Famous Typographer

1. Matthew Carter

Nationality: British
Era: Contemporary
Education: Internship at Joh. Enschedé in The Netherlands
Foundry: Carter & Cone
Famous Fonts Designed: Georgia, Verdana, Tahoma, Bell Centennial
Designed for: Time, Washington Post, The New York Times, Boston Globe, Wired, and Newsweek
Find Out More: Matthew Carter Ted Talk: My Life in Typefaces

2. Max Miedinger

Nationality: Swiss
Era: Mid-20th Century
Education: Kunstgewerbeschule
Famous Fonts: Helvetica (with Eduard Hoffmann)
Other Skills: Typesetter
Find Out More: Resources on Max Miedinger

3. John Baskerville

Nationality: British
Era: 18th Century
Famous Fonts: Baskerville
Other Skills: Printing, paper, and ink production, lacquerwork and papier-maché
Find Out More: John Baskerville

4. Tobias Frere-Jones

Nationality: American
Era: Contemporary
Education: Rhode Island School of Design
Foundry: Frere-Jones Type
Famous Fonts: Gotham, Interstate, Archer (with Jonathan Hoefler)
Designed for: The Boston Globe, The New York Times, Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, and the Whitney Museum
Find Out More: Frere-Jones Press

5. Adrian Frutiger

Nationality: Swiss
Era: Late 20th century
Education: Kunstgewerbeschule
Foundry: Deberny & Peignot
Famous Fonts: Univers, Frutiger, Avenir
Fonts used for: London street signage, Paris Metro, Deutsche Bank, GE, Apple
Find Out More: Frutiger’s Obituary (He died this year)

6. Erik Spiekermann

Nationality: German
Era: Contemporary
Education: Berlin’s Free University
Design Firm: Edenspiekermann
Famous Fonts: Berliner Grotesk, FF Meta, ITC Officina Sans
Designed for: Berlin Transit, Audi, Volkswagen, Nokia
Other Skills: Graphic design, Letterpress
Find Out More: Spiekerblog

7. Claude Garamond

Nationality: French
Era: 16th Century
Education: Apprenticed with Antoine Augereau
Famous Fonts: Garamond
Designed for: King François I
Find Out More: Garamond’s Biography

8. Stanley Morison

Nationality: British
Era: Early 20th Century
Education: Self-taught
Foundry: Consulted for the Monotype Corporation
Famous Fonts: Times New Roman (with Victor Lardent), revival of Baskerville
Other Skills: Print Historian
Find Out More: Stanley Morison: Changing the Times

9. Carol Twombly

Nationality: American
Era: Contemporary
Education: Rhode Island School of Design, Stanford University
Famous Fonts: Trajan, Myriad, Adobe Caslon, Chaparral
Designed for: Adobe
Find Out More: Adobe Type Designers: Carol Twombly

10. Jonathan Hoefler

Nationality: American
Era: Contemporary
Education: Rhode Island School of Design
Foundry: Hoefler Type Foundry
Famous Fonts: Hoefler Text, Requiem, Archer (with Frere-Jones)
Designed for: Guggenheim Museum, Rolling Stone, Harper’s Bazaar, New York Times Magazine
Find Out More: Jonathan Hoefler

11. Paul Renner

Nationality: German
Era: Early 20th Century
Education: Several Universities
Famous Fonts: Futura
Other Skills: Author, Painter
Find Out More: Paul Renner Biography

12. Jan Tschichold

Nationality: Swiss
Era: Early 20th Century
Famous Fonts: Sabon, Zeus
Designed for: Penguin Books
Other Skills: Graphic design, Calligraphy
Find Out More: jantschichold.de