Jonathan Hoefler

Jonathan Hoefler (; born 1970) is an American type designer. Hoefler founded the Hoefler Type Foundry in 1989, a type foundry in New York.

Early life Jonathan Hoefler was born on August 22, 1970, in New York City to Doreen Benjamin and Charles Hoefler, a theatrical set designer and producer. Growing up, it was the Gill Sans text on boxes of custard that drew him to typography design.

Career Hoefler's Champion Gothic was inspired by 19th-century wood type. It was commissioned for Sports Illustrated shortly after founding the company in 1989. In 1997, his path crossed with type designer Tobias Frere-Jones when both were trying to purchase German type foundry catalogs. He also designed the current wordmark of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

In January 2014, Frere-Jones sued Hoefler for $20 million in the New York Supreme Court accusing him of scamming Frere-Jones. Frere-Jones claimed that in 1999, Hoefler agreed to a verbal 50–50 partnership that was legally binding. In light of the lawsuit, Hoefler changed the name back to Hoefler & Co claiming Frere-Jones had only been an employee, citing an agreement that they were not partners but "independent entities" and asked the court to dismiss the case. Fans of the foundry were shocked by the news of the lawsuit. A settlement was subsequently filed in September 2014.

On September 15, 2021, Monotype announced the acquisition of Hoefler & Co. and its font assets. Jonathan Hoefler also announced his intention to retire from the company.

Awards and recognition In 1995, Hoefler was named one of the forty most influential designers in America by I.D. magazine, and in 2002, the Association Typographique Internationale (ATypI) presented him with its most prestigious award, the Prix Charles Peignot for outstanding contributions to type design.

Hoefler's work is part of the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum's permanent collection. In 2011, the Museum of Modern Art acquired two of Hoefler's typefaces: Mercury, and HTF Didot.

In 2013, Hoefler and Frere-Jones were awarded the AIGA Medal for "their contributions to the typographic landscape through impeccable craftsmanship, skilled historical reference and insightful vernacular considerations."

Typefaces Jonathan Hoefler's typefaces include:

Gestalt, 1990 Champion Gothic, 1990 Hoefler Text, 1991 Ideal Sans, 1991 Ziggurat, 1991 Leviathan, 1991 Mazarin, 1991 HTF Didot, 1992 Requiem Text, 1992 Saracen, 1992 Acropolis, 1993 NYT Cheltenham, 1993 Knox, 1993 Historical Allsorts, 1994 Knockout, 1994 Fetish, 1994 Neutrino, 1994 Quantico, 1994 Oratorio, 1994 Troubadour, 1994 William Maxwell, 1994 Deseret, 1995 Jupiter, 1995 Pavisse, 1995 Verlag (formerly Guggenheim), 1996 Giant (formerly They Might Be Gothic), 1996 New Amsterdam, 1996 Hoefler Titling, 1996 Plainsong, 1996 Kapellmeister, 1997 Numbers (with Tobias Frere-Jones), 1997–2006 Mercury, (with Tobias Frere-Jones), 1997 Radio City, 1998 Vitesse, (with Tobias Frere-Jones), 2000 Deluxe, 2000 Cyclone, 2000 Topaz, 2000 Lever Sans, (with Tobias Frere-Jones), 2000 Archer, (with Tobias Frere-Jones), 2001 Chronicle, (with Tobias Frere-Jones), 2002 Sentinel, (with Tobias Frere-Jones), 2002 Operator, (with Andy Clymer), 2016 Inkwell, (with Jordan Bell), 2017 Decimal, 2019 Sentinel Ornaments (an extension of Sentinel), 2021 Sagittarius, 2021