Contemporary Typographers

Contemporary Typographers.  20 May 2024

When it comes to Graphic Design, typography is one of the most important aspects which help make a design memorable and captivating, be it posters, magazines or app/we design, but these effective designs take the skills of expert typographers to make the magic happen.

Today I want to concentrate on six iconic type/font/graphic designers that have significantly impacted on contemporary typography and continue to motivate and inspire the visual arts with their groundbreaking innovative designs.

1.    Paula Scher

Probably one of the best-known contemporary American Typographers and Graphic Designers of the 21 Century, Paula Scher is a of holder of one of the principal positions at Pentagram.

On graduating from the Tyler School of Art, Pennsylvania, she moved to New York where she began working life as an illustrator for Random House Children’s books, before moving on to work for companies such as CBS and Atlantic Records, designing album covers, before moving on to her own freelance projects and starting her own company, however as a woman on her own she was unable to ‘compete with the big boys’ for some of the bigger corporate projects.

In 1991 she was asked to join Pentagram as a Principal, which she grabbed the opportunity. Her work includes designing identity systems, packaging, numerous publications and environmental graphics, such as the Museum of Modern Art, the High Line, the Metropolitan Opera, to name a few. She combines her art and typography to great effect creating eye-catching award-winning designs.

2.  Neville Brody

Neville Brody is a London Born Graphic designer and Typographer, known for pushing the boundaries and experimenting with the unconventional, his style has grown and developed since his early days studying Graphics at the London college of printing. On graduating he designed album covers and progressed onto becoming the Art Director of the Face magazine. He is further known for his rebranding of two iconic newspapers the Observer and the Guardian. 

Along with Fwa Richards, he created his own London based design practice in 1994, the success of the company would late see numerous branches being created across Europe.  He is one of the founders of Fontworks, FontShop and FontFont.He now holds the position of Head of Communication Art and Design at the Royal College of Art, not bad for someone that nearly got expelled from college due to his art style!

3.    Jessica Hische

Jessica Nicole Hische is an American born letterer and illustrator, who trained as a graphic and interactive design, she has worked in the industry both as a freelancer and an employee for over 20 years. She has worked with major companies such as such as Starbucks, Victoria’s Secret, Samsung and Nike and Tiffany & Co.

Jessica Hische is also known for her writing and designing of children’s books and their covers, in addition to classic books, creating custom lettering artwork for big brands and postage stamps. Her hand drawn letterforms are sold as works of art in their own right.

4.    Stefan Sagmeister

Stefan Sagmeister is an Austrian born Graphic designer, who began his career working for a magazine, before earning a Fulbright scholarship to the Pratt Institute, New York.

He went on to create distinctive album covers and create his own company Sagmeister Inc, which went on to receive the National Design Award and the Grammy Award on three occasions. He is known for combining photographic images combined with typography. His technique uses involves placing lettering over or within an image to make a point and capture the viewer’s attention. He has worked designing for many big corporations including: Levis; HBO Studio productions; Adobe; Red Bull, BMW, Random House Publishing; The New York Times; Warner Brothers Records Inc; Atlantic Records and Capitol records, to name a few of his clients.

5.    Laura Meseguer

Laura Meseguer is a Spanish born award winning type designer, who has mastered her craft over thirty years of dedication to this art form. She has been acknowledged for her designs by the Laus Awards, acknowledging her skills in Graphic Design and Visual Communication, in addition to the Type Directors Club in New York, which promotes excellence in typography, accolades indeed.

Laura graduated with a master’s degree in Type Design from the prestigious Royal Academy of Art, The Hague.  She lectures Barcelona Tipo-g, her own type dedicated further Education establishment, in addition to undertaking her own work and designing for national and international corporations and brands.

6.    Peter Strain

Peter Strain is Norther Irish and works in Belfast, although known for his illustrations and animations, he loves to create these using his highly original hand drawn lettering style of typography. In 2011, he won the Association of Illustrators award for his illustration ‘A poke at the world’. He has gone on to create designs for Netflix, the BBC, the New Yorker, the Guardian, Time Out, the Washington Post, TIME magazine, POLITICO, the Big Issue, Island Records, ADIDAS, Random House, the Ulster Hall and the University of Ulster to name a few.