Matthew Carter
Encyclopedia
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Carter's career in type design has witnessed the transition from physical metal type to digital type. He was named a 2010 MacArthur Fellow.
Education
Although Carter had intended to get a degree in English at Oxford University he was advised to take a year off so he would be the same age as his contemporaries who had gone into National Service. It was through his father, Harry Carter, also a type designer, that Matthew Carter was given an internship at the Joh. EnschedéJoh. Enschedé
Royal Joh. Enschedé is a printer of security documents, stamps and banknotes based in Haarlem, Netherlands. Joh. Enschedé specialises in print, media & security. The company hosts the Museum Enschedé and has branches in Amsterdam, Brussels and Haarlem....
type foundry in the Netherlands. So at the age of 19, Carter spent a year studying in The Netherlands where he learned from Jan van Krimpen's assistant P. H. Raedisch, who taught Carter the art of punch cutting
Punchcutting
In traditional typography, punchcutting is the craft of cutting letter punches in steel from which matrices were made in copper for type founding in the letterpress era. Cutting punches and casting type was the first step of traditional typesetting. The cutting of letter punches was a highly...
. By 1961 Carter was able to use the skills he acquired to cut his own version of the semi-bold typeface Dante.
Career
Carter eventually returned to London where he became a freelancer as well as the typographic advisor to Crosfield Electronics, distributors of Photon phototypesettingPhototypesetting
Phototypesetting was a method of setting type, rendered obsolete with the popularity of the personal computer and desktop publishing software, that uses a photographic process to generate columns of type on a scroll of photographic paper...
machines. Carter designed many typefaces for Mergenthaler Linotype as well. Under Linotype, Carter created well known typefaces such as the 100-year replacement typeface for Bell Telephone Company, Bell Centennial
Bell Centennial
Bell Centennial is a sans-serif typeface designed by Matthew Carter in the period 1975–8. The typeface was commissioned by AT&T as a proprietary type to replace their then current directory typeface Bell Gothic on the occasion of AT&T’s one hundredth anniversary...
.
In 1981, Carter and his colleague Mike Parker
Mike Parker
Michael Parker is an American politician from the U.S. state of Mississippi. He served in Congress as a member of the Democratic Party and, later, the Republican Party. He later served as Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Army, with authority over the U.S...
created Bitstream Inc.
Bitstream Inc.
Bitstream Inc. is a type foundry that produces digital typefaces . Founded in 1981 by Matthew Carter and Mike Parker among others, it claims to be the oldest such company...
This digital type foundry is currently one of the largest suppliers of type. He left Bitstream in 1991 to form the Carter & Cone type foundry with Cherie Cone. Matthew Carter focuses on improving many typefaces' readability. He designs specifically for Apple and Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
computer
Computer
A computer is a programmable machine designed to sequentially and automatically carry out a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations. The particular sequence of operations can be changed readily, allowing the computer to solve more than one kind of problem...
s. Georgia
Georgia (typeface)
Georgia is a transitional serif typeface designed in 1993 by Matthew Carter and hinted by Tom Rickner for the Microsoft Corporation, as the serif companion to the first Microsoft sans serif screen font, Verdana. Microsoft released the initial version of the font on November 1, 1996 as part of the...
and Verdana
Verdana
Verdana is a humanist sans-serif typeface designed by Matthew Carter for Microsoft Corporation, with hand-hinting done by Thomas Rickner, then at Monotype. Demand for such a typeface was recognized by Virginia Howlett of Microsoft's typography group...
are two fonts created primarily for viewing on computer monitors. Carter has designed type for publications such as Time, The Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
, The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, the Boston Globe, Wired
Wired (magazine)
Wired is a full-color monthly American magazine and on-line periodical, published since January 1993, that reports on how new and developing technology affects culture, the economy, and politics...
, and Newsweek
Newsweek
Newsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second-largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...
. He is a member of Alliance Graphique Internationale
Alliance Graphique Internationale
Alliance Graphique Internationale is a club of the world’s leading graphic artists and designers. There are about 350 members from 27 countries.- History :...
(AGI), is a senior critic for Yale's Graphic design program, has served as chairman of ATypI
ATypI
The ATypI or the Association Typographique Internationale is an international non-profit organisation dedicated to typography.-The organisation:...
, and is an ex officio member of the board of directors of the Society of Typographic Aficionados
Society of Typographic Aficionados
The Society of Typographic Aficionados is an international not-for-profit organization dedicated to the promotion, study, and support of type, its history and development, its use in the world of print and digital imagery, its designers, and its admirers....
(SOTA).
Carter has won numerous awards for his significant contributions to typography and design, including an honoris causa Doctorate of Humane Letters
Doctorate
A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder to teach in a specific field, A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder...
from the Art Institute of Boston
The Art Institute of Boston
The Art Institute of Boston is a private, not-for-profit art school in Boston, Massachusetts, and a part of Lesley University. Undergraduate degree programs include animation, design, fine arts, illustration, and photography. Graduate degree programs focus on fine arts and photography, with an art...
, an AIGA medal in 1995, and the 2005 SOTA
Society of Typographic Aficionados
The Society of Typographic Aficionados is an international not-for-profit organization dedicated to the promotion, study, and support of type, its history and development, its use in the world of print and digital imagery, its designers, and its admirers....
Typography Award. A retrospective of his work, "Typographically Speaking, The Art of Matthew Carter," was exhibited at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County in December 2002. In 2010, Carter was named a MacArthur Foundation Fellow
MacArthur Fellows Program
The MacArthur Fellows Program or MacArthur Fellowship is an award given by the John D. and Catherine T...
, otherwise known as a "genius
Genius
Genius is something or someone embodying exceptional intellectual ability, creativity, or originality, typically to a degree that is associated with the achievement of unprecedented insight....
" grant.
In 2007, Carter designed a new variant of the typeface Georgia
Georgia (typeface)
Georgia is a transitional serif typeface designed in 1993 by Matthew Carter and hinted by Tom Rickner for the Microsoft Corporation, as the serif companion to the first Microsoft sans serif screen font, Verdana. Microsoft released the initial version of the font on November 1, 1996 as part of the...
for use in the graphical user interface
Graphical user interface
In computing, a graphical user interface is a type of user interface that allows users to interact with electronic devices with images rather than text commands. GUIs can be used in computers, hand-held devices such as MP3 players, portable media players or gaming devices, household appliances and...
of the Bloomberg Terminal
Bloomberg Terminal
The Bloomberg Terminal is a computer system provided by Bloomberg L.P. that enables financial professionals to access the Bloomberg Professional service through which users can monitor and analyze real-time financial market data movements and place trades on the electronic trading platform...
.
Typefaces
Matthew Carter's typefaces include:- Bell CentennialBell CentennialBell Centennial is a sans-serif typeface designed by Matthew Carter in the period 1975–8. The typeface was commissioned by AT&T as a proprietary type to replace their then current directory typeface Bell Gothic on the occasion of AT&T’s one hundredth anniversary...
- Big Caslon
- Bitstream CharterBitstream CharterBitstream Charter is a glyphic serif typeface designed by Matthew Carter in 1987 for Bitstream Inc., a digital type foundry. Bitstream Charter is a typeface optimized for printing on the low-resolution 300 dpi laser printers of the 1980s...
- Big Figgins
- Carter SansCarter SansCarter Sans is a typeface by Matthew Carter, in collaboration with Dan Reynolds. In style, it is described as a "hybrid sans-serif" or "humanist stressed sans" , as it is does not have serifs, but letters do flare slightly near the ends of strokes, which is particularly notable in the capitals...
(2011) - Cascade Script
- Elephant
- Fenway
- ITC Galliard
- Gando
- GeorgiaGeorgia (typeface)Georgia is a transitional serif typeface designed in 1993 by Matthew Carter and hinted by Tom Rickner for the Microsoft Corporation, as the serif companion to the first Microsoft sans serif screen font, Verdana. Microsoft released the initial version of the font on November 1, 1996 as part of the...
- Mantinia
- MeiryoMeiryois a Japanese sans-serif gothic typeface. Microsoft bundled Meiryo with Office Mac 2008 as part of the standard install, and it replaces MS Gothic as the default system font for Vista on Japanese systems....
(Latin range) - MillerMiller (typeface)Miller is a transitional serif typeface released in 1997 by the Font Bureau, a U.S.-based digital type foundry. It was designed by Matthew Carter, based on the "Scotch Roman" style which originates from types cut by Richard Austin in Scottish type foundries in the early 19th century.The general...
- MonticelloMonticello (typeface)Monticello is a typeface, a transitional, first created by American type foundry Binny & Ronaldson to set a published edition of Thomas Jefferson's papers. In the modern day the 10-point font has been digitized by Matthew Carter.-External links:*...
- Nina
- Olympian
- Rocky
- Shelley Script
- Snell Roundhand
- Skia
- Sophia
- TahomaTahoma (typeface)Tahoma is a humanist sans-serif typeface designed by Matthew Carter for the Microsoft Corporation in 1994 with initial distribution along with Verdana for Windows 95....
- VerdanaVerdanaVerdana is a humanist sans-serif typeface designed by Matthew Carter for Microsoft Corporation, with hand-hinting done by Thomas Rickner, then at Monotype. Demand for such a typeface was recognized by Virginia Howlett of Microsoft's typography group...
- Vincent
- Wilson GreekWilson GreekWilson Greek is a polytonic Greek typeface designed in 1995 by Matthew Carter, notable for its large inventory of ligatures. It is based on a typeface designed in 1756 by Alexander Wilson for an edition of Homer's Iliad and Odyssey published that same year in Glasgow by Robert and Andrew Foulis...
- Wrigley
- Yale University typeface