A Typographic Homecoming

Today marks a new chapter in my 30+ year career in fonts. I am back at Monotype Imaging after a seven year journey, and yes it feels great to be back!

You see, today Monotype Imaging announced the acquisition of Ascender Corp, a specialized font development company I helped co-found. At Ascender, I was responsible for building our font websites including AscenderFonts.com and FontsLive.com, and also GoudyFonts.com, our tribute to Fred & Bertha Goudy.

Like many of the visitors to Fonts.com and readers of this blog, I have a love for type and typography that runs deep into my soul. I first discovered my attraction to type in graphic arts classes in high school, then honed my passion at the Rochester Institute of Technology. I had to join the International Typographical Union for my first summer job at an advertising typography shop, where I had the amazing experience of setting type in hot metal, with PhotoTypositors and AlphaType typesetting equipment. The best feeling was proofing an advertisement for a customer in the afternoon, then seeing it in the newspaper the next morning (and critiquing the quality).

While I don't consider myself to be old, I certainly have seen the technology of type evolve in fascinating ways over the past 30 years. Especially the past decade! With Web fonts, we have an entirely new chapter being written in type and typography. It is wonderful for both the designers and developers of fonts, and for those who consume type, as Web fonts will unlock the creative palette of font choice on the Web, in e-books and in other HTML-based publications.

I couldn't think of a better team of people to be associated with than the folks here at Monotype Imaging who also run Fonts.com. They share the same passion for high-quality fonts and creative expression that I do. Thanks for your time in reading this post, and I look forward to contributing more articles on type, technology and other topics in the future.