Born in 1970 in New York, Tobias Frere-Jones studied at the Rhode Island School of Design. He first worked at Font Bureau, then joined Jonathan Hoefler in 1999 to found Hoefler & Frere-Jones. After they parted ways in 2014, he created his own foundry, Frere-Jones Type, and teaches at Yale University.
Vision
Frere-Jones often draws inspiration from the letters of the street: road signs, shop signs, architectural lettering. He sees typography as a way of capturing the character of a place or an era.
Works
His work includes Interstate, inspired by American highway signage, Gotham, Whitney, Retina for The Wall Street Journal, and later Mallory and Conductor for his own foundry.
Legacy
Gotham, which became one of the most used typefaces of the 2000s, left its mark on American visual culture, notably through Barack Obama's 2008 campaign.