Joseph Churchward

Joseph Churchward (20 August 1932 – 26 April 2013) was a Samoan-born New Zealand graphic designer and typographer. He is known for having designed an estimated 690 original typefaces, many of which are in use around the world. His designs were also used in the masthead of The Evening Post newspaper. Historian Safua Akelei Amaama writes, "Churchward's childhood memories of drawing letters in the sand in Sāmoa inspired his practice". Churchward moved to New Zealand in 1946 to study at Miramar South School in Wellington. In 1948, he obtained an Art Distinction Award in Lettering from Wellington Technical College and began a career as a commercial artist.

He founded Churchward International Typefaces in 1969, eventually New Zealand's largest typesetting firm. In 1970 Churchward entered an agreement with German company Berthold Fototype, who subsequently distributed his fonts throughout the world. Over the span of his career, Churchward created more than 600 original typefaces.

He died on 26 April 2013 in Wellington from bowel cancer.

In popular culture In 2025, Churchward's typeface Churchward Roundsquare was prominently featured in the Yorgos Lanthimos film Bugonia, starring Emma Stone. The film's graphic designer, Vasilis Marmatakis, discovered a specimen of the typeface in the archives of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, and received permission from Churchward's daughter to create a digitisation for the film's title card, posters, and credits. Marmatakis described the typeface as feeling "monumental yet sharp, even a little threatening" and "futuristic, but in a very analogue way."