What If the World’s Biggest Type Company Could Predict the Next Font Trend? with Tom Foley | The Typecast Episode 69
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Episode Description
In this episode, we sat down with Tom Foley, Executive Creative Director at Monotype–the biggest type company in the world–for a conversation that went way deeper than we planned (in the best possible way). From his family’s legacy of stonemasons and sign painters to his graduate research on Irish typography, Tom gave us an entirely new lens through which to see typography.
We also dig into the big questions: what actually makes good type, how type trends work (and why they’re so hard to predict), what Monotype’s research reveals, and where variable fonts are actually landing in the world.
All that and more when you listen to this episode:
- The fascinating origin story of what we now call Irish type
- What makes good type
- Whether design knowledge and historical context make you better or worse at type design
- What Monotype’s research reveals about purchasing habits across generations
- Whether giving users more font choice in apps is actually what people want (or need)
- Type as a deeply human invention–linked to language, identity, and culture
Connect with Tom Foley
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tom_foley_type/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tom-foley-75062158/
Mentioned in this episode:
- Monotype https://www.monotype.com/
- Monotype’s ReVision Report 2025 https://www.monotype.com/resources/ebook/unlock-report-revision-2025
- Montotype’s Report 2024 https://www.monotype.com/resources/ebook/unlock-report-type-trends-2024
- What the font https://www.myfonts.com/pages/whatthefont
- Brethren Brothers https://www.brethrendesignco.com/
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