Hoefler & Frere-Jones became one of the most renowned type foundries in the world for its creation of widely used font families such as Gotham and Whitney, but the foundry is now embroiled in a lawsuit between its two important namesakes. The foundry's name came from its leaders, Jonathan Hoefler and Tobias Frere-Jones, with Frere-Jones largely responsible for creating fonts and Hoefler responsible for the business. But earlier this year, the two entered into a legal battle over Frere-Jones' stake in the company, which he alleges is 50 percent and Hoefler alleges was never meant to be equal.
The vicious battle that tore the greatest font design duo apart
is The Verge’s executive editor. He has covered tech, policy, and online creators for over a decade.
To see what tore them apart, New York Magazine has taken a look into the background of the company, from how Frere-Jones came to be there, to how much he contributed, and why his claim is only being brought up now. It doesn’t have an answer for who might win their battle, but it certainly suggests that Frere-Jones deserves more than Hoefler wants him to have.
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