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{{short description|Dutch type designer and graphic designer (born 1960)}}
{{BLP sources|date=April 2020}}
{{Infobox artist
| name = Martin Majoor
| image = 20180915-ATypI-2018-Martin Majoor-NP.jpg
| alt = Martin Majoor, 2018
| caption = Majoor in 2018
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1960|10|14|df=yes}}
| birth_place = [[Baarn, Utrecht]], Netherlands
| education = [[ArtEZ University of Arts|Academy of Fine Arts]], [[Arnhem]], Netherlands ({{daterange|1980|1986}})
| notable_works = {{unbulleted list|[[FF Scala]] (1991)|[[FF Scala Sans]] (1993)|[[#Telefont|Telefont]] (1994)|[[#FF Seria|FF Seria]] (2000)|[[#FF Nexus|FF Nexus]] (2004)|[[#Questa|Questa]] (2014)}}
| website = {{URL|https://www.martinmajoor.com|martinmajoor.com}}
| known_for = {{hlist|Type design|graphic design}}
}}

'''Martin Majoor''' (born 14 October 1960)<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=Martin Majoor|url=https://www.myfonts.com/person/Martin_Majoor/|website=MyFonts|publisher=[[Monotype Imaging]]|location=Woburn, Massachusetts|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191020152334/https://www.myfonts.com/person/Martin_Majoor/|archive-date=20 October 2019|access-date=30 April 2020}}</ref>{{Failed verification|date=April 2020}} is a Dutch [[type design]]er and [[graphic designer]].<ref>{{Cite interview|last=Majoor|first=Martin|subject-link=Martin Majoor|title=Martin Majoor|url=https://www.myfonts.com/newsletters/cc/20171118.html|access-date=30 April 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190726232631/https://www.myfonts.com/newsletters/cc/20171118.html|archive-date=26 July 2019|work=Creative Characters|publisher=[[Monotype Imaging]]|place=Woburn, Massachusetts|date=18 November 2017|language=en|url-status=live|editor-last=Reynolds|editor-first=Dan}}</ref> As of 2006, he had worked since 1997 in both [[Arnhem]], Netherlands, and [[Warsaw]], Poland.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Macmillan|first=Neil|title=An A–Z of type designers|publisher=Yale University Press|year=2006|isbn=0-300-11150-9|location=New Haven, Connecticut}}</ref>

==Biography==
=== Early life ===
Majoor was born in 1960 in the town of [[Baarn]], in the [[Provinces of the Netherlands|Dutch province]] of [[Utrecht (province)|Utrecht]].<ref name=":0" />

=== Education ===
Majoor enrolled at the then {{Lang|nl|Academie voor Beeldende Kunst Arnhem|italic=yes}} (Academy of Fine Arts, [[Arnhem]]), now part of [[ArtEZ University of Arts|ArtEZ University of the Arts]], in 1980. He graduated in 1986.

For a student placement, Majoor went to [[URW Type Foundry]] in 1984. He used their [[Ikarus (typography software)|Ikarus]] system to design a typeface named {{Lang|fr|[[wiktionary:serré|Serré]]|italic=no}}, which was never released.

=== Early work ===
In 1986, Majoor joined the research department of Océ and investigated fonts for use on [[computer monitor]]s. He also researched fonts for [[laser printing]] for [[Bitstream Inc.|Bitstream]].

In 1988, Majoor became a graphic designer for the [[Muziekcentrum Vredenburg]], where he designed concert programmes. Frustration with limited availability of professional fonts on the institution's [[Macintosh]] computers led him to develop his own font, Scala.

=== Font designs ===

==== FF Scala and FF Scala Sans ====
{{Infobox font
| name =
| image = FFScalaSpecimenAIB.svg
| imagesize = 235px
| style = Serif
| classifications = [[Serif#Old-style|Old-style]]
| date = 1990
| creator = Martin Majoor
| foundry = [[FontFont]]
| }}In 1991, [[FontShop International]] released Scala as [[FF Scala]], the first ‘serious’ text face in its FontFont library. Scala expanded to a [[Font superfamily|superfamily]] providing both [[serif]] and [[sans-serif]] faces with [[FF Scala Sans]], released in 1993. Both have sold well since their introduction.{{Infobox font
| name =
| image = FFScalaSansAIB.svg
| imagesize = 235px
| style = Sans-serif
| classifications = [[Sans-serif#Humanist|Humanist]]
| date = 1992
| creator = Martin Majoor
| foundry = [[FontFont]]
| }}FF Scala Sans was expanded with new weights and condensed versions in 1998. The family was supplemented with decorative capitals (FF Scala Jewels) in 1996. Several [[Index (typography)|index]] symbols were also added{{When|date=April 2020}} as FF Scala Hands, from a 1933 design by [[Bruce Rogers (typographer)|Bruce Rogers]].

==== Telefont ====
In 1994, Majoor redesigned the Dutch [[telephone directory]] for PTT Telecom (now [[KPN]]) alongside Jan Kees Schelvis. For this he created a new typeface named Telefont, with digitization assistance by [[Fred Smeijers]]. Telefont List was designed for computer-generated listings, while Telefont Text provides [[small caps]] and [[text figures]] for use in the directory's introductory material.

==== FF Seria ====
FF Seria is Majoor's second superfamily, released in 2000.<ref name="comparing typefaces 2: seria and scala">{{cite web|title=comparing typefaces 2: seria and scala|url=http://www.daidala.com:80/11aug2002.html|last1=Coltz|first1=Jon|website=daidala (archived)|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070410163450/http://www.daidala.com/11aug2002.html|access-date=24 June 2018|archive-date=2007-04-10|url-status=live}}</ref> Seria is a book face with irregular details.<ref>Crewdson, Andy (2002) ''Seria’s Motives: How Martin Majoor developed his literary typeface''. Druk #13-14, FontShop Benelux.</ref>

{{Citation needed span|text=In 2001 the FF Seria family was awarded a Certificate of Excellence from the ISTD International TypoGraphic Awards 2001 in London and a Certificate of Excellence in Type Design from the ATypI Type Design Competition ‘Bukva:raz!’ in Moscow.|date=April 2020}}

FF Seria Arabic (2009), a complimentary [[Naskh (script)|Naskh]]-style [[Arabic script|Arabic]] font in four weights for display and text use, was designed by Pascal Zoghbi. It was based on [[wiktionary:صدى#Arabic|Sada]] (2007), designed by Zoghbi with Majoor as part of the Typographic Matchmaking project.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Smitshuijzen AbiFarès|first=Huda|title=Typographic matchmaking: building cultural bridges with typeface design|date=2007|publisher=BIS Publishers / Khatt Foundation|isbn=978-90-6369-124-0|location=Amsterdam|language=en,ar|oclc=84611726}}</ref>

==== FF Nexus ====
Majoor started on an alternative version of Seria, but this became a larger project. The result was released in 2004 as FF {{Lang|la|[[Wiktionary:nexus#Latin|Nexus]]|italic=no}}, Majoor's third superfamily and FontFont's first [[OpenType]] product. It has serif, sans-serif, [[slab serif]] (‘Mix’), and [[Monospaced font|monospaced]] variants. OpenType feature support includes small caps in all weights, text figures, [[tabular figures]], [[Orthographic ligature|ligatures]], and two sets of [[Swash (typography)|swash]] characters.<ref>Majoor, Martin (2007) ''FontFont Focus Nexus''. Berlin: FontShop International.</ref>

In 2006 the FF Nexus family won the first prize at the [[Creative Review]] Type Design Awards, in the category Text Families.

==== Questa ====
In 2014, Majoor released Questa, a [[Didone (typography)|Didone]] font and sans-serif derivative{{Clarify|reason=Derivative of what?|date=April 2020}} in collaboration with [[Jos Buivenga]].<ref>{{cite web|title=The Questa Project|url=http://www.thequestaproject.com/|access-date=29 September 2014}}</ref>

=== Book design ===
Besides working as a type designer Martin Majoor has always worked as a book typographer and graphic designer. "It is my conviction that you cannot be a good type designer if you are not a book typographer."<ref>Majoor, Martin (2002) ''My Type Design Philosophy''. Published in tipoGrafica (tpG) #53, Buenos Aires, Argentina</ref>

He designed several books for Dutch publishers such as Bunge, Nijgh & Van Ditmar, L.J. Veen, Vrij Geestesleven and Elsevier.{{Citation needed|date=April 2020}} Three times his book designs were chosen among the Best Dutch Book Designs, especially for its inside book typography, rather than for its covers.{{Citation needed|date=April 2020}}

These books included ''Adieu Aesthetics & Beautiful Pages!'' (Adieu æsthetica & mooie pagina's!’), published in 1995 as the catalogue for the exhibition ‘The Aesthetic World of Jan van Krimpen, Book Designer and Typographer’ in the Museum of the Book/Museum Meermanno-Westreenianum in The Hague and in the [[American Institute of Graphic Arts]] (AIGA) in New York (1995).{{Citation needed|date=April 2020}} For this book Majoor was the first to use the digital version of [[Jan van Krimpen]]’s typeface Romanée (originally cut in 1928 for the [[Joh. Enschedé]] typefoundry), which in 1991 had been digitized by Peter Mattias Noordzij and Fred Smeijers for incorporation into the Enschedé Font Foundry (TEFF).<ref>Sierman, K. et al.,(1995) ''Adieu æsthetica & mooie pagina's!: J. van Krimpen en het Schoone Boek. Letterontwerper & Boekverzorger 1852-1958''. Amsterdam etc.: De Buitenkant. {{ISBN|90-70386-73-9}}</ref>

In 2010, together with the French teacher{{Clarify|reason=|date=April 2020}} Sebastien Morlighem, he wrote a book on the works of the French type designer [[José Mendoza y Almeida]].<ref>Martin Majoor, Sébastien Morlighem, Jan Middendorp (intr.) (2010) ''José Mendoza y Almeida''. Paris: Ypsilon.éditeur, Bibliothèque Typographique. {{ISBN|978-2-35654-008-9}}.</ref>

From 1999 until 2010 Majoor was the graphic designer for the [[Warsaw Autumn Festival]], the largest international Polish festival of [[contemporary music]]. The programme books were set in Majoor’s own typeface Seria.{{Citation needed|date=April 2020}}

=== Teaching and speaking ===
From 1990 to 1995, Majoor taught typography at the Schools of Fine Arts in Arnhem and Breda.

He wrote articles for magazines like Items, [[Eye magazine|''Eye'' magazine]], 2+3D and tpG tipoGráfica.

He lectured at [[ATypI|ATypI/Typelab]] conferences in Budapest, Antwerp, Paris, San Francisco, Barcelona, The Hague and Prague;{{When|date=April 2020}} at TypoBerlin (2002 and 2005); and during other type events in Lure-en-Provence (Rencontres internationales de Lure 1996), Leipzig (TypoTage 2004), Warsaw, Katowice, Stockholm, Hamburg, Caen, Vienna and Dortmund.

He gave workshops in Amsterdam ([[Gerrit Rietveld Academie]]), Stuttgart ([[Merz Akademie]]) and Warsaw.{{When|date=April 2020}}

His type designs were exhibited in Amsterdam, Rotterdam, New York ([[Cooper Union]]), Paris, London, Manchester, Berlin, Helsinki and Barcelona. {{When|date=April 2020}}

==Awards==
* 1993 - Encouragement Prize Graphic Design 1994. Amsterdam Arts Foundation, for the Scala family.{{Citation needed|date=April 2020}}
* 1995 - Award ''Best Dutch Book Designs 1995'' for ‘Adieu Æsthetica & Mooie Pagina’s!’ about the life and work of Jan van Krimpen.{{Citation needed|date=April 2020}}
* 2001 - Award ''International Typographic Awards'' in London for the Seria familie.{{Citation needed|date=April 2020}}
* 2001 - Award ATypI Type Design Competition ''Bukva:raz!'' in Moscow for the Seria familie.{{Citation needed|date=April 2020}}
* 2006 - Award ''Creative Review Type Design Award'' for the Nexus family in the category Text Families.{{Citation needed|date=April 2020}}

== Bibliography ==
* [[Ellen Lupton|Lupton, Ellen]]. ''Graphic Design and Typography in the Netherlands: A View of Recent Work.'' Princeton Architectural Press: 1992. {{ISBN|1-878271-62-8}}.
* Friedl, Frederich, Nicholas Ott and Bernard Stein. ''Typography: An Encyclopedic Survey of Type Design and Techniques Through History.'' Black Dog & Leventhal: 1998. {{ISBN|1-57912-023-7}}.
* [[Robert Bringhurst|Bringhurst, Robert]]. ''[[The Elements of Typographic Style]]''. Hartley & Marks: 1992. {{ISBN|0-88179-033-8}}.
* Middendorp, Jan: ''Dutch Type'', 010 Publishers: 2004, {{ISBN|978-90-6450-460-0}}
* Lupton, Ellen. ''Thinking with Type: A critical guide for designers, writers, editors, & students.'' Princeton Architectural Press: 2004. {{ISBN|1-56898-448-0}}.
* Spiekermann, Erik; Middendorp, Jan: ''Made with FontFont'', Book Industry Services (BIS): 2006, {{ISBN|978-90-6369-129-5}}
* Thi Truong, Mai-Linh; Siebert, Jürgen; Spiekermann, Erik: ''[[FontBook]] – Digital Typeface Compendium'', FSI FontShop International: 2006, {{ISBN|978-3-930023-04-2}}
* Martin Majoor & Sébastien Morlighem, ''José Mendoza y Almeida'', bilingual edition French-English, Introduction by Jan Middendorp, 176 pages, 03/2010, {{ISBN|978-2-35654-008-9}}.

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* [http://www.martinmajoor.com www.martinmajoor.com] Martin Majoor's official website
* [http://scalafont.com/ ''FF Scala microsite''] A website fully dedicated to FF Scala
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20041210230208/http://www.typotheque.com/articles/interview_martin_majoor.html ''Martin Majoor, type designer''] Interview by [[Peter Biľak]] (2003)
* [http://www.typotheque.com/articles/seria ''Seria’s motives: How Martin Majoor developed his ‘literary typeface’''] by Andy Crewdson (2002)
* [http://29letters.wordpress.com/2009/04/03/ff-seria-arabic/ ''FF Seria Arabic''] by Pascal Zohgbi (2009)
* [http://fontfeed.com/archives/types-characters-xavier-dupre-and-martin-majoor/ ''Types and Characters: Martin Majoor''] Brochure by Nina Völlink (2007)
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100715005826/http://www.papress.com/thinkingwithtype/letter/documents/Type_Spec_Demo.pdf ''Writing With Scala''] Typespecimen by Ellen Lupton (2005)
* [http://www.identifont.com/show?16F Martin Majoor] on identifont.com

{{Authority control (arts)}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Majoor, Martin}}
[[Category:1960 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Dutch graphic designers]]
[[Category:People from Baarn]]
[[Category:Dutch typographers and type designers]]
[[Category:Book designers]]

Martin Majoor - Revision history

imported>BattyBot: /* top */Updated maintenance template(s) for biography of living person & General fixes