Christian Schwartz, Partner at Commercial Type

Interview March 1st, 2019, Commercial Type

Commercial Type’s setup is a fairly unusual one. With one partner in London and the other in New York, it’s not hard to think of all the things which could go wrong, lost in translation or different time zones. And yet, it works spectacularly well.

Christian Schwartz, the partner running the NYC side, showed us around the Lafayette Street office. Once again, we saw that everything starts with a full bookcase. Having just visited the Butler Library at Columbia University in the morning, the diversity and quality of the books was not lost on us. The office was a type lover’s dream, and we could have got lost looking at gorgeous specimens for hours on end.

But, going back to the unusual setup of Commercial Type, perhaps that ended up being our biggest takeaway from the visit. Christian told us about how he met Paul Barnes : on an online typography forum, where a joint obssession for an obscure calligraphic typeface led one to message the other. This led to friendship, which led to successful professional ventures (like their critically-acclaimed work for the Guardian), which led to the foundation of Commercial Type, with Christian in New York and Paul in London.

As Christian explained the day-to-day life of the foundry, I couldn’t help but thing : how powerful is the Internet, with its forums and email and FaceTime calls ? Well, not as powerful as human connection and passion put together. Years, almost decades later, there was still amazement on Christian’s face when he told us about how he felt when a stranger replied on a message board buried deeply in a forum which no longer exists. And I suspect he feels that way every time he tells the story, much in the way we do ourselves when we think about the moment where we first met a friend.
But that alone wasn’t what founded Commercial Type. The sheer passion they both had for type, which prompted them to post about it, to research and ask questions, was the fuel we all need to keep on making and creating. So, all in all, a very, very simple takeaway : do what you love and do it with great people.

Commercial Type website. Instagram: commercialtype, Twitter: commercialtype

By Marie Boulanger & Marie Tixador
February 28, 2019. 110Lafayette street #203, suite 8f, New York City
#ecvny2019