Christian Schwartz (b. 1977) is a partner, with London-based designer Paul Barnes, in the type foundry Commercial Type. Schwartz is also principal of Schwartzco Inc., a New York-based type design and consultation firm. Schwartz has published fonts with many respected independent foundries and designed proprietary typefaces for corporations and publications worldwide.
Schwartz and Barnes began an ongoing collaboration in 2005 with their extensive typeface system for The Guardian, which lead to honors from the Design Museum and D&AD. The two have completed custom typefaces for clients including Esquire, the Empire State Building, The New York Times, and Condé Nast’s business magazine Portfolio. Schwartz and Barnes have been named two of the 40 most influential designers under 40 by Wallpaper*, and Schwartz was included in Time’s 2007 “Design 100”. That same year Schwartz was awarded the prestigious Prix Charles Peignot, given every four or five years by the Association Typographique Internationale to a designer under 35 who has made “an outstanding contribution to the field of type design”. Schwartz’s work has also been honored by the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, the New York Type Director’s Club, and the American Institute of Graphic Arts.
