"The detailed research and design process behind all these fonts (as well as the evolving technology) is conveyed through the many half-tone illustrations in Nancy Stock-Allen's excellent study."
- Nancy Campbell, TLS

"Carol Twombly... has been billed as 'the first book on type design centered around the career of one woman.' I would argue that it is more important than that. It is the first full-length biography of a type designer of the digital era - man or woman. ... an essential addition to the bookshelves of anyone seriously interested in the history of type design."
- Paul Shaw, PRINT Magazine

"Very well-written and - dare I say it, (this is a type nerd book after all) - quite an engaging read."
- Elizabeth Carey Smith, Type Director's Club (blog review)

"The book provides broad and deep context for Twombly's work within the insular typographic community that developed largely around the early Adobe typographic experiments.... Twombly deserves recognition as one of the very best contemporary type designers. Since Twombly herself has not to date sought that recognition, Stock-Allen's thoughtful and thorough research will help to provide it."
- Kathleen Walkup, SHARP News

"A book we wish we had published."
- The Typophiles, Inc. (on Facebook)

This study is a fascinating inside look at digital type design, the rather mysterious career of one of its most important practitioners, and the history and culture of Adobe Type, with additional insight into other type designers of the digital era. It is difficult to imagine a graphic designer in the last quarter century who is not familiar with at least some of Carol Twombly's typefaces. Yet many of those who use her fonts today would be hard pressed to name their designer.

Twombly studied at the Rhode Island School of Design under professor Charles Bigelow, and she also studied at the Bigelow & Holmes studio. She joined Adobe Systems in 1988, when the company was hiring young designers for the newly launched type department. During her ten years at Adobe, she designed some of the most recognizable and popular typefaces on the market today, including Trajan (1989), Charlemagne (1989), Lithos (1989), Adobe Caslon (1990), Myriad (1991, with Robert Slimbach), Viva (1993), Nueva (1994), and Chaparral (1997).

In 1994, Twombly won the Prix Charles Peignot, given by the Association Typographique Internationale (ATypI), the first woman -- and second American -- to receive the award. Having achieved international recognition, Twombly was uncomfortable being in the public eye at conferences and in Adobe marketing materials. She also grew dissatisfied with changes at Adobe and with her evolving role at the company. In 1999 she left both Adobe and her career to pursue other artistic interests.

Nancy Stock-Allen is a graphic designer and a blogger on subjects related to design, type, and women in design history. She was formerly Professor of Graphic Design and department chair at the Moore College of Art and Design. She interviewed and corresponded extensively with Carol Twombly and many of her associates and colleagues in writing this profile of a woman who rose to the top of a field historically dominated by men, at a time of barrier-breaking and technological revolution. Illustrated throughout with halftones, examples of Twombly's design process, and type specimens, this book will be of great interest to anyone involved or interested in type design, typography, and computer-aided graphic design.