Carol Twombly is a famous calligrapher and typeface designer, who had a relatively short, but revolutionary career.

Initially studying at the Rhode Island School of Design for architecture, she soon realized graphic design was her calling and changed her major. 

After graduating, she worked for Adobe as a typeface designer from the late ’80s to the late ’90s.

While working there, she put so much research and work into her typefaces, including closely studying historical scriptures in hopes of inspiration for her digital fonts. 

For example, her very first typeface “Trajan” was created by her being able to successfully translate Roman inscriptions and carvings on Trajan’s column.

She was recognized for her amazing work in 1994 when she was the first woman to ever win the Prix Charles Peignot award for excellence in type design.

Even after her retirement from Adobe and type design, many of her typefaces are still standard on all computers, like Caslon, Myriad, Nueva, Lithos, and Trajan.

Although she is retired, she is focusing on her other interests involving textiles, basket weaving, hiking, and jewelry!

Cites:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carol_Twombly

https://www.digitalartteacher.com/blog/2019/05/carol/twombly

https://fonts.adobe.com/designers/carol-twombly