Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jun 29, 2026

Mark Simonson

Mark Simonson is an American independent type designer who works in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Last revised
Jun 29, 2026
Read time
≈ 2 min
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484 w
Citations
22
Source
Wikipedia ↗
Mark Simonson
Simonson in 2018
Born1955 (age 70–71)
Wisconsin, US1
OccupationType designer
Notable workProxima Nova

Mark Simonson (born 1955) is an American independent type designer who works in St. Paul, Minnesota.23456

Career

Simonson has described his typefaces as often being inspired by lettering styles of the past, such as the graphic design of the 1970s, Art Deco graphics and wood type.789

Simonson’s most popular font family is Proxima Nova (1994, revised 2005), a sans-serif design in the geometric and grotesque styles used by companies such as BuzzFeed, Mashable, NBC, The Onion, TikTok and Wired.101112 As of October 2021, it is the fifth highest-selling family on font sales website MyFonts.13 His fonts also include Anonymous Pro, a monospaced font designed for programming released under the OFL.

Simonson worked as a graphic designer before specializing in type design.11415 His career as a type designer got a boost when his partner Pat won money on the game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire,1617 as her success allowed him to take six months off from graphic design work to design several new typefaces that he could sell.78 He has also written blog articles on the history of type design and the lettering styles used in films, including the type blog Typographica.1819

References

References

  1. Simonson, Mark (27 May 2020). "How I Became a Type Designer in Only 30 Years with Mark Simonson". Vimeo. Cooper Union. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
  2. Hutchinson, Grant. "Q & A: Mark Simonson". Typedia. Archived from the original on 2016-09-18. Retrieved 2016-08-10.
  3. O'Driscoll, Conor (22 July 2013). "One Minute with Mark Simonson". Oneminutewith. Retrieved 10 August 2016.
  4. "Interview: Mark Simonson". Planet Typography. Retrieved 10 August 2016.
  5. "Interview: Mark Simonson". Eurekaville. Retrieved 10 August 2016.
  6. Morlighem, Sébastien. "Mark Simonson Studio: Breathing New Life into the Past". FontStand. Retrieved 10 August 2016.
  7. Sorkin, Eben. "Creative Characters: Mark Simonson". MyFonts. Retrieved 10 August 2016.
  8. "Mark Simonson interview". LetterCult. Retrieved 10 August 2016.
  9. "Metallophile". Geotypographika. Retrieved 10 August 2016.
  10. Vo, Tri Branch (6 December 2015). "Why Proxima Nova is Everywhere". Medium. Mic. Retrieved 10 August 2016.
  11. Friedman, Granr. "Interview with Type Designer Mark Simonson". ArtBistro.
  12. Peters, Jay (17 May 2023). "TikTok has a new font". The Verge. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
  13. "Bestsellers". MyFonts (archived). Archived from the original on 9 June 2016. Retrieved 10 August 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  14. "How to design a typeface: Mark Simonson's process". Adobe Systems. Retrieved 10 August 2016.
  15. Lileks, James. "My Minnesota: Mark Simonson". Minneapolis Star-Tribune. Retrieved 10 August 2016.
  16. Dodge, Bernadette (21 January 2008). "Designs for justice, designs for change". Twin Cities Daily Planet. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
  17. "Prize winner recalls classmate who died". Deseret News. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
  18. Eddin, Peter (January 2006). "Good Film, Shame About the Helvetica". The New York Times. Retrieved 10 August 2016.
  19. Boxer, Sarah (16 May 2005). "Arial, Mon Amour, and other font passions". The New York Times. Retrieved 10 August 2016.
External links