“The reason I get up in the morning”

David Quay (London, 1948) is a graphic designer, type designer and lecturer who now resides in the Netherlands. He has designed typefaces for Letraset, ITC and Berthold AG. After studying at Ravensbourne College of Art & Design from 1963 to 1967, he began working with several leading London companies in the field of graphic design and packaging.

Since 1975 he has been working as a freelancer. In 1983 he founded the Quay & Gray studio with Paul Gray, specializing in lettering and logos. In 1987 he founded the David Quay Design company to focus on graphic and typographic design. He also began to design his first typefaces, which were later published by ITC International Typeface Corporation and Berthold AG.

From the end of 1987, in collaboration with Freda Sack (1953–2019), he has been working on a wide range of typographic projects. Strengthened by the skills and experience acquired, they created an independent typeface foundry and in 1989 they co-founded The
Foundry, to design, produce and licence their exclusive typefaces.

Now in 2024, David Quay is still designing new typefaces for The Foundry Types, alongside former The Foundry colleague and new design partner Stuart de Rozario. The Foundry Types specialize in the creation, production, and licensing of new retail, bespoke typefaces, and typographic brand assets for corporate use.

David Quay has an Instagram page (@typetourist) on which he regularly publishes the photos he takes of the old signs, signs, and the most particular and interesting house numbers he encounters during his “tourist-typographical” tours.

https://www.tipoteca.it