Innovation is often associated with the young, but for type designer Matthew Carter, who began working with type in the 1950s, living through various revolutions in technology has only made him more adept at taking advantage of new ones. The British-born, Boston-based typographer has worked with everything from hand-cut punches to computer fonts. He was hailed by Print magazine as "perhaps the most accomplished type designer working in America today."

Evidence of Carter's accomplishments are widespread, from the Galliard and Helvetica Compressed, fonts found within cursor's reach on just about any computer, to Bell Centennial, found in U.S. telephone directories. In 1981 Carter cofounded Bitstream, a pioneering digital typefoundry, and his capacity toward technology was proven in his font work for Apple's Quick Draw GX as well as for AT&T's Interchange online information service. He is presently a principal of Carter & Cone Inc., where he has designed such typefaces as Sophia, Big Caslon, and Miller for clients including Apple, Microsoft, the Walker Art Center, and the Washington Post.

Matthew Carter's work includes the design of Vincent, a text and display typeface for Newsweek; a newspaper text type for The Guardian of London; and continuing work with Microsoft for type to be used on computer screens. Carter has been awarded the AIGA Medal, the Type Directors Club medal, the Frederic W. Goudy Award, and the Middleton Award from the American Center for Design. He is a senior critic on the graphic design faculty of Yale University.