Carol Twombly's revival type designs for Adobe
Date
Credits
- Carol Twombly Designer
Format
- Poster 1707
- Typeface 56
- Typography 49
- Type Specimen 15
Adobe developed Illustrator, its first software for designers and artists, in 1987. This new postscript-based software paved the way for many type designers to be hired, like Carol Twombly. But, before she made a splash in Adobe Systems, she studied graphic design in Rhode Island School of Design and Bigelow and Holmes Studio. She became educated by none other than Charles Bigelow and Kris Holmes. She grew very inspired with these mentors guiding her.
Soon after graduating, Carol Twombly found herself joining the Adobe team in 1988 where she would remain for ten years. Early on in her career with Adobe, she made the Trajan typeface in 1989 that many movie posters love to use, especially in the 1990s. This typeface drew inspiration from historical scripts and calligraphy from the Trajan column. Twombly is well-known for her revivals like Trajan. She has digitally recreated American wood type from the 1880s, such as Ponderosa, Pepperwood, Zebrawood, and Rosewood. She has also designed many other fonts, including Adobe Caslon, Californian F.B., Chaparral, Charlemagne, Lithos, Mirarae, Myriad, Nueva, and Viva.
Mirare was her first type of design, and she entered it into an international competition sponsored by a Japanese manufacturer of typesetting equipment. After winning first place, her typeface eventually became licensed. She continued to be highly inspired by classical letterforms, such as ancient Greek inscriptions and William Caslon's typefaces from the 1700s. She was the first woman to receive the Charles Peignot award from the Association Typographique Internationale for her exemplary contributions to type design.
Although she had remarkable success as a type designer, she left Adobe in 1999 after eleven years, citing various reasons, the most prominent being that she was not interested in designing fonts for onscreen display. She now works as an independent artist and has explored other art forms, including weaving, sculpture, silk painting, and other styles of expression.
