Pioneers and Trailblazers of Type Design

Living Designers, Current Trailblazers:

Frere-Jones and Hoefler.

Tobias Frere-Jones: In 2000, Hoefler and Frere-Jones was commissioned by GQ magazine to design a typeface with a geometric structure that felt fresh and masculine.  Out of this commission came Frere-Jone’s Gotham.  In 2002 Gotham became a favorite of designers because of its versatility.  Also in 2000, Frere-Jones designed Knockout.  This family contains a numbering system much like Frutiger’s Univers. (Graphic Design Referenced, Page 378/79)

Jonathan Hoefler: In the late 80s and early 90s, type foundries began translating their typefaces to digital fonts.  Hoefler stated some of the best typefaces were becoming the worst fonts.  He wanted to establish a family that would establish a standard for what typeface design and development in the digital age should be.  Hoefler works with Tobias Frere-Jones and is a modern type foundry making great strides. (Graphic Design Referenced, Page 380)

Zuzana Licko: In 1996 Licko designed Mrs. Eaves for Émigré Fonts.  Licko attempted to reinterpret an old classic in Baskerville (designed in the 1750s).  It is an elegant and versatile design and stood apart from the grunge and display typefaces of the 1990s. (Graphic Design Referenced, Page 381)

Bell Centennial.

Matthew Carter: Carter designed Bell Centennial over the period of 1976-78 for AT&T.  Carter was working for Linotype and was commissioned by Mike Parker to update Bell Gothic.  There were many constraints Carter had to work around when designing this typeface. (Graphic Design Referenced, Page 382)

Barry Deck: Deck designed Template Gothic in 1990 for Émigré Fonts.  An old hand-drawn laundry sign inspired this font.  He said the typeface was designed to look “as if it had suffered the distortive ravages of photomechanical reproduction.”  Barry Deck studied at CalArts where Ed Fella and Jeffery Keedy encouraged type experimentation.  This typeface was both praised and criticized as a representative of the 1990s. (Graphic Design Referenced, Page 382)

Deceased Designers, Pioneers of type:

Claude Garamond: Garamond has many varied families, styles and widths.  Claude Garamond was believed to have designed the first version in the fifteenth century and since then it has been interpreted and redesigned numerous times. (Graphic Design Referenced, Page 364)

Firmin Didot: Firmin Didot designed Didot in 1784 in France.  Didot wanted to create a cleaner and more legible font than those of the day.  He used a high contrast in the strokes.  This style personified a modern style. (Graphic Design Referenced, Page 367)

Gill Sans.

Eric Gill: In 1927 Eric Gill released Gill Sans through Monotype Corporation.  This typeface is a sans serif inspired by serif fonts, giving it a less mechanic feel.  The various weights in the font allow for flexibility in its applications. (Graphic Design Referenced, Page 370)

Max Miedinger: Oh Helvetica.  Designed by Miedinger and Edouard Hoffman, this font is one of the most widely used and versatile — also making it one of the most controversial in the sense that many see it as overused.  Helvetica was designed in 1957 and was one of the most used typefaces in the 1960s and 70s.In 2007 a documentary on the font was directed by Gary Hustwit and showcased a lot of that “love it or hate it” mentality that comes with the font. (Graphic Design Referenced, Page 373)

Robert Besley: In 1845 Besley designed Clarendon for the Fann St. Foundry.  During this time period, the industrial revolution was going on and typography expanded in support of the production of large posters and advertisements.  Bold fonts were the rage, as were decorative fonts.  Besley’s font was only protected for three year and after that was widely pirated. (Graphic Design Referenced, Page 375)

Clarendon.