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Type
Foundries
By Kathryn Henderson with Ina Saltz
T
his section is devoted to an
essential part of the design
process: the type foundry.
Foundries are vital because
they design and distribute typefaces.
The word “foundry” comes from the
era when type was made of metal, but
the term has survived the various tech-
nological transitions and continues
to be used in the age of digital type.
Originally, foundries manufactured
and distributed wood and metal type
for Linotype (129) machines and other
line casting or mechanical typesetting
machines. But today, most foundries are
digital type foundries that supply digital
typefaces in various formats including
TrueType and OpenType. There are three
main types of foundries: Mega foundries
(multifunctional commercial foundries),
large foundries (prolifi c partnerships and
collaborations), and independent found-
ries (small-scale but signifi cant foundries
that may consist of one or a few design-
ers). This stratifi cation is arbitrary in
terms of size and business structure, but it
is made in an attempt to explain the com-
plexity of conducting the business of type
in a world in which readers consume on a
wide variety of media.
Some of the largest and best-known
foundries include Adobe (124), Bitstream
(124), and Monotype Imaging (125).
Across the globe there are hundreds, if
not thousands of type foundries. This list
is just a small cross section of some of the
more notable and successful foundries
in operation today. We’ve also included
retailers/distributors, which are suppliers
but not designers of fonts.
Dada1, P22 Type Foundry
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Mega Foundries
Mega Foundries (the large commercial foundries that design, sell, and distribute typefaces) may also hold
trademarks for typeface names and market proprietary font-related software. They may be a division
of a corporation or owned by a parent company. Some of the most notable mega foundries are now defunct,
such as American Type Founders created in by the merger of twenty-three type foundries
(now subsumed by Monotype Imaging []). The mega foundries that today dominate the typography
marketplace have either adapted to or driven the new technologies in typographic development.
John Warnock and Charles Geschke founded the San
Jose, California–based Adobe Systems in . Since
its inception, the company has been a major player in
both the desktop publishing and design industries.
From until , Sumner Stone () served
as Adobe’s director of typography. He licensed the
company’s initial range of fonts from Linotype
() and International Typography Corporation
type libraries. To respond to the growing need for
fonts, Stone started the Adobe Originals program
in . With help from designers such as Robert
Slimbach () and Carol Twombly (), the program
has released many original designs, including
Minion, Lithos, and Myriad, plus revivals of classic
typefaces such as Garamond () and Caslon ().
In addition to typography, Adobe’s best-known
contributions to creative industries have been its
PostScript graphics—developed in the mid s
() and implemented by Apple for the company’s
laser printers—the fi le format, and Adobe’s
range of creative programs including such fl agships
as Illustrator, InDesign, and Photoshop.
Adobe
www.adobe.com
Bitstream, Inc.
www.bitstream.com
In , a group of typographic professionals including
Matthew Carter () and Mike Parker founded Bitstream,
Inc., the fi rst company to create fonts for digital type-
setting. The founders anticipated a major shift in the
publishing industry, from phototypesetting to computer-
based publishing. They shared the philosophy that the
industry needed a vendor that specialized in creating
fonts to work on any device and in any format.
The Marlborough, Massachusetts–based company
digitized classic typefaces by using each font’s earliest
type specimens to inform the development of its digital
version. One of Bitstream’s best-known typefaces is Swiss
, a Helvetica () clone developed for use digitally.
In addition to Helvetica, the foundry off ers more
than , fonts including, among others, Bitstream’s
original, digitized versions of Times New Roman
() and Courier. Bitstream also has developed font
technologies such as TrueDoc, WebFont, and Font
Fusion, and owns the online type retailer MyFonts
(), www.myfonts.com, which currently off ers more
than , fonts from diff erent foundries.
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Monotype Imaging
www.monotypeimaging.com
The Monotype Corporation was an
independent British company that man-
ufactured hardware and developed
type for its printing machines, includ-
ing the Monophoto and the LaserComp.
Since those days, the company has gone
through acquisitions, including a pur-
chase by the Group that resulted in a
split between the hardware and type divi-
sions and lead to the formation of the type
company, Monotype Typography.
In , Agfa acquired Monotype
Typography, integrating it into its
operations to form the Afga-Monotype
Corporation. In , Associates
purchased the company and renamed
it Monotype Imaging, Inc.
Today, Monotype Imaging owns
Linotype (), International Typeface
Corporation (), and various font
distributors such as AscenderFonts
() (www.ascenderfonts.com) and
Font.com (www.font.com), which off ers
more than , font products. In
addition to retail fonts, Monotype also
specializes in custom fonts for branding
agencies and corporations. Some of
Monotype’s most popular typefaces
include Bembo (), Times New
Roman (), Gill Sans (), and Arial.
Bembo
Gill Sans
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Large Foundries
There are small diff erences between mega foundries and large foundries. Like the former, large foundries also hold
trademarks for the most common typefaces and produce a great number of typefaces, though not to the same extent.
Hermann Berthold founded the H. Berthold
foundry in in Berlin. The foundry’s
best-known font is Akzidenz Grotesk (),
which it released in . By the foundry
had become one of the largest in the world,
with offi ces throughout Europe.
In , Günter Gerhard Lange began
working with the company and in addition
to designing typefaces, he oversaw the reviv-
als of classic faces such as Baskerville (),
Bodoni (), and Garamond (). In addi-
tion to typefaces, Berthold also developed
proprietary typesetting equipment such as
the phototypesetting machine, the Diatype,
and the Diatronic.
In H. Berthold ceased operations
due to fi nancial troubles. In Chicago-
based Berthold Types acquired all of the
copyrights, trademarks, and design rights
associated with Berthold Exklusiv Collection,
which consists of more than typefaces
including the fonts Block, City, and Quadra
. Lange acted as an artistic consultant for
the company until his death in .
H. Berthold AG
www.bertholdtypes.com
Elsner+Flake
www.elsner-fl ake.com
In , after ten years of designing type and digitizing fonts and
logos, Veronika Elsner and Günther Flake founded ElsnerFlake
design studio. The company, based in Hamburg, Germany, aims
to produce a continuously growing library of digital fonts.
Currently ElsnerFlake supplies more than , fonts worldwide,
most of which are not electronically modifi ed and were designed
with particular attention to detail (for example, complete kerning
[] tables, individually designed accents, and Old Style numerals).
Some of the foundry’s more popular typefaces include Petras Script,
Nord, and Bank Sans Caps.
Emigre, Inc.
www.emigre.com
Emigre Inc., founded in by husband-and-
wife duo Zuzana Licko () and Rudy VanderLans,
is a type foundry, publisher, and distributor of
software based in Sacromento, California. Licko
designed the foundry’s fi rst fonts for its type
journal, Emigre magazine, a font the foundry
off ered to the publication’s readers.
Over the years, Emigre transformed from a
vehicle to showcase the foundry’s typefaces into
a graphic design journal exploring the disci-
pline’s various facets. The journal folded in
after publishing for twenty-one years. Today, the
foundry holds more than original typeface
designs including Mrs. Eaves, Mr. Eaves, Brothers,
and Democratica.
Emigre Catalog
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