Ann Bessemans

Ann Bessemans (prof. dr.) is a legibility expert and award-winning typographic/type designer. She founded the READSEARCH legibility research group at the PXL-MAD School of Arts and Hasselt University (Faculty of Architecture and Arts, and the Data Science Institute (DSI)). At PXL she teaches typography and type design. Ann is the program director of the international Master program ‘Reading Type & Typography’ where the subject matches READSEARCH’s research lines. In 2012, she obtained her PhD from Leiden University and Hasselt University under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Gerard Unger. She was granted multiple grants by Microsoft Advanced Reading Technologies (USA) for her innovative and pioneering projects, on for example visual prosody. Due to her data-driven approach to practical legibility studies, Ann has made contributions to the field of legibility research and international type and typographic design. These studies provide a robust scientific foundation, equipping type designers and typographers with valuable data to better serve the diverse reading needs of all, including those struggling and with impairments.

She actively engages in various academic and research roles, currently holding a membership at the Data Science Institute, actively participating in the working group Art, Science and Technology at the Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium for Science, an advisory board member for the journal Visible Language and an educational committee member and lecturer at the Plantin Institute of Typography. Ann Bessemans collaborates within interdisciplinary teams, initiating innovative research projects within the READSEARCH research group’s areas of focus. Ann is known internationally as a lecturer and workshop leader in typography and interdisciplinary matters.