Creatives know a typeface communicates more than just the mere words they carry, perhaps no two people better understand this premise than Jonathan Hoefler and Tobias Frere-Jones of Hoefler & Frere-Jones. For 25 years, they’ve helped brands develop unique voices through typography. The two are now embroiled in a $20 million lawsuit over their type foundry.
A short film, Font Men, presented by AIGA and directed by Dress Code, gives a peek behind the curtain into the world of Jonathan and Tobias. Tracing the history of their personal career paths, sharing the forces that united them and giving viewers an exclusive look into the successful empire they built before their split.
Font Men – SXSW 2014 Official Selection from dress code on Vimeo.
Recipients of the AIGA 2013 Medal, “Jonathan Hoefler and Tobias Frere-Jones are responsible for some of the digital era’s most well-designed and beautifully crafted typefaces. The type designers bring to their collaborative work a formidable knowledge of typographic history paired with an impeccable eye for combining, adapting and evolving traditional letterforms into entirely original type systems. As a duo, Hoefler and Frere-Jones have a singular ability to decode contemporary visual culture, translate it and express it in typefaces of considerable technical quality and emotional impact.” That certainly says quite about their contributions to design. Learn more about the duo in this profile by AIGA.