Notable Type Designers: Matthew Carter

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Typography is a vital part of graphic design, and the expansion of this field has provided current artists with almost limitless possibilities. Researching type styles is important because it adds diversity to a graphic artist’s work and it may possibly provide inspiration for creating one’s own font designs. There are many type designers, both past and present, who have had a great impact on the field and who are worthy of studying. One of those designers is Matthew Carter
Matthew Carter, born in 1937 in England, has typography in his blood. His father, Harry, was also a respected typography designer, specializing in punch cut procedure. Matthew Carter had considered attending Oxford with the intention of obtaining a degree in English Literature, but ultimately, his interest in typography prevailed, and he began an internship at the prestigious Enschede Printing House in Haarlem (AIGA, 2014). Carter immersed himself in the type industry and eventually became a free-lance designer based in London.
Carter has achieved great recognition in his field. He has worked with other notable designers, including Paul Radisch, Mike Parker, and Cherie Cone. He was co-founder of the innovative design studio Bitstream, which he founded in 1981 with Parker, and in 1994, he formed Carter & Cone with Cherie Cone. More recently, he has been a contributing designer with Microsoft; his work for Microsoft includes Georgia and Verdana. Carter has received numerous awards for his work including The Type Director’s Club Medal of Excellence in 1997 and the 2010 MacArthur Fellowship (myfonts.com, 2014). His work has influenced many current type designers.
The fonts that Carter has designed are known by everyone who has a computer. They are the typeface...

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...eating innovative and effective types. His work reflects his respect for the history of typography, and he has clearly been influenced by artists, printers, and writers (Design Museum, 2005). More importantly, Carter demonstrates the importance of font selection as a means of conveying mood and theme. His work ranges from classic Greek to space age modern, and each font has its own special nuances that give it a unique appearance. Matthew Carter has provided a valuable set of tools for all graphic designers to infuse into their work.

Works Cited

“Matthew Carter” Design Museum, 2005. Online 60may 2014. http://designmuseum.org/design/matthew-carter “Matthew Carter” myfonts.com. Online 6 May 2014.http://www.myfonts.com/person/Matthew_Carter/

Miller, J. Abbott. “Matthew Carter” AIGA, 1997. Online 5 May 2014.
http://www.aiga.org/medalist-matthewcarter/

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