Mark Simonson
Mark Simonson (born 1955) is an American independent font designer who works in St. Paul, Minnesota.[2][3][4][5][6]
Mark Simonson | |
---|---|
Born | 1955 (age 65–66) |
Nationality | American |
Occupation | Typeface designer |
Known for | Typeface design |
Career
Simonson has described his fonts as often being inspired by lettering styles of the past, such as the graphic design of the 1970s and Art Deco graphics.[7][8][9]
Simonson’s most popular font family is Proxima Nova (1994, revised 2005), a geometric-grotesque sans-serif design used by companies such as BuzzFeed, Mashable, NBC, The Onion and Wired.[10][11] As of October 2020, it is the seventeenth highest-selling family on font sales website MyFonts.[12] His fonts also include Anonymous Pro, a monospaced font designed for programming released under the OFL.
Simonson worked as a graphic designer before specialising in font design.[1][13][14] His career as a font designer got a boost when his partner Pat won money on the game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire,[15][16] as her success allowed him to take six months off from graphic design work to develop several new fonts that he could sell.[7][8] He has also written blog articles on the history of type design and the lettering styles used in films, including the type blog Typographica.[17][18]
References
- Simonson, Mark. "How I Became a Type Designer in Only 30 Years with Mark Simonson". Vimeo. Cooper Union. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
- Hutchinson, Grant. "Q & A: Mark Simonson". Typedia.
- O'Driscoll, Conor. "One Minute with Mark Simonson". Oneminutewith. Retrieved 10 August 2016.
- "Interview: Mark Simonson". Planet Typography. Retrieved 10 August 2016.
- "Interview: Mark Simonson". Eurekaville. Retrieved 10 August 2016.
- Morlighem, Sébastien. "Mark Simonson Studio: Breathing New Life into the Past". FontStand. Retrieved 10 August 2016.
- Sorkin, Eben. "Creative Characters: Mark Simonson". MyFonts. Retrieved 10 August 2016.
- "Mark Simonson interview". LetterCult. Retrieved 10 August 2016.
- "Metallophile". Geotypographika. Retrieved 10 August 2016.
- Vo, Tri Branch. "Why Proxima Nova is Everywhere". Medium. Mic. Retrieved 10 August 2016.
- Friedman, Granr. "Interview with Type Designer Mark Simonson". ArtBistro.
- "Bestsellers". MyFonts (archived). Archived from the original on 9 June 2016. Retrieved 10 August 2016.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
- "How to design a typeface: Mark Simonson's process". Adobe Systems. Retrieved 10 August 2016.
- Lileks, James. "My Minnesota: Mark Simonson". Minneapolis Star-Tribune. Retrieved 10 August 2016.
- Dodge, Bernadette. "Designs for justice, designs for change". Twin Cities Daily Planet. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
- "Prize winner recalls classmate who died". Deseret News. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
- Eddin, Peter. "Good Film, Shame About the Helvetica". New York Times. Retrieved 10 August 2016.
- Boxer, Sarah. "Arial, Mon Amour, and other font passions". New York Times. Retrieved 10 August 2016.