot of hinting, I would repeat Wild Gift and Los Angeles by X, and Raw Power by Iggy and The Stooges.


cf


dc

  • Daria Cohen Zloy
  • Independent type designer


djr

I am learning to play the mandolin and occasionally play with some musicians in the area. So when I listen to music, I am usually listening to the songs that we play together as a form of practice.


db

  • Denis Bashev Windward
  • Independent creative designer


en

  • Elena Novoselova NWT Bodoni Agse
  • Independent type designer, educator


eb

  • Emmanuel Besse Signal
  • Formagari, founder


fc

  • Fer Cozzi Tomasa
  • Independent type designer, educator


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These are the tracks that shaped Factor B — a tribute to the era of early analog electronic music of the ’70s and ’80s.

jbl


je

  • Jordi Embodas Trola
  • Independent type designer


ld

  • Lucas Descroix Nostra
  • Independent type designer


ms


mf


nt


pn


pt

  • Pizza Typefaces Metal
  • Independent type and graphic design studio


ri

  • Rodion Ilyukhin Retiler
  • Independent product and type designer