The first-year MFA Design students had the opportunity to visit the studio of Christian Schwartz, a distinguished type designer and partner at Commercial Type. Schwartz, who began designing fonts during his school years, has an extensive portfolio, having collaborated with renowned independent foundries such as House Industries, Emigre, FontFont, and Font Bureau. In 2007, alongside London-based designer Paul Barnes, he established Commercial Type, a digital type foundry with offices in New York and London.

Schwartz and Barnes have been named two of the 40 most influential designers under 40 by Wallpaper*, and Schwartz was included in Time’s 2007 “Design 100”. In 2007, Schwartz was awarded the prestigious Prix Charles Peignot, given every four or five years by the Association Typographique Internationale to a designer under 35 who has made “an outstanding contribution to the field of type design”. Schwartz’s work has also been honored by the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, the New York Type Director’s Club, and the American Institute of Graphic Arts.

I learned that creating and publishing fonts requires both artistic skill and strategic business thinking. Designers must not only focus on the design process but also on market research, branding, licensing, and customer needs. —Shuni Liang (Class of 2026)

It was interesting that he not only draws inspiration from historical typefaces, but also modern design needs, and non-typographic sources like signage and architecture. —Sooyoung Yang (Class of 2026)