Carol Twombly was born on June 13, 1959 in Concord, Massachusetts. She later moved to New England where she spent a majority of her childhood. Having her architect brother as an inspiration, she decided to study sculpture at the Rhode Island School of Design. She eventually decided to study graphic design instead. It was there that she met one of her greatest influences in the graphic design field, her professor Chuck Bigelow and Kris Holmes. As stated by Twombly, “I discovered that communicating through graphics – by placing black shapes on a white page – offered a welcome balance between freedom and structure.”
During Twombly's time in college, she edited letters numerically. She would outline the letters on vellum, ink them, and then inspect them through a magnifying glass. The process was done manually by hand rather than digitally, because technology was not as advanced as it is today. After successfully graduating from college, she continued her career by working at a graphic design studio in Boston. She was eventually invited by Chuck Bigelow to join a group of individuals for a typography program that was digital at Stanford University. After two years and an unfortunate termination of the program, Twombly, along with her fellow colleagues, earned Masters of Science degrees in computer science and typographic design. Her next four years were spent working for the Bigelow and Holmes studio, during which time she entered into an international type design competition sponsored by Morisawa Limited. Having gained first place in the competition, she subsequently had her type design licensed by the Japanese typesetting manufacturer. It was then marketed under the name "Mirarae".
Adobe later hired her, and by 1988, Twombly had become a full-time employee for type design of the Adobe Originals program. She spent over eleven years with Adobe, and during her time with them, she created some significant typefaces. Major typeface contributions include but are not limited to: Trajan, Lithos, Nueva, Viva, Mirarae, Myriad Pro, Chapparal, Charlemagne, Adobe Caslon, and Pepperwood. In 1994, she became the first woman and second American ever to have received the Prix Charles Peignot award - a significant feat. It was awarded by the Association Typographique Internationale in San Francisco for her contributions to type design.
Carol Twombly eventually left Adobe, and although she has since then discontinued her work with type design, she still continues practicing other arts such as painting, sculpture, and weaving. She now resides in the foothills of Sierra, where she also works with jewelry and textiles.
Pictures of Carol Twombly are included above, along with pictures that have been impacted by her contributions to type. Her typeface Trajan is the official type used by many universities including The Pennsylvania State University and Columbia University. It is also used on many movie posters including the Titanic.
Resources:
http://www.adobe.com/products/type/font-designers/carol-twombly.html
http://www.linotype.com/606/caroltwombly.html
https://www.myfonts.com/person/Carol_Twombly/
http://www.studymode.com/essays/Typographer-Carol-Twombly-484846.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-71iwMmSyc&list=UU4gToof2AMx9VYU5Z4YzdIw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGMcar4oNcY
http://history-of-type.wikispaces.com/file/view/carol_Twombly.jpg/167237345/carol_Twombly.jpg
http://blog-cache4.webink.com/assets/Carol-last-day-solo.png
http://image.linotype.com/cms/twombly_portrait_d13104i45.jpg
http://custodianfilmcritic.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/titanic-poster-3.jpeg
http://www.campusexplorer.com/media/560x420/Pennsylvania-State-University-Shenango-B3778DE7.jpg
http://www.columbia.edu/files/columbia/content/template-ppt2.png
Good:
The type for the above three books is from the trilogy of The Hunger Games. Although the type is simple and quite ordinary, it is successful and balanced. It is crisp, clean, and legible. The size and position of the type balances the logos, while the color choice adds harmony. Interestingly enough, the typeface used in the new book designs is Trajan, which of course, was originally designed by Carol Twombly.
Bad:
The biggest problem with the type above is the imbalance between the left and right. The large ampersand and its placement makes the sign appear to read "MU & Art Design" rather than "MU Art & Design". Perhaps if the ampersand were in the same typeface as the words "Art Design," then that confusion could be avoided. The "MU" also appears unnecessary, because "Millersville University" already appears at the bottom. It is redundant, and could easily be fixed by switching the university's name to the top of the entire design and placing "Art & Design" directly below it. The four words on the right should be spaced apart more to add more balance to the entire design. Its font size is also quite large in comparison to the university's name.
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