Sumner Stone is the founder of
Stone Type Foundry Inc. located on Alphabet Farm in Rumsey, California.
The Foundry is a one-man band. Mr. Stone designs and manufactures the typefaces, produces and maintains the web site, the specimens, and (occasionally) mops the floor.
Mr. Stone’s first type design, ITC Stone, is a super family which contains Serif, Sans, and Informal versions. It has recently been extended by the addition of the Humanistic Sans subfamily. Other recent fonts are Magma, Munc, Leaves & Straw and Cycles Five.
His work includes a wide variety of design styles including original designs and historical revivals, serif, sans serif, slab serif, uncial, and ornaments.
He was the art director and one of the designers of the ITC Bodoni. Another super family which Mr. Stone has designed over a period of fifteen years includes the Stone Print, SFPL, and Cycles families. The many Cycles versions continue the tradition of size-specific designs from metal type. The family includes fonts for use at 5, 7, 9, 11, 18, 24, and 36 point.
Mr. Stone is also the author of many articles on typography and type design. His book credits include
On Stone: The Art and Use of Typography on the Personal Computer, and
Font: Sumner Stone, Calligraphy and Type Design in a Digital Age.
From 1984 to 1989 Mr. Stone was Director of Typography for
Adobe Systems, Inc., Mountain View, California where he conceived and implemented Adobe’s typographic program including the Adobe Originals.
Mr. Stone has also taught calligraphy, type design, and typography at various institutions.
His education in the graphic arts began when he studied calligraphy with Lloyd Reynolds at Reed College in Portland, Oregon. His formal education also includes degrees in Sociology and Mathematics.
