Siebe, a friend from my old class, yesterday opened his first solo exhibition in a small gallery in Leiden, a mid-sized university town north of Den Haag. A relaxed evening with real good oil paintings about American Jazz artists, wine, a very nervous speech, weird conversation ("So, how are the streets in Germany?") and the conclusion that I'm living in the wrong town. Because Leiden is actually really beautiful – looks a lot like a small Amsterdam with all its 'cute' streets and canals, just not as loud and missing all the tourists. Definitely worth coming back! All except Cynthia seemed to think so, as she constantly got stuck in the pavement with her high heels...

In class with Frank Blokland – commander of the broad nip and pointed pen. Seriously, I'm learning so much about type from this guy, I wish I could spend another semester here and just do 'Letter Ontwerpen' from the very start.

At least when you look at what the guys from Postgraduate Type & Media are doing. Yesterday, they had their last pre-presentation before the final one in June. And let me tell you, this isn't some cheap-ass modular font stuff that can be done in three days – this is the real thing: making letters from scrap, forming each one individually, searching for perfect angles, curves and legibility. When you see all the things that you have to watch out for, hence how much effort is involved, you come to understand why it takes at least a year to make a worthy font.