There seems to be two schools of thought when it comes to art with words. One school (this is where my brother lives) hates it. “I don’t want to have to read art!” The other school (me!) loves it. “Words are pretty!” These are probably the people who also read the little blurbs in the back of books that describe the font used and its history, which leads me to my point: words can be art and not just in the literary sense. Just ask these famous typographers:
Stanley Morison: He wasn’t from Italy, but nonetheless, he is the creator of every college professor’s favorite font: Times New Roman. (I don’t know about you, but if one of my professor’s didn’t specify to write in Times New Roman I immediately switched to the slightly larger “Arial” font. College was a rebellious time for me.) Morison was an advisor for the British newspaper, The Times, and in 1931 recommended they update their print. Technically, the artist was Victor Lardent, but Morison gets the credit because he fully instructed Lardent’s work. I think it was similar to how famous artists are credited for pieces that their students work on too. I’m sure neither Morison, nor Lardent expected magical typing machines to be using their typeface every day nearly 100 years later.
Matthew Carter: Carter has to be on our list because he is the mind behind Verdana, which I like to use for this blog! If you’ve used Tahoma, Georgia, or a bunch of other fonts, you also have this guy to thank! Carter has created lettering for major newspapers like, Newsweek, The Washington Post, and the Boston Globe. He teaches at Yale, has won awards from the Art Institute of Boston, is a MacArthur “genius grant” recipient, and has his work in MoMA. I guess he’s a pretty accomplished guy, if you’re into elite awards and whatnot.
Carol Twombly: Women can be successful typographers too! You might not think so, if you Google lists of noteworthy typographers, but Twombly proves otherwise! She designed for Adobe, and I find her work particularly interesting because she created “Trajan” after translating ancient Roman inscriptions. Twombly is currently dabbling in some other art forms like textile painting, beading, and basket weaving.
What is your go-to font? Or should I say, of which are you most font?