Matteson Typographics

Steve Matteson is a type designer whose work quietly powers billions of screens and printed pages worldwide. Over three decades, he has crafted fonts for some of the most recognizable technology and consumer brands—Microsoft’s Segoe, Google’s Droid and Noto, Toyota, Unilever, Xbox, and Rocket Mortgage, among many others. Whether working on a global corporate type system or a rare historical revival, Steve brings an artist’s eye, an engineer’s precision, and an educator’s passion to every project.

Early Curiosity and Education

Born in Chicago, Steve first encountered the magic of letterforms through calligraphy—although his early attempts with a dip pen were anything but smooth. A few years later, at Rochester Institute of Technology, he discovered his true calling in the letterpress lab. RIT’s program required students to study every facet of the printing process, from running offset presses to typesetting with hot metal. Handling physical pieces of type and seeing the immediate, tangible results of ink on paper ignited Steve’s lifelong devotion to typography.

During his time at RIT, he met legends like Matthew Carter and Chuck Bigelow. These encounters showed him that type design was not just an old craft, but a living profession with real-world impact. Fascinated by everything from classic calligraphic forms to modern digital fonts, Steve immersed himself in type history and technology, laying the foundation for his future career.

From Hinting Engineer to Lead Designer

After graduating, Steve began his career in font engineering—specifically, hinting digital type so it would render well on low-resolution screens. He joined Monotype in the UK just as Microsoft prepared to launch Windows 3.1 with its “core fonts.” This was a time of enormous transition for the industry, where hot-metal and phototype traditions were colliding with digital software development. Steve helped refine processes for assembling and hinting these early TrueType fonts, eventually taking on more creative roles as he realized his passion lay in designing the letterforms rather than simply troubleshooting them.

His first major break as a designer came when he oversaw and contributed to several projects at Monotype’s California office, including the now-iconic Segoe type family for Microsoft’s ClearType initiative. Seeking a more agile environment, he and several colleagues later left to cofound Ascender, where they developed custom fonts for global tech giants—and ultimately collaborated with Google on the extensive Droid and Noto projects. When Monotype acquired Ascender, Steve continued to lead design for major corporate clients while refining his own personal approach to type creation.

A Fondness for Revivals and Letterpress

Amid the flurry of commercial commissions, Steve has always nurtured a love for historical revivals and letterpress printing. Part of that stems from his early RIT training, where setting metal type by hand made a deep impression. Today, he volunteers with the Book Arts League in Boulder, Colorado, teaching students and enthusiasts how to set type, ink a press, and experience that satisfying click of a lever that produces a perfectly pressed print.

Steve’s revival work centers especially on preserving lesser-known typefaces by Frederic Goudy and other historical figures. Many of these designs never received proper digital updates, while others exist only in partial metal sets or inadequate scans. His goal is to bring them back to life with modern typographic standards, ensuring these overlooked gems continue inspiring new generations of designers.

Making Things that Make Things

Steve’s approach to type is guided by a simple idea: “I love making things that make things.” A font is a tool; once completed, it enables others to create layouts, logos, websites, dashboards, and publications. In his eyes, good type design must balance technical engineering (like rendering, spacing, script coverage) with aesthetic sensitivity (the subtleties of shape and stroke that communicate the brand’s personality). This is true whether he’s building a brand font for a Fortune 500 company or reviving an obscure blackletter from 1960s Norway.

Outdoor Passions and Fresh Perspective

Away from the computer screen, Steve is often found biking or mountaineering in Colorado’s high country. He credits these outdoor pursuits as essential to his creative process. Mountain biking forces him to focus on the trail—a kind of “forced meditation” that frees his mind from screen-based problem solving. After a few hours off-road, he can return to type design with fresh eyes and renewed energy. He draws parallels between summiting a peak and finishing a font: each has a clear beginning, demands persistence, and delivers a deep sense of accomplishment upon completion.

Current and Future Directions

Today, Steve operates independently as a type designer, consultant, and educator under his own banner, dedicating his time to a range of projects:

• Corporate Commissions: Helping companies develop distinctive, high-performance fonts that unify brand messaging and function seamlessly across digital and print media.
• Revival Projects: Exploring archives and museum collections for overlooked letters, then meticulously redrawing and adapting them to modern typographic standards.
• Letterpress Education: Teaching the fundamentals of typesetting, typography, and letterpress printing at workshops and events, from beginners to seasoned designers wanting a hands-on refresher.
• Personal Experiments: Sketching and refining new alphabets—some purely for fun, others for potential retail release—always with an eye on the interplay between artistic flourish and solid functional design.

Matteson Typographics Board of Directors planning summit. Left to right: Patches, Shelby, Steve, Buddy.

Get in Touch

If you need a custom typeface that balances brand personality with top-notch engineering, or if you’re curious about letterpress printing and type history, Steve Matteson is ready to help. He is always happy to discuss creative collaborations, educational workshops, or revival opportunities for historical type families.