Writing About Gotham

Telling the story of the most important typeface of the last 25 years

Published: 11 Dec 2025

Topics: Writing, Typography, Work, Design, History, Interviews

TL;DR: Gotham turns 25 years old and I wrote about its creation

I am thrilled to publish an article about the creation of Gotham; the most important typeface of the last 25 years on the Frere-Jones website. This article is over three years in the making and the most significant in the series of articles that I’ve written.

An Article Three Years in the Making

Photographs taken by Tobias Frere-Jones documenting New York City signage as inspiration for Gotham (image courtesy Frere-Jones Type) — Photographs taken by Tobias Frere-Jones documenting New York City signage as inspiration for Gotham *(image courtesy Frere-Jones Type)*

All of the analogies and superlatives about Gotham end up falling short and missing the point:

Modern Classic? An over-used phrase, but certainly applicable.
The Definitive Geometric Sans? There is plenty to back that up.
The Helvetica of the 2000s? Big shoes to fill, but yes.
The Obama Font? Yep.
Right Place, Right Time? Yes, but so were a few other typefaces at the time…
Global Typographic Juggernaut? Without a doubt.

As I say in the introduction of the article, trying to write about Gotham as we approach the 25th anniversary of its release feels like trying to write about air: yes, it is made up of nitrogen, oxygen, and carbon dioxide, but that isn’t really why air is helpful or important.

The Estimable Gotham

The letters which started it all: the Port Authority Bus Terminal entrance sign on Eighth Avenue in New York City (image courtesy Frere-Jones Type) — The letters which started it all: the Port Authority Bus Terminal entrance sign on Eighth Avenue in New York City *(image courtesy Frere-Jones Type)*

Writing about the biggest typeface of the past 25 years (and I would argue since the release of Helvetica in 1957) was no easy task. With the importance and cultural impact of Gotham, I wanted to make sure I got the story straight for my own curiosity, but also for typographic history.

From a single sign over the entrance of the Port Authority Bus Terminal in New York City, the idea of Gotham was born. But to say it only came from that sign is only a small part of the story — it also came from the collected memories and shoe-leather exploration of Tobias’ earlier experience and curiosity.

The way Tobias approached creating Gotham — especially conjuring up a lowercase alphabet when no example lowercase existed in the world — is probably the most interesting part of the story to me. As with other typefaces, Tobias took examples from outside of printing history in order to create something with a fresh perspective and not just copy himself from the past.

Gotham Release Timeline

As stated in the article, Gotham started out as a set of eight typefaces for GQ in 2001, but it quickly grew from there. As popularity surged, the Hoefler & Frere-Jones team — including Jesse Ragan, Sara Soskolne, Kevin Dresser, Joshua Darden, and many others — reacted to additional client commissions and their own ambitions to grow the family to over 70 font styles.

During my research I struggled to grasp the timeline of all the additions, so I put together this timeline based on printed specimen books along with Internet Archive snapshots. I hope it is helpful and I will update this if I find any errors.

Gotham for GQ - Jan. 2001

Files to GQ team: fall of 2000 (23 Oct 2000, according to Sara Soskolne, looking at old font files)
First printed use: GQ magazine Jan. 2001 issue - Philip Seymour Hoffman cover
8 styles: Light, Light Italic, Book, Book Italic, Medium, Medium Italic, Bold, Bold Italic

Gotham Initial Retail Release - Jun. 2002

First printed specimen: 2002, Sixth Edition Catalogue of Types, Hoefler Type Foundry
First archived presence of Gotham: 28 Jun 2002
First archived presence of Gotham Condensed: 6 Aug 2002
4 condensed styles added: Light, Light Italic, Book, Book Italic, Medium, Medium Italic, Bold, Bold Italic, Light Condensed, Book Condensed, Medium Condensed, Bold Condensed

Gotham2 Retail Release - Jun. 2003

First printed specimen: 2003, Catalog No. 7, Hoefler Type Foundry
First archived presence of Gotham2: 5 Jun 2003
8 styles added: Thin, Thin Italic, Extra Light, Extra Light Italic, Black, Black Italic, Ultra, Ultra Italic

Gotham Rounded Retail Release - Jan. 2007

Commissioned by Kristina DiMatteo for PRINT magazine
First printed specimen: 2009, Catalog No. 10 (unreleased)
First archived presence of Gotham Rounded: 14 Jan 2007
8 rounded styles added: Light, Light Italic, Book, Book Italic, Medium, Medium Italic, Bold, Bold Italic

Gotham Third Retail Release - Jan. 2009

46 new styles announcement: 20 Jan 2009
First printed specimen: 2009, Catalog No. 10 (unreleased)
First archived presence of third retail release: 27 Jan 2009
Gotham Narrow, 16 styles: Thin, Thin Italic, Extra Light, Extra Light Italic, Light, Light Italic, Book, Book Italic, Medium, Medium Italic, Bold, Bold Italic, Black, Black Italic, Ultra, Ultra Italic
Gotham Extra Narrow, 16 styles: Thin, Thin Italic, Extra Light, Extra Light Italic, Light, Light Italic, Book, Book Italic, Medium, Medium Italic, Bold, Bold Italic, Black, Black Italic, Ultra, Ultra Italic
Gotham Condensed 2, 18 styles: (added Extra Black between Black and Ultra): Thin, Thin Italic, Extra Light, Extra Light Italic, Light, Light Italic, Book, Book Italic, Medium, Medium Italic, Bold, Bold Italic, Black, Black Italic, Extra Black, Extra Black Italic, Ultra, Ultra Italic

Other Expansions & Versions of Gotham

Gotham Greek and Cyrillic; 48 ScreenSmart fonts: 22 April 2015
Gotham with Serifs for the Obama/Biden 2012 campaign (logotype only, not full typeface): 11 Apr 2011
Gotham Inline, Slab, and Stencil (based on Gotham Condensed Bold) designed by Sara Soskolne at Monotype for the Obama Foundation: Feb 2025 (backup link)

Spend Time to Relish

Three examples of signage in New York City photographed by Tobias Frere-Jones which served as inspiration for Gotham (image courtesy Frere-Jones Type) — Three examples of signage in New York City photographed by Tobias Frere-Jones which served as inspiration for Gotham *(image courtesy Frere-Jones Type)*

At one point, the article grew to over 10,000 words — which is the longest bit of writing I’ve yet done — but thankfully we got it down to a more-readable 6,400 words. I know it is a lot to ask for any amount of attention on the internet, but this one really needs a cup of coffee and 20 minutes of dedication.

I hope you enjoy it.