Monotype Acquires Berthold’s Renowned Typeface Inventory

One of the world’s first widely used sans-serif typefaces, Akzidenz-Grotesk, joins the Monotype family along with more than 700 historic typefaces from the Berthold library.

WOBURN, Mass, August 25, 2022 – Monotype® today announced that it has acquired the Berthold® inventory of typefaces with unique historical significance in the type industry.

The Berthold library is best known for its celebrated family of Akzidenz-Grotesk® typefaces, one of the world’s first widely used sans-serif typefaces which inspired many subsequent type designs including Helvetica®.  Akzidenz-Grotesk was created in 1896 and has been used by many of the world’s largest brands.

The original Berthold type foundry, H. Berthold AG, was founded in Berlin, Germany in 1858 and built a worldwide reputation for crafting high-quality typefaces. In 1997 Berthold Types Limited acquired the Berthold inventory as well as the distribution rights and maintenance of its digital typefaces. Along with their crown jewel Akzidenz-Grotesk, Berthold’s inventory includes much-loved typefaces such as Imago®, Cosmos®, Formata®, Block®, Solemnis® and City®.

Ninan Chacko, Monotype’s CEO said, “With this acquisition by Monotype, Berthold’s historic typefaces will become part of one of the world’s largest type foundries. Our stewardship will increase global visibility of Berthold’s inventory, celebrate its legacy, and get these important typefaces in the hands of more creative professionals. But more than that, this acquisition ensures iconic type families including Akzidenz-Grotesk, Imago, and Formata remain as accessible and relevant as other historic typeface families in the Monotype library such as Helvetica® Now, Gotham®, and Neue Frutiger®.”

Upon completion of the acquisition, the Berthold library of over 700 typefaces will continue to be sold through http://www.Bertholdtypes.com and http://www.Bertholdwebfonts.com.

Berthold’s library will also be delivered as a premium inventory collection through Monotype Fonts combining more than 150,000 typefaces with the expertise of the most sought-after foundries, type designers and trusted and secure font management.

Deb Gonet, Vice President of the Monotype Studio said, “The H. Berthold AG type foundry was one of the largest and most successful type libraries known for high-quality typefaces. By adding Berthold’s classic type library to our Monotype Fonts offering, we are furthering our goal of giving creatives the best and broadest choice of typefaces all in one place.”

About Monotype

Monotype creates brands that matter with type, technology, and expertise. The company partners with leading foundries to deliver the broadest inventory of high-quality typefaces in the world. Further information is available at www.monotype.com.

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Monotype, Berthold, Akzidenz-Grotesk, Helvetica, Frutiger, Imago, Cosmos, Formata, Block, Solemnis, and City are trademarks of Monotype Imaging Inc. registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and may be registered in certain other jurisdictions. Gotham is a trademark of the Hoefler Type Foundry registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and may be registered in certain other jurisdictions. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

©2022 Monotype Imaging Holdings Inc. All rights reserved.

Contacts

Charlotte Simcock
Public Relations, Monotype
[email protected]

Alison Flood
Havas Formula for Monotype – US
[email protected]

Alice Broughton
ThoughtLDR for Monotype – UK
[email protected]

Tanja Koschade
Koschade PR for Monotype – Germany
[email protected]