View source for Matthew Carter

{{Short description|English type designer (born 1937)}}
{{other people}}
{{Use British English|date=May 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2017}}
{{Infobox person
| name          = Matthew Carter
| honorific_suffix   = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|CBE|RDI|size=100%}}
| image         = 20180914-ATypI-2018-Matthew Carter-NP.jpg
| imagesize     = 
| caption       = Carter in 2018
| birth_name    =
| birth_date    = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1937|10|1}}
| birth_place   = London, England
| death_date    = 
| death_place   = 
| occupation    = Type designer
| awards        = [[MacArthur Fellow]] (2010)
}}

'''Matthew Carter''' (born 1 October 1937) is an English-born American [[type designer]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bringhurst |first=Robert |title=The elements of typographic style |publisher=Hartley & Marks |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-88179-205-8 |edition=3rd |location=Point Roberts, Washington, U.S. ; Vancouver, Canada |publication-date=2004 |pages=334}}</ref><ref name="U.S. News">[https://www.usnews.com/usnews/culture/articles/030901/1font.htm A Man of Letters] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070709042445/http://www.usnews.com/usnews/culture/articles/030901/1font.htm |date=9 July 2007 }}, [[U.S. News & World Report]], 1 September 2003.
</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Johnston |first1=Alastair |title=Hanging Quotes: Talking Book Arts, Typography & Poetry |date=2011 |publisher=Cuneiform Press |isbn=9780982792667 |pages=28–41 |chapter=Matthew Carter}}</ref> A 2005 ''[[The New Yorker|New Yorker]]'' profile described him as 'the most widely read man in the world' by considering the amount of text set in his commonly used typefaces.<ref name="Man of Letters">{{cite magazine|last1=Wilkinson|first1=Alec|title=Man of Letters|url=http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2005/12/05/man-of-letters-4|magazine=[[The New Yorker|New Yorker]]|date=27 November 2005 |access-date=15 February 2016}}</ref><ref name="Economist">{{cite news|title=The most-read man in the world|url=https://www.economist.com/blogs/babbage/2010/12/doyen_type_design|newspaper=[[The Economist]]|access-date=22 February 2016}}</ref>

Carter's career began in the early 1960s and has bridged all three major technologies used in type design: [[metal type|physical type]], [[phototypesetting]] and digital type design, as well as the design of custom lettering.

Carter's most used typefaces are the classic web typefaces [[Verdana]] and [[Georgia (typeface)|Georgia]] and the [[Microsoft Windows|Windows]] interface typeface [[Tahoma (typeface)|Tahoma]], as well as other designs including [[Bell Centennial]], [[Miller (typeface)|Miller]] and [[ITC Galliard|Galliard]].<ref name="Design Museum">{{cite web|title=Matthew Carter – Designing Britain |url=http://design.designmuseum.org/design/matthew-carter |website=Design Museum |access-date=22 February 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160227122914/http://design.designmuseum.org/design/matthew-carter |archive-date=27 February 2016 }}</ref><ref name="Quirky serifs aside, Georgia fonts win on Web">{{cite news|last1=Rawsthorn|first1=Alice|title=Quirky serifs aside, Georgia fonts win on Web|work=The New York Times |date=9 July 2006 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/09/style/09iht-dlede10.2150992.html?pagewanted=all|access-date=20 September 2015}}</ref><ref name="dot-font: The Typographic Art of Matthew Carter">{{cite web|last1=Berry |first1=John |title=dot-font: The Typographic Art of Matthew Carter |url=http://www.creativepro.com/story/feature/18099.html |website=CreativePro |access-date=22 February 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060211083236/http://www.creativepro.com/story/feature/18099.html |archive-date=11 February 2006 }}</ref> He is the son of the English historian of printing [[Harry Carter (typographer)|Harry Carter]] (1901–1982) and cofounded [[Bitstream Inc.|Bitstream]], one of the first major retailers of [[Computer font|digital typefaces]]. He lives in [[Cambridge, Massachusetts|Cambridge]], Massachusetts.<ref name="Five things you should know about Matthew Carter">{{cite web|last1=Newsham|first1=Jack|title=Five things you should know about Matthew Carter|url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2015/12/11/five-things-you-should-know-about-matthew-carter/5q27AGPnutcAhwc5ana0hK/story.html|website=Boston Globe|access-date=22 April 2016}}</ref>

==Early life and education==
Carter grew up in London, the son of Harry Carter, a book designer and later historian of printing. His mother worked in preparing scale drawings.

Although Carter had intended to get a degree in English at [[Oxford]] he was advised to take a year off so he would be the same age as his contemporaries who had gone into [[Conscription in the United Kingdom|National Service]].

==Career==
=== Enschedé ===
Through his father, Carter arranged to hold an internship at the [[Joh. Enschedé]] type foundry in the Netherlands for a year. An extremely long-lasting company with a long history of printing, Enschedé had a history of creating conservative but popular book typefaces. Carter studied manual [[punchcutting]], the method used to make moulds used to cast [[metal type]], under P. H. Rädisch. Punchcutting was a traditional artisanal approach in decline many years before the 1950s. Carter is one of the last people in Europe formally trained in the technique as a living practice.

Carter enjoyed the experience, and decided to move directly into a career in graphic design and printing.

===London and New York===

Carter's career in type and graphic design has bridged the transition from physical metal type to digital type.

Despite Carter's training in the art of traditional punchcutting, his career developed at a time when [[metal type]] was rapidly being displaced by [[phototypesetting]]. This reduced the cost of designing and using a wide range of typefaces, since type could be stored on reels of film rather than as blocks of expensively engraved metal. In a book on Carter's career, historian [[James Mosley]], a few years older than Carter, would write of the period of their upbringing:
<blockquote>The [[Monotype Imaging|Monotype]] classic [fonts] dominated the typographical landscape ... in Britain, at any rate, they were so ubiquitous that, while their excellent quality was undeniable, it was possible to be bored by them and to begin to rebel against the bland good taste that they represented. In fact we were already aware by 1960 that they might not be around to bore us for too long. The death of metal type ... seemed at last to be happening.'<ref name="Typographically Speaking: The Art of Matthew Carter">{{cite book|last1=Mosley|first1=James|chapter=Reviving the Classics: Matthew Carter and the Interpretation of Historical Models|editor1-last=Mosley|editor1-first=James|editor2-last=Re|editor2-first=Margaret|editor3-last=Drucker|editor3-first=Johanna|editor4-last=Carter|editor4-first=Matthew|title=Typographically Speaking: The Art of Matthew Carter|date=2003|publisher=Princeton Architectural Press|isbn=9781568984278|pages=31–34|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WqXd_w4S4SsC&pg=PA32|access-date=30 January 2016}}</ref></blockquote>
Carter eventually returned to London where he became a freelancer. By 1961 Carter was able to use the skills he acquired to cut his own version of the semi-bold typeface [[Dante (typeface)|Dante]]. An early example of his work is the masthead logo he designed for the British magazine [[Private Eye]] in May 1962, still in use.<ref name="Matthew Carter's timeless typographic masthead for Private Eye magazine">{{cite web|last1=Walters|first1=John|title=Matthew Carter's timeless typographic masthead for Private Eye magazine|url=http://www.eyemagazine.com/blog/post/type-tuesday26|website=Eye|access-date=24 August 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=MacQueen|first=Adam|title=Private Eye The First 50 Years An A-Z|year=2011|publisher=Private Eye Productions Limited|page=180}}</ref> Previously the lettering had been different for the masthead of each issue; it was based on a typeface ('a bit of nameless juvenilia') which was never ultimately published.<ref name="Carter's Battered Stat">{{cite web|last1=Carter|first1=Matthew|title=Carter's Battered Stat|url=http://www.eyemagazine.com/feature/article/carters-battered-stat|website=Eye|access-date=5 February 2016}}</ref><ref name="Old School layout">{{cite web|title=Old School layout|url=http://www.eyemagazine.com/feature/article/old-school-layout|website=Eye Magazine|access-date=22 February 2016}}</ref> He also did early work for [[Heathrow Airport]].<ref name="Creative Bloq">{{cite web|last1=Webster|first1=Garrick|title=Matthew Carter Interview|url=http://www.creativebloq.com/computer-arts/matthew-carter-1118715|website=Creative Bloq|date=19 January 2011 |access-date=22 February 2016}}</ref><ref name="Excoffon's Autograph">{{cite web|last1=Soar|first1=Matt|title=Excoffon's Autograph|url=http://www.eyemagazine.com/feature/article/excoffons-autograph|website=Eye Magazine|access-date=22 February 2016}}</ref>

In 1963, Carter became the typographic advisor to [[Crosfield Electronics]], distributors of Photon [[phototypesetting]] machines.<ref name="Reputations: Matthew Carter" /> 

He moved to the United States in 1965 to work on designing typefaces for [[Mergenthaler Linotype Company|Mergenthaler Linotype]]<ref name="Reputations: Matthew Carter" /> at their offices in [[Brooklyn]], New York.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Matthew Cater Collection: An amazing run |url=https://typenetwork.com/articles/matthew-carter-collection/matthew-carter-timeline |access-date=2025-10-26 |website=typenetwork.com}}</ref> At Linotype, Carter created several well-known typefaces including [[Snell Roundhand]], a [[script typeface]] and [[Bell Centennial]], intended for use in the [[Bell System]]'s phone directories and to celebrate its anniversary.<ref>{{Cite web |last=TypeRoom |title=Matthew Carter: 10 things to know about - TypeRoom |url=https://www.typeroom.eu/matthew-carter-10-things-to-know-about |access-date=2025-10-26 |website=www.typeroom.eu |language=en}}</ref>

Based on the work of [[Robert Granjon]], a 16th century French engraver, Carter created the sharp, high-contrast family [[ITC Galliard|Galliard]]. This matched a family interest: Carter's father in the 1950s had indexed and examined original type by Granjon at the [[Plantin-Moretus Museum]] in Antwerp, and Carter had visited him several times to observe his progress. Carter's adaptation, more intended for display use than for body text, included some eccentricities of Granjon's original design, producing a result unlike many previous revivals of typefaces from the period.<ref name="Flawed Typefaces">{{cite web|last=Shaw|first=Paul|author-link=Paul Shaw (design historian)|title=Flawed Typefaces|url=http://www.printmag.com/featured/flawed-typefaces/|website=Print magazine|date=12 May 2011 |access-date=30 June 2015}}</ref> Carter wrote of his father's research that it had helped to demonstrate "that the finest collection of printing types made ''[by [[Christophe Plantin]]]'' in typography's golden age was in perfect condition (some muddle aside) [along with] Plantin's accounts and inventories which names the cutters of his types."<ref>{{cite book|last1=Re|first1=Margaret|last2=Drucker|first2=Johanna|last3=Mosley|first3=James|title=Typographically speaking : the art of Matthew Carter|date=2003|publisher=Princeton Architectural Press|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WqXd_w4S4SsC&pg=PA33|location=New York|isbn=978-1-56898-427-8|page=33|edition=2.}}</ref><ref name="or Garamont">{{cite web|last1=Mosley|first1=James|author-link=James Mosley|title=Garamond or Garamont|url=http://typefoundry.blogspot.co.uk/2011/04/garamond-or-garamont.html|website=Type Foundry blog|access-date=3 December 2015}}</ref>

===Bitstream===
[[File:Matthew Carter, RIT NandE Vol18Num3 1986 Oct9 Complete.jpg|thumb|right|Carter showing his [[Dutch Type Library|DTL]] Flamande typeface, circa 1986]]
In 1981, Carter and his colleague [[Mike Parker (typographer)|Mike Parker]] created [[Bitstream Inc.]]<ref name="U.S. News" /> in [[Cambridge, Massachusetts]]. Bitstream was the first independent digital type foundry in the United States,<ref name="Reputations: Matthew Carter" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Rubin |first=Jason M. |date=2010-09-07 |title=Matthew Carter and Me |url=https://boston.aiga.org/matthew_carter/ |access-date=2025-10-26 |website=AIGA Boston |language=en}}</ref> and was one of the largest suppliers of type before its acquisition by Monotype in 2012. The company however did receive extensive criticism for its strategy of cheaply offering digitisations of pre-existing typefaces that it had not designed, often under alternative names (for example, [[Times New Roman]] as 'Dutch 801'). While technically not illegal, this selling of large numbers of typefaces on CD would be described by type designer John Hudson as "one of the worst instances of piracy in the history of type".<ref name="Bitstream Devroye">{{cite web|last1=Devroye|first1=Luc|author-link=Luc Devroye|title=Bitstream|url=http://luc.devroye.org/fonts-27538.html|website=Type Design Information Page|access-date=22 February 2016}}</ref> In his role at Bitstream, Carter designed typefaces, such as [[Bitstream Charter|Charter]], and commissioned others such as [[Iowan Old Style]] from [[John Downer (signpainter)|John Downer]].<ref name="Alastair Johnston">{{cite web|title=Alastair Johnston interviews John Downer|url=http://media.freshjive.net/JOHN_DOWNER_FULL_INTERVIEW.pdf|website=Alastair Johnston|access-date=21 February 2016|archive-date=20 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220065047/http://media.freshjive.net/JOHN_DOWNER_FULL_INTERVIEW.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> Bitstream was ultimately acquired by Monotype in 2012.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nasdaq.com/article/monotype-closes-purchase-of-bitstreams-font-business-for-50-mln-lifts-fy-view-20120319-01557 |title=Monotype Closes Purchase of Bitstream's Font Business For $50 Mln; Lifts FY View |access-date=26 March 2012 |date=19 March 2012 |work=Market Headlines web site |publisher=[[NASDAQ]] }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://ir.monotypeimaging.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=658188 |title=Monotype Imaging Completes Acquisition of Bitstream's Font Business |access-date=26 March 2012 |date=19 March 2012 |work=press release |publisher=Monotype Imaging |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120408120109/http://ir.monotypeimaging.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=658188 |archive-date=8 April 2012 |df=dmy-all }}</ref>

Carter also advised [[IBM]] as an independent consultant in the 1980s.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Shaw |first1=Paul |title=Some history about Arial |url=http://www.paulshawletterdesign.com/2011/09/blue-pencil-no-18%E2%80%94some-history-about-arial/ |access-date=22 May 2015 |website=Paul Shaw Letter Design}}</ref>

===Carter and Cone===
Carter left Bitstream in 1991 and in 1992 formed the [[Carter & Cone]] type foundry with Cherie Cone.<ref name="Reputations: Matthew Carter">{{cite web|last1=Carter|first1=Matthew|last2=Spiekermann|first2=Erik|title=Reputations: Matthew Carter|url=http://www.eyemagazine.com/feature/article/reputations-matthew-carter|website=Eye Magazine|access-date=22 February 2016}}</ref> Carter's recent typefaces have been published by a range of retailers including [[International Typeface Corporation|ITC]], [[Font Bureau]] and [[Monotype Imaging|Monotype]], often in collaboration with Carter and Cone, together with his custom designs created for companies such as Microsoft.

Of Carter's recent typefaces, the [[serif]] web typeface [[Georgia (typeface)|Georgia]] is inspired by [[Scotch Roman]] designs of the 19th century.<ref name="Scotch Roman Mosley">{{cite web|last1=Mosley|first1=James|title=Scotch Roman|url=http://typefoundry.blogspot.co.uk/2007/02/scotch-roman.html|website=Type Foundry|access-date=22 February 2016}}</ref><ref name=type101>{{cite web|url=http://type101.fontbureau.com/new-faces-in-washington/|publisher=[[Font Bureau]]|title=New Faces in Washington|last=Lew|first=Kent|date=29 October 2009|access-date=22 January 2011|archive-date=11 July 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110711015410/http://www.fontbureau.com/blog/new-faces-in-washington/|url-status=dead}}</ref> It was based on designs for a print typeface in the same style Carter was working on when contacted by Microsoft; this would be released under the name [[Miller (typeface)|Miller]] some years later.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Connare|first1=Vincent|author-link=Vincent Connare|title=Comments on Typophile thread ...|url=http://typophile.com/node/75410|website=Typophile|access-date=22 February 2016|archive-date=13 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171213192616/http://www.typophile.com/node/75410|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Miller|url=http://www.fontbureau.com/fonts/Miller/styles/|website=Font Bureau|access-date=12 May 2015}}</ref><ref name=printinghistory>{{cite journal|url=http://www.printinghistory.org/publications/newsletter/APHA-newsletter-173.pdf|journal=APHA Newsletter|issue=173|year=2010|publisher=American Printing History Association|title=Matthew Carter's Type Revivals Talk at the TDC|access-date=22 January 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721091616/http://www.printinghistory.org/publications/newsletter/APHA-newsletter-173.pdf|archive-date=21 July 2011|df=dmy-all}}</ref> Speaking in 2013 about the development of Georgia and Miller, Carter said, "I was familiar with Scotch romans, puzzled by the fact that they were once so popular ... and then they disappeared completely."<ref name="Matthew Carter MyFonts interview">{{cite web|last1=Middendorp|first1=Jan|title=Matthew Carter interview|url=http://www.myfonts.com/newsletters/cc/201310.html|website=MyFonts|publisher=Monotype|access-date=11 July 2015}}</ref>

Many of Carter's typefaces were created to address specific technical challenges, for example those posed by early computers. [[Bitstream Charter|Charter]] was created to use a minimal number of design elements to fit in a small memory space on early computers, a problem that had expired even before he finished the design.<ref name="Matthew Carter MyFonts interview" /> The [[boldface|bold]] versions of Verdana and Georgia are also unusually bold, almost black. Carter noted that, "Verdana and Georgia ... were all about binary [[bitmap]]s: every pixel was on or off, black or white ... The bold versions of Verdana and Georgia are bolder than most bolds, because on the screen, at the time we were doing this in the mid-1990s, if the stem wanted to be thicker than one pixel, it could only go to two pixels. That is a bigger jump in weight than is conventional in print series."<ref name="Matthew Carter MyFonts interview" /> Some of Carter's early typeface digitizations would later be revisited: Monotype released an expanded version of Charter and [[Font Bureau]] expanded versions of Georgia, Verdana, Big Caslon and others.<ref>{{cite web|title=Charter Pro|url=http://www.myfonts.com/fonts/bitstream/charter-bt-pro/|website=MyFonts|publisher=Monotype|access-date=28 September 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006082217/http://www.myfonts.com/fonts/bitstream/charter-bt-pro/|archive-date=6 October 2014|df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref name="Big Caslon promotional page">{{cite web|title=Big Caslon promotional page|url=http://bigcaslon.webtype.com/|publisher=Font Bureau|access-date=27 July 2015|archive-date=3 July 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150703084257/http://bigcaslon.webtype.com/|url-status=dead}}</ref> Earlier in his career, [[Bell Centennial]] was created to be legible in telephone directories, even when printed on cheap paper at small sizes.

Carter's only typeface to bear his name is [[Carter Sans]].<ref name="Typographica">{{cite web|last1=Ford|first1=Colin M.|title=Carter Sans|url=http://typographica.org/typeface-reviews/carter-sans/|website=Typographica|access-date=6 November 2016}}</ref><ref name="Typeoff">{{cite web|last1=Reynolds|first1=Dan|title=Carter Sans|url=http://www.typeoff.de/2011/01/carter-sans-typeface/|website=Typeoff|date=18 January 2011 |access-date=6 November 2016}}</ref><ref name="Shaw Interview With Matthew Carter">{{cite web|last1=Shaw|first1=Paul|title=An Interview With Matthew Carter|url=http://www.printmag.com/interviews/an-interview-with-matthew-carter/|website=Print magazine|date=2 March 2011 |access-date=6 November 2016}}</ref> It is a 'glyphic' sans-serif with flaring towards the end of each letter. It was inspired by [[Albertus (typeface)|Albertus]], a popular British typeface created by [[Berthold Wolpe]] for Monotype. Carter knew Wolpe early in his career and helped digitize one of his less-known typefaces for a 1980 retrospective of his work.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Shaw|first1=Paul|title=Overlooked Typefaces|url=http://www.printmag.com/imprint/overlooked-typefaces/|website=Print magazine|date=10 February 2011 |access-date=2 July 2015}}</ref>

[[File:HWT Van Lanen.png|thumb|HWT Van Lanen, in a digital specimen]]
One of Carter's more unusual projects was a typeface, Van Lanen, for the [[Hamilton Wood Type and Printing Museum]]. A 'Latin'-style wedge serif typeface, it was released both in digital form and [[wood type]]. In an article on it, Carter noted that it has been "50 years since a type of my design had been in a physical form that I could hold in my hand."<ref name="Yin and Yang" />

[[File:Yale University logo.svg|thumb|The [[Yale University]] logo, designed in Carter's typeface, Yale]]
Carter has taught on [[Yale University]]'s graphic design programme since 1976.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://art.yale.edu/MatthewCarter|title= Matthew Carter, Type Designer|publisher=[[Yale School of Art]]|access-date=25 January 2013}}</ref> He also designed the university's corporate typeface, [[Yale (typeface)|Yale]], at the request of John Gambell, the University Printer.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Jackson|first1=Brandon|title=The Yale Type|url=http://www.thenewjournalatyale.com/2012/04/the-yale-type/|website=The New Journal|date=13 April 2012 |publisher=Yale University|access-date=30 June 2015}}</ref><ref name="A brief history of the Yale typeface">{{cite web|title=A brief history of the Yale typeface|url=http://www.yale.edu/printer/typeface/history.html|website=Yale Printer|access-date=16 August 2015}}</ref><ref name=ydn>{{cite web|url=http://yaledailynews.com/blog/2008/04/15/whats-in-a-yale-typeface/|title=What's in a (Yale) Typeface?|first=Paul|last=Needham|date=15 April 2008|work=[[Yale Daily News]]|access-date=25 January 2013}}</ref> Carter has said that this was the first time in designing a typeface that he focused more on capital than lowercase letters, since he knew that on the building signs the lettering would be in capitals.<ref name="print">{{cite web|url=http://imprint.printmag.com/typography/an-interview-with-matthew-carter/|date=2 March 2011|title=An Interview With Matthew Carter|work=[[Print (magazine)|Print]]|first=Paul|last=Shaw|access-date=25 January 2013|archive-date=9 March 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120309082338/http://imprint.printmag.com/typography/an-interview-with-matthew-carter/|url-status=dead}}</ref> Carter wrote that:

<blockquote>The signs, whether free-standing or attached to walls, reminded me of inscriptions, and this led me to think about the inscriptional origins of Roman caps and the everlasting problem of reconciling capitals with lowercase. For me, the moment when the first true synthesis occurred was in the type of ''De Aetna''.  This led me in turn to the [[Beinecke Library]] to pore over their copy of the book and its type – the archetype of Roman type for me.<ref name=print/></blockquote>

==Awards==
Carter has won numerous awards for his contributions to typography and design, including an ''[[honoris causa]],'' [[Doctorate|Doctorate of Humane Letters]] from the [[The Art Institute of Boston|Art Institute of Boston]], an [[List of AIGA medalists|<small>AIGA</small> medal]] in 1995, the TDC Medal from the [[Type Directors Club]] in 1997, and the 2005 <small>[[Society of Typographic Aficionados|SOTA]]</small> Typography Award. A retrospective of his work, "Typographically Speaking, The Art of Matthew Carter," was exhibited at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County in December 2002. This retrospective is featured in the documentary, "Typographically Speaking: A Conversation With Matthew Carter." In 2010, Carter was named a [[MacArthur Fellows Program|MacArthur Foundation Fellow]], otherwise known as a "[[genius]]" grant.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.wickedlocal.com/cambridge/news/x2084591041/Cambridge-font-man-wins-MacArthur-grant |title=Cambridge font man wins MacArthur grant |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120415075748/http://www.wickedlocal.com/cambridge/news/x2084591041/Cambridge-font-man-wins-MacArthur-grant |archive-date=15 April 2012 |url-status=dead |date=7 October 2010 |author=Gillian Rich|work=Wicked Local Cambridge |publisher=[[GateHouse Media]] |location=[[Perinton, New York|Perinton]], New York }}</ref>

On 26 May 2011, he received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the [[National Design Awards]] at the White House.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20150908135502/http://www.fontbureau.com/blog/carter-design-lifetime-achievement/ Matthew Carter Receives 2011 National Design Award for Lifetime Achievement]</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Honoring a Designer Who Gave Computers Their Fonts (Published 2011) |work=The New York Times |date=25 May 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230407021457/https://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/26/garden/cooper-hewitt-award-for-a-typeface-designer-currents.html |archive-date=2023-04-07 |url-status=live |url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/26/garden/cooper-hewitt-award-for-a-typeface-designer-currents.html |last1=Lasky |first1=Julie }}</ref>

He is a member of [[Alliance Graphique Internationale]] (<small>AGI</small>), has served as chairman of [[ATypI]], is a member of the board of directors of the Type Directors Club, and is an ''ex officio'' member of the board of directors of the [[Society of Typographic Aficionados]]<small> (SOTA)</small>. Some of Carter's designs are in the collection of the [[St Bride Library|St. Bride Printing Library]] in London.<ref name="The materials of typefounding">{{cite web|last1=Mosley|first1=James|author-link=James Mosley|title=The materials of typefounding|url=http://typefoundry.blogspot.co.uk/2006/01/materials-of-typefounding.html|website=Type Foundry|access-date=14 August 2015}}</ref>

Carter was appointed [[Commander of the Order of the British Empire]] (CBE) in the [[2020 Birthday Honours]] for services to typography and design.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=63135|supp=y|page=B9|date=10 October 2020}}</ref><ref name="Birthday Honours list">{{cite web |title=Queen's Birthday Honours |url=https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/925348/Queen_s_Birthday_Honours_List_2020.csv/preview |website=gov.uk |access-date=10 October 2020}}</ref>

==Typefaces==
[[Image:CarterFaces.png|right|thumb|240px|Specimens of typefaces by Matthew Carter]]
Matthew Carter's typefaces include the following:
{{Col-begin}}
{{Col-break}}
* Alisal<ref name="Alisal MT MyFonts">{{cite web|title=Alisal|url=http://www.myfonts.com/fonts/mti/alisal/|website=MyFonts|publisher=Monotype|access-date=22 February 2016}}</ref>
*[[Bell Centennial]]<ref name="U.S. News" /><ref name="Bell Centennial LTA">{{cite web|title=Bell Centennial|url=http://www.myfonts.com/fonts/adobe/bell-centennial/|website=MyFonts|publisher=Adobe/Linotype|access-date=22 February 2016}}</ref>
*[[Big Caslon]]<ref>{{cite web |publisher=The Museum of Modern Art |url=http://www.moma.org/collection/browse_results.php?object_id=139308 |title=MoMA – The Collection – Matthew Carter. Big Caslon. 1993 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://new.myfonts.com/fonts/fontbureau/big-caslon/ |title=Big Caslon – Desktop font " MyFonts |publisher=New.myfonts.com |date=1 January 2000 |access-date=22 October 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090307203032/http://new.myfonts.com/fonts/fontbureau/big-caslon/ |archive-date=7 March 2009 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Big Caslon FB|url=http://www.fontbureau.com/fonts/BigCaslonFB/|publisher=Font Bureau|access-date=23 June 2015}}{{Dead link|date=May 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref name="Fonts in Use Big Caslon">{{cite web|title=Big Caslon|url=http://fontsinuse.com/typefaces/555/big-caslon|website=Fonts in Use|access-date=30 August 2015}}</ref>
*[[Fat face typefaces|Big Figgins]]
*[[Baskerville|Big Moore]]
*[[Carter Sans]]
*Cascade Script<ref name="Cascade LT">{{cite web|title=Cascade LT|url=http://www.myfonts.com/fonts/adobe/cascade/|website=MyFonts|publisher=Linotype|access-date=22 February 2016|archive-date=3 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303121457/http://www.myfonts.com/fonts/adobe/cascade/|url-status=dead}}</ref>
*[[Bitstream Charter|Charter]]<ref>{{cite web | url=http://practicaltypography.com/charter.html | title=Charter | last1=Butterick | first1=Matthew | year=2013 | website=Butterick's Practical Typography | access-date=1 August 2013}}</ref>
* [[Cochin (typeface)|Cochin]] (adaptation)<ref name="Cochin LTA">{{cite web|title=Cochin|url=http://www.myfonts.com/fonts/adobe/cochin/|website=MyFonts|publisher=Linotype/Adobe|access-date=22 February 2016|archive-date=1 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160301184509/http://www.myfonts.com/fonts/adobe/cochin/|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* [[Elephant (typeface)|Elephant]] (later republished as Big Figgins)
{{Col-break}}
*Fenway
* [[Dutch Type Library|DTL]] Flamande
*[[Galliard (typeface)|ITC Galliard]]
*Gando
*[[Georgia (typeface)|Georgia]]<ref name="slate">{{cite web |url=http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/art/2007/05/the_helvetica_hegemony.html |title=The Helvetica Hegemony: How an unassuming font took over the world |first=Mia |last=Fineman |date=25 May 2007 |publisher=Slate}}</ref>
*[[Helvetica#Helvetica Compressed (1966)|Helvetica Compressed]]<ref name="Typographically speaking : the art of Matthew Carter">{{cite book|last1=Re|first1=Margaret|last2=Drucker|first2=Johanna|last3=Mosley|first3=James|title=Typographically speaking : the art of Matthew Carter|date=2003|publisher=Princeton Architectural|location=New York|isbn=9781568984278|page=53|edition=2.}}</ref>
*[[Helvetica#Language variants|Helvetica Greek]]
*Mantinia<ref>{{cite web |publisher=The Museum of Modern Art |url=http://www.moma.org/collection/browse_results.php?object_id=139309 |title=MoMA – The Collection – Matthew Carter. Mantinia. 1993 }}</ref><ref name="Mantinia FB">{{cite web|title=Mantinia FB|url=http://www.fontbureau.com/fonts/Mantinia/|publisher=[[Font Bureau]]|access-date=22 February 2016}}</ref>
*[[Meiryo]] (Latin range)
{{Col-break}}
*[[Miller (typeface)|Miller]]<ref>{{cite web |publisher=The Museum of Modern Art |url=http://www.moma.org/collection/browse_results.php?object_id=139310 |title=MoMA – The Collection – Matthew Carter. Miller. 1997 }}</ref>
*[[Monticello (typeface)|Monticello]]<ref name="Mr. Jefferson's Typeface">{{cite web|last1=Berry|first1=John D.|title=Mr. Jefferson's Typeface|url=http://creativepro.com/dot-font-mr-jeffersons-typeface/|website=Creative Pro|access-date=22 April 2016}}</ref>
*Nina
*Olympian<ref name="Olympian MyFonts">{{cite web|title=Olympian|url=http://www.myfonts.com/fonts/linotype/olympian/|website=[[MyFonts]]|publisher=Linotype|access-date=22 February 2016}}</ref>
*Rocky<ref name="Rocky FB">{{cite web|title=Rocky FB|url=http://www.fontbureau.com/fonts/Rocky/|publisher=[[Font Bureau]]|access-date=22 February 2016}}</ref>
* Roster
* Shelley Script<ref name="Shelley Script LTA">{{cite web|title=Shelley Script|url=http://www.myfonts.com/fonts/adobe/shelley-script/|website=MyFonts|publisher=Adobe/Linotype|access-date=22 February 2016}}{{Dead link|date=May 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>
* Sitka
* Snell Roundhand<ref name="U.S. News" />
*[[Skia (typeface)|Skia]]
{{Col-break}}
*Sophia<ref name="Sophia FB">{{cite web|title=Sophia FB|url=http://www.fontbureau.com/fonts/Sophia/|publisher=[[Font Bureau]]|access-date=22 February 2016}}</ref>
*Stilson<ref name="Stilson FB">{{cite web|title=Stilson FB|url=http://www.fontbureau.com/fonts/Stilson/|publisher=[[Font Bureau]]|access-date=22 February 2016}}</ref>
*[[Tahoma (typeface)|Tahoma]]
* Van Lanen<ref name="Yin and Yang">{{cite web|last1=Carter|first1=Matthew|title=Yin and Yang|url=http://www.eyemagazine.com/feature/article/yin-and-yang|website=Eye Magazine|access-date=22 February 2016}}</ref><ref name="HWT Van Lanen">{{cite web|title=HWT Van Lanen|url=http://www.myfonts.com/fonts/hwt/hwt-van-lanen/|website=[[MyFonts]]|publisher=[[Hamilton Wood Type and Printing Museum]]|access-date=22 February 2016}}</ref>
*[[Verdana]]<ref name="slate" /><ref>{{cite web |publisher=The Museum of Modern Art |url=http://www.moma.org/collection/browse_results.php?object_id=139312 |title=MoMA – The Collection – Matthew Carter. Verdana. 1996 }}</ref>
*Vincent
*Walker<ref>{{cite web |publisher=The Museum of Modern Art |url=http://www.moma.org/collection/browse_results.php?object_id=139311 |title=MoMA – The Collection – Matthew Carter. Walker. 1995 }}</ref>
*[[Wilson Greek]]
*[[Yale (typeface)|Yale]]
{{col-end}}

Besides Carter's commercially released typefaces, many of his designs have been privately commissioned for companies for their own use. These include work for ''[[Le Monde]]'', ''The New York Times'', ''[[Time Magazine|Time]]'', ''[[The Washington Post]]'', ''[[The Boston Globe]]'', ''[[Wired (magazine)|Wired]]'', and ''[[Newsweek]]''.<ref name="Devroye Matthew Carter">{{cite web|last1=Devroye|first1=Luc|title=Matthew Carter|url=http://luc.devroye.org/fonts-26320.html|website=Type Design Information Page|access-date=22 February 2016}}</ref> Some of these typefaces would later be released commercially. An example of this is Roster, which is based on a smaller family created under the name of ''Wrigley'' for ''[[Sports Illustrated]]'' magazine, and Stilson, originally proprietary to ''The Washington Post'' and named 'Postoni'.<ref name="Stilson FB" /><ref name="Roster FB">{{cite web|title=Roster: A Square-Shouldered Powerhouse in 60 Styles|url=http://www.fontbureau.com/blog/roster-new-release/|publisher=[[Font Bureau]]|access-date=22 February 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160215203620/http://www.fontbureau.com/blog/roster-new-release/|archive-date=15 February 2016|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

Seven of Carter's typefaces—Bell Centennial, Big Caslon, ITC Galliard, Mantinia, Miller, Verdana and Walker—have been in the permanent collection of the [[Museum of Modern Art]] since 2011. The typefaces were displayed in the MoMA's [[Standard Deviations (exhibition)|''Standard Deviations'']] exhibition of 2011–12.

==See also==

* [[List of AIGA medalists]]
* [[Art Directors Club Hall of Fame]]

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}
* [[Eye (magazine)|''Eye'']], [[List of Eye magazine issues|No. 11, Vol. 3]], edited by [[Rick Poynor]], Wordsearch Ltd, 1993.
* {{cite book |title=An A-Z of Type Designers |first=Neil |last=Macmillan |isbn=1856693953 |publisher=Laurence King Publishing |year=2006}}, p.&nbsp;62.

==External links==
{{Commons}}
* {{MoMA artist|32468}}
* {{TED speaker}}
* [https://www.myfonts.com/collections/matthew-carter MyFonts]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20130828210842/http://www.will-harris.com/verdana-georgia.htm Georgia & Verdana – Typefaces for the screen]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080723183034/http://www.monotypeimaging.com/ProductsServices/TypeDesignerShowcase/MatthewCarter/ Type Designer Showcase biography at Monotype Imaging]
* [http://www.designmuseum.org/design/matthew-carter Designing Modern Britain exhibition biography]
** [https://www.ted.com/talks/matthew_carter_my_life_in_typefaces TED Talk: Matthew Carter: My life in typefaces (TED2014)]
* [http://www.eyemagazine.com/feature/article/reputations-matthew-carter Mathew Carter in conversation with Erik Spiekermann, Eye No. 11]
* [http://tmagazine.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/02/graphic-content-carter-sans/ Graphic Content: Carter Sans], by Steven Heller, New York Times, 2 February 2011
* [http://luc.devroye.org/myfonts-matthewcarter-/ Matthew Carter] – collection of material by [[Luc Devroye]]
* [http://luc.devroye.org/fonts-26319.html Carter & Cone] ([[Luc Devroye]]'s website)
* [http://www.carterandcone.com/ Carter & Cone]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Carter, Matthew}}
[[Category:1937 births]]
[[Category:AIGA medalists]]
[[Category:English typographers and type designers]]
[[Category:English emigrants to the United States]]
[[Category:MacArthur Fellows]]
[[Category:Designers from London]]
[[Category:British letter cutters]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Commanders of the Order of the British Empire]]
[[Category:Royal Designers for Industry]]