Monotype inks deal with The Font Bureau to acquire collection of type designer David Berlow's typefaces

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May 04, 2023, 16:23 ET

Thirty-nine typefaces from The Font Bureau, including David Berlow classics Belizio, and Bureau-Grot, join the Monotype Library

WOBURN, Mass., May 4, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Today Monotype® has announced the acquisition of 39 of Boston-based foundry The Font Bureau's type families, including many designed by legendary type designer and The Font Bureau founder, David Berlow.

Founded in Boston in 1989 by Roger Black and David Berlow, The Font Bureau quickly built a reputation for world-class editorial and brand type design. The foundry's library includes some of the world's most celebrated and recognizable fonts, including custom typefaces for iconic publishers such as The New York Times Magazine, Newsweek, Esquire Magazine and The Wall Street Journal and technology brands including Apple Computer Inc., Google Inc. and Microsoft Corporation.

Monotype has acquired 39 typefaces from The Font Bureau, including many designed by The Font Bureau's founder David Berlow. Some of foundry's most notable typefaces such as Belizio®, Bureau-Grot™ and Poynter® will now join the Monotype Library. A digital revival of Aldo Novarese's Egizio, Belizio helped launch and cement Rolling Stone magazine's distinctive visual identity. Bureau-Grot is a grotesque sans-serif typeface first developed by Berlow in 1989. The Poynter series which includes Poynter Gothic and Poynter Oldstyle was designed by Tobias Frere-Jones and published through Font Bureau in 1997. It was created for use in newsprint at small sizes and for use in narrow columns, where accommodating more characters per line is a requirement.

The typefaces will be available through all of Monotype's platforms including Monotype Fonts which combines more than 40,000 typefaces with the expertise of Monotype's world-renowned type designers and trusted, secure font management in a single platform.

David Berlow entered the type industry in 1978, originally as a letter designer for the respected Mergenthaler, Linotype, Stempel, and Haas type foundries. He then joined the newly formed digital type supplier, Bitstream, Inc. in 1982. After Berlow left Bitstream in 1989, he went on to set up The Font Bureau, Inc. alongside Roger Black. As well as Black and Berlow, other prominent designers who worked at The Font Bureau include Tobias Frere-Jones, later of Hoefler & Frere-Jones and Frere-Jones Type. Monotype acquired Hoefler&Co in September 2021 in a deal that saw iconic typefaces such as Gotham®, Knockout®, Mercury®, Sentinel®, Chronicle®, Decimal®, and Archer® enter the Monotype library.

David Berlow, founder of The Font Bureau said, "Monotype is the natural home for these typefaces, many of which I personally designed. I am delighted to have my typeface families from Font Bureau now sit alongside my earlier work from Linotype and Bitstream that are already part of the Monotype family. Monotype understands and helps realize the value of type and their custodianship of historic typefaces is unparalleled. I'm thrilled to see Belizio, Bureau-Grot, Poynter and other Font Bureau classics join the Monotype Family – it means they will remain relevant and accessible for many years to come."

Tom Rickner, Senior Director at Monotype said, "I am very excited to bring some of Font Bureau's collection into the Monotype library. David Berlow's collaborations with Roger Black resulted in some of the best quality editorial fonts available in the market today. As such, Font Bureau's collection of typefaces for print publishing are unequalled. And from a personal standpoint, it is an honor and a privilege to have a designer as important, influential, and deeply respected in the industry as David to entrust his remarkable legacy to our care."

Monotype is committed to curating and stewarding the broadest inventory of high-quality typefaces in the world and is continually searching out new and historic type libraries to join the Monotype family through distribution partnerships and acquisitions. Please contact us here.

About David Berlow:
David Berlow is a member of the New York Type Directors Club (TDC), the Association Typographique International (ATypI) and remains an active and world-leading type designer.

About Monotype
Monotype creates brands that matter with type, technology, and expertise.
The company partners with leading foundries to deliver the broadest inventory of high-quality typefaces in the world. Further information is available at www.monotype.com.
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Monotype®, Belizio®, Bureau-Grotesque®, Bureau-Grot™ and Poynter® are trademarks of Monotype Imaging Inc. and may be registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and certain other jurisdictions. Bitstream® is a trademark of MyFonts Inc. registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and may be registered in certain other jurisdictions. Gotham®, Knockout®, Mercury®, Sentinel®, Chronicle®, Decimal®, and Archer® are trademarks of The Hoefler Type Foundry registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and may be registered in certain other jurisdictions. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. ©2022 Monotype Imaging Holdings Inc. All rights reserved.