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Jason
Santa Maria talks about his favorite fonts
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In the
second installment of our Designer Spotlight
series we shine FontShop’s yellow glow on Jason Santa
Maria, founder and principal of Mighty, a
Brooklyn-based design studio, and creative director of
Typekit.
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Creator
of highly acclaimed web experiences, Jason’s weapon of choice is
typography, which he wields deftly to make complex topics accessible
and appealing. This is evident in his work on Typedia, a shared
encyclopedia of typefaces; A List
Apart, a magazine for people who make websites;
and his own award-winning
site for which he famously breaks from the
traditional blog template, designing each entry separately to fit
the subject at hand. |
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Whether
he’s designing web pages or printed pages, Jason’s typographic
palette is understated, yet constantly changing. His respect for the
tried-and-true classics is clear, but his eye also scans the horizon
for interesting new releases. Here are some of his favorite
typefaces and the work they helped produce.
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Freight
Sans
Freight
Sans is one part of Joshua Darden’s wonderful super
family that also includes serif and display
variants. It has this odd ability to fade into the background
sometimes, or jump up and down when you need it to. And damn that
man knows how to make an italic. –
JSM |
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News
Gothic
Paul
Giambarba’s branding work for Polaroid was one of my first exposures
to News Gothic (though its cousin Franklin Gothic, also by Morris
Fuller Benton, has always been a staple for me). It’s a bit vanilla,
but its compact stature and angularity make for powerful
typography. –
JSM |
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Cooper
Black
I
know these days it’s campy and shlocky and makes most designers
cringe. But Cooper Black is like a dog that’s so ugly it becomes
cute, and for that I love it. There, I said it. It was also a
no-brainer for this piece because it’s still Tootsie Pop’s pride and
joy. –
JSM |
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Skolar
Skolar
was the first of the fonts making their way onto the web for screen
use that I fell in love with. It feels formal, without being stuffy,
and has a bit of quirk to it, like someone wearing a suit with
rainbow striped socks. The italic is especially lovely. –
JSM |
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Garamond Premier
Pro and Trade
Gothic
Garamonds
will always have a place in my heart, and I jumped at the first
chance to use Robert Slimbach’s labor of love which is based on the
variant hand-cut type sizes by Claude Garamond. Trade Gothic remains
one of my favorite typefaces, it’s sturdy as hell, mechanical, and
remarkably forgiving. –
JSM |
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FF Yoga
and Titling
Gothic
FF
Yoga and FF Yoga Sans by Xavier Dupré are both beautiful and highly
legible book types with a modern flair. David Berlow’s Titling
Gothic makes for great headlines, especially because you can keep
the text large with the more condensed weights on such a small book
as this. –
JSM |
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Vista
Sans, Adobe
Garamond, and FF Dax
Web
Jason’s
web designs are seen by millions every week thanks to his work for
popular destinations like Dictionary.com, which he freshened from
its former stodginess using Vista Sans; A List
Apart; and Typekit, which offers Web
FontFonts to those who prefer a library
subscription. |
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