Hoefler & Co.


Hoefler&Co. is a type foundry in New York City, founded and run by type designer Jonathan Hoefler. H&Co exclusively designs original typefaces, developing them for both the retail market and individual clients, and publishes its fonts on its website.
The company was founded in 1989, initially focussing on editorial commissions for publications such as The New York Times, Martha Stewart Living, The Wall Street Journal, Esquire, Rolling Stone, Sports Illustrated, Harper's Bazaar, Wired and Condé Nast Portfolio, and commissions for companies such as Tiffany & Co., Nike, Inc., and Hewlett Packard. It has worked with a number of prominent cultural institutions in New York City, including the headquarters of the United Nations, the Guggenheim Museum, the Whitney Museum, Lever House, Radio City Music Hall, The Public Theater, and The New York Jets. Because of its inspiration from New York City history, its Gotham typeface was selected in 2004 for the cornerstone of One World Trade Center, built on the World Trade Center site.
Incorporated as The Hoefler Type Foundry, in 2005 the company rebranded as Hoefler & Frere-Jones, and in 2014 as Hoefler&Co.

Work

The company specializes in designing original typefaces, often comprehensive type families that include a range of styles or characters: its Gotham typeface for GQ extends to 74 for print alone, and its Surveyor/Obsidian family past 100. Many H&Co typefaces take inspiration from historical models, and under-examined aspects of typography and lettering, such as Soviet house numbers, metal lettering on bus terminals, engraved maps, and old petrol pumps. Bloomberg Businessweek commented that Hoefler and Frere-Jones bonded over a dislike of "so-called grunge typography, which trafficked in angst and messiness. Neither Frere-Jones nor Hoefler took to that trend, preferring a cleaner style based on historic typefaces."
The company's work has been profiled in The New York Times, Time, Esquire, Wallpaper, and Wired, as well as the design publications Baseline, ', ', Communication Arts, ', Eye, Design, Graphis Inc., I.D., ', ', Metropolis, ', Print, Publish, and . H&Co's work is part of the permanent collections of both the Smithsonian Institution and the Victoria & Albert Museum, and it has been recognized by the American Institute of Graphic Arts and the National Design Awards.

Notable uses

The Gotham typeface became famous during 2008, when it was chosen for the identity of Barack Obama during his campaign for the presidency. H&Co typefaces associated with cultural institutions include Knockout, Ideal Sans, Verlag and Whitney. H&Co's Ringside typeface is the official typeface of The Office of Barack and Michelle Obama.

Awards

Jonathan Hoefler was the recipient of the 2002 Prix Charles Peignot, awarded by the Association Typographique Internationale for outstanding contributions to typeface design. In 2009, the company became the first typeface designers to be recognized by the National Design Awards.

Conflict between Hoefler and Frere-Jones

On January 16, 2014, designer Tobias Frere-Jones, who had worked with the company since 1999, filed a lawsuit in the courts of New York state against Jonathan Hoefler. The lawsuit alleged that Frere-Jones was entitled to own half of the type foundry, based on an oral agreement made in 1999. According to this alleged agreement, Frere-Jones transferred ownership of his fonts to the company for 10 USD and the company was renamed Hoefler & Frere-Jones. Frere-Jones contends that the foundry was intended to be run as an equal partnership. Hoefler filed a motion to dismiss, refuting Frere-Jones's account by attaching the written agreement signed by himself and Frere-Jones. The lawsuit was settled on September 28, 2014, its terms undisclosed.

Typefaces

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