Hmm, well, does the world need new music? Or new paintings? Or new books? There are a lot of good ones around. Don’t you think? ;)

A couple of good reads on the subject:
http://tdc.org/tdc/archives/139
http://ilovetypography.com/2010/04/17/the-vignelli-12-or-we-use-too-many...

bolivar,

the human eye can perceive differences of around one six hundredth of an inch. That's a mighty lot of wiggle room that allows for considerable variation even within a single inch.
Today much reading is done on screens of various kinds - a new kind of of ink and paper, essentially - which demands a fresh look at font design and font technology.
So the answer is yes, IMHO.
But it somewhat depends upon what you would consider "new". Many, perhaps most, typefaces are derived from others.

Purple.

goldfish

...there ir a huge range of good fonts in every category.

Not a surplus of fonts, but a scarcity of categories.
Hope this helps.

Hi Yago, can you please give more details about this course?

Does the world need new kinds of nails? The nail was old technology in Biblical times, but there are still people who make their living by designing new kinds of nails and nail delivery systems.

A shirt is a shirt, but every year clothing manufacturers come out with new shirt designs, and for some reason people go out and buy them, not just because their old ones are worn out but also because the new ones are different from last year's shirts.

So, do we need new font designs? Mostly not, but because of technological changes, every now and then we actually do.

Can we use new type designs? Sure, why not.

Here are my thoughts on the subject. let me know if I'm wrong. Whether you like it or not, I think there will always be an element of fashion in any type of design. Just as the common idea of how someone should look has changed over time, the idea of what type should look like changes. Both of these examples change over a relative long period of time, whereas for example the fashion in clothing changes much faster. Because the fashion for type changes slower than for clothing, you might argue that fewer typefaces per timespan are needed than clothing, which, I guess, is the case. Instead of saying that the fashion in type takes longer to change, you might also say that it just changes less in the same timespan. The old versions of Caslon look out of balance to me, while William's Clason is IMO adapted to the present day fashion. Although these changes might not be noticable in a year, they are there. This means that there will never be a limit to new typefaces. Apart from the above there is also the issue of changing technolgies and the countless different situations in which type is needed. These situations also include the different kind of looks brands want to have for their typefaces.

Hope this helps convincing you. Don't stop designing type!

New typefaces are driven by changes in technology and culture. These changes are mitigated by the requirement of social continuity wherein each social environment has its own boundaries of allowable variance. As long as there is change in technology and culture, and until there is a universal, monolithic social environment, there will be new typefaces.

you are asking yourself the wrong question, you should be asking "Am I good enough to design a typeface people will WANT(forget about need, want is more powerful)?"