Stuart de Rozario – British type designer, graphic designer and typographer

Stuart de Rozario is a British type designer, graphic designer, and typographer and is one of the principals of the new partnership at The Foundry Types from 2020.

With an eager interest in art and graphics, Stuart studied a course in Design and Art Foundation at Barnet College and then went onto West Herts College, Watford where he studied Typographic Communication from 1994–98. It was there at West Herts College where Stuart formulated a true passion for typography and type design by discovering the graphic works of David Carson, Josef Müller-Brockmann, and Wim Crouwel along with art movements like The Bauhaus and De Stijl.

Upon reading the ISTD journal issue 50, Stuart came across an article on corporate type design, and there it mentioned the bespoke work of David Quay and Freda Sack at The Foundry along with Jeremy Tankard’s work for the Glasgow School of Art. This encouraged Stuart to began a new career in the font industry and in the summer of 1998 wrote a letter to David at The Foundry requesting a portfolio review.

Stuart started his journey that summer in 1998 alongside David and Freda at The Foundry after they offered a three-month trial. The next 14 years was tasked with designing and engineering original typefaces for global brands most notably for Swiss International Airlines, new fonts for NatWest, More Than, the Science Museum, Blackpool Pleasure Beach, and multi-languages for the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), as well as for The Foundry typeface library. Stuart gained a wealth of knowledge during that time.

In 2012, Stuart left Foundry Types to join Fontsmith where he spent seven years designing and producing a wide range of successful typefaces and gained international recognition with his D&AD, Red Dot, and a Creative Pool Awards. Stuart enjoys teaching, mentoring, and giving workshops to students, professionals, and developing more typefaces.

Stuart continues to draw inspiration from ancient manuscripts to abstract modernism, primitive marks to urban calligraphy. He is driven by his passion for beautiful typographical forms and his modernist approach to design and theory. Stuart’s time away from drawing type he likes to spend time with his two young daughters, play golf, guitar, and watch football.