After 53 Years at Monotype, She Got the Ultimate Retirement Gift: Her Own Font

Most people retire with a card, a party and perhaps a watch nobody really wants. After 53 years working with type, Pat Lightizer got something considerably better: her own font.

Lightizer joined Compugraphic Corporation straight out of high school in 1973, starting as a type clerk when fonts were still being prepared using filmstrips and tested on typesetting equipment. She stayed as the company and the entire typography industry transformed around her, eventually becoming Monotype’s longest-serving employee.

Meet Lightizer

To mark her retirement, Monotype created Lightizer, a wonderfully chunky display typeface named in her honor. It’s based on Compugraphic’s early digital interpretation of condensed Clarendon, connecting the typography Pat worked with at the beginning of her career to the technology she’s retiring from more than half a century later. 

The finished Lightizer typeface includes OpenType alternates and supports an impressive 360 languages.

And after 53 years at the company, perhaps there’s no more appropriate way to leave than literally becoming part of the font library.

Lightizer is compact, bold and designed for headlines, signage and advertising — which means Pat’s name could now turn up on posters and websites long after she’s stopped answering work emails.

Forget the gold watch. This is how you retire from a font company!

[Images courtesy of Monotype and MyFonts]

Simon Sterne

Simon Sterne is a staff writer at WebdesignerDepot. He’s interested in technology, WordPress, and all things UX. In his spare time he enjoys photography.