Joshua Darden facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Joshua Darden
Born	(1979-01-02) 2 January 1979 (age 46) Los Angeles, California, US
Known for	Type design
Awards	Print's New Visual Artists 2006

Joshua Darden is a talented American designer who creates typefaces. What are typefaces? They are the different styles of letters and numbers you see everywhere, like in books, on websites, and on signs. Think of them as the "clothes" for words! Joshua Darden started designing these letter styles when he was just 15 years old. He is known as the first African-American typeface designer.

Joshua Darden's Design Journey

Starting Young: Scanjam Design

In 1993, when Joshua was still in high school, he teamed up with his friend Timothy Glaser. Together, they started a company called The Scanjam Design Company. This company created designs for websites, company logos, and, of course, typefaces.

Some of their early typefaces included Diva, Interact, and Index. These designs were sold through a company called GarageFonts, which was owned by famous graphic designer David Carson.

Creating Darden Studio

In 2000, Joshua started working as a freelancer for The Hoefler Type Foundry. He became a full-time employee there in 2001. After a few years, in 2004, he decided to start his own company. He opened Darden Studio in Brooklyn, New York. A "foundry" is like a special workshop where typefaces are designed and sold.

Famous Typefaces: Freight and Omnes

Soon after opening his studio, Joshua released a huge collection of fonts called Freight. This collection had 120 different fonts in five main styles. It was inspired by older, classic typeface designs. Freight quickly became very popular. You might have seen it used in magazines like W magazine or on websites like Medium.

Another very popular typeface Joshua designed is Omnes. He first created Omnes for a company called Landor. It was released to the public in 2006. Omnes became Darden Studio's best-selling typeface. Big companies like AT&T, Crayola, and Fanta have used Omnes for their branding.

Other Notable Designs

Joshua Darden also designed other well-known typefaces for his studio. These include Birra Stout, Corundum Text, and Jubilat. Jubilat became especially famous because it was used for the logos of Bernie Sanders' presidential campaigns in 2016 and 2020.

In 2006, Print magazine recognized Joshua as one of their "New Visual Artists." This award is given each year to 20 talented designers who are under 30 years old.

Darden Studio Today

In 2019, Joshua Darden sold Darden Studio to Joyce Ketterer. She had worked at the company for 13 years. The company still uses Joshua's name and continues to create and release his amazing typeface designs.

Sharing Knowledge: Teaching and Lecturing

Joshua Darden also enjoys sharing his knowledge with others. He has given talks at universities like the University of California, Santa Barbara. He has also been a speaker at big design conferences such as TypeCon and South by Southwest Interactive.

He has visited the Rhode Island School of Design as a guest critic, helping students with their design projects. Joshua has also taught classes on how to design and use typefaces at the Parsons School of Design.

Joshua Darden's Typeface Creations

Here are some of the typefaces Joshua Darden has designed: