Mark Simonson is a rare typography designer who not only redefines classic font families, he breathes new life into them. He’s also the father of one of the cleaner, more modern fonts used extensively on the web: Proxima Nova.
The font that eventually became Proxima Nova was first used for the Star Wars Radio Drama packaging by Simonson when it was released for the first time to the public in the early 90s. The original radio drama hit the airwaves in the 80s. Here’s the full story from the man himself. When I stumbled upon Mark’s studio website I felt at home seeing notes about my college typography professor, and anything vintage Star Wars is a good thing.
I really enjoyed Simonson’s breakdowns of some of the more influential type designers from the early days. One in particular caught my eye: Ron Arnholm. I studied under Professor Arnholm while attending The University of Georgia’s graphic design program, I designed countless catalogs, books, and exhibition checklists for The Georgia Museum of Art all along using his extensively diverse Legacy family. Arnholm was one of my favorite professors during my years in Athens, GA. His Aquarius font was used extensively on the campus signage at UGA. My logotype on this page was created in Arnholm’s Advanced Typography course. When I presented the final design he said it would last a long time. I've tried to redesign it over the past 21 years always returning to the original.
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