Monotype & Commercial Type at Hearst

It was a heavy type week at Hearst, and a real treat having Monotype and Commercial Type come in to speak with us. Here's my quick round-up of two inspiring conversations.

Monotype, based in Massachusetts, specializes in digital typesetting and typeface design and is responsible for some of the most iconic fonts in use today. The Monotype machine was the first fully mechanical typesetter, paving the way for countless typefaces throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. Times New Roman, Gill Sans, Arial, and Bembo all came out of Monotype, as did work for clients including Google, Dominos, Sony, Hearst, and H&M. This piece on how to make clients care about fonts is well worth a read.

Commercial Type, based in New York, is the brainchild of Paul Barnes and Christian Schwartz, who we were lucky enough to meet. The studio publishes retail fonts developed by Barnes, Schwartz, their staff, and outside collaborators, and is perhaps best known for the award-winning Guardian Egyptian. My personal favorites are Austin and Graphik, both stunning, and the Arabic versions are equally worth checking out.

I loved the article How to Make Clients Care about Fonts (and why you should try)