About us
XYZ Type is an independent digital type foundry led by Ben Kiel and Jesse Ragan.
We established XYZ Type in 2017 to make typefaces and lettering that empower designers to do their best work. Our first retail release was Cortado—which began as a collaboration for a client before we formed our partnership. Since then, our team has grown to include typeface designer Zrinka Buljubašić, project manager Tyler Dean, and a roster of talented peers who join us as projects demand.
We work closely with in-house design teams and agencies like Interbrand, Champions, and Collins to solve specific problems with custom typefaces and lettering. Our work has strengthened the identity systems of WK Kellogg Co, Dartmouth College, London Stock Exchange Group, Rolling Stone, and many more.
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Our values
Ingenuity
We chase new ideas for typefaces that are as clever as they are technologically robust. The twists and turns of our development process lead us to small but significant moments of discovery and delight, the signature of our work.
Precision
Our systematic processes and meticulous craft yield high-precision vector artwork and reliable software. We build fonts to established standards, with consideration for the nature of a specific design and a client’s individual use case.
Ethics
We prioritize projects that align with our values and offer reduced rates to mission-driven organizations with limited resources. We also make regular charitable contributions to organizations we believe in.
Community
We give back to the design community through mentorship, teaching, sponsorship, contributing to open-source code, and sharing knowledge freely. We support our team members’ volunteerism and community activism.
Integrity
We do things the right way—even when it’s difficult. We respect confidentiality agreements, pay contractors fairly and promptly, and are forthright about the authorship of our products.
Inclusivity
We value diverse perspectives in our team, collaborating with colleagues of a wide range of genders, sexual orientations, races, ethnicities, and other identities.
Our team
Ben Kiel
Ben Kiel works as a typeface designer and a partner at XYZ Type from a backyard studio shed. Running a type foundry combines his diverse backgrounds in graphic design, coding, letterpress printing, and type history. Although Ben has never lived in New York, he has designed typefaces for both The New Yorker and New York magazine.
Before co-founding XYZ Type, Ben began his career at House Industries, then ran a solo design practice for several years. He completed an MA in Typeface Design at the University of Reading in the UK after studying graphic design and computer science at Washington University in St. Louis. Ben has taught at MICA, Washington University, and Type@Cooper. When he can fit it into his schedule, he’s out mountain biking, racing cyclocross, or turning laps at the velodrome.
Jesse Ragan
Jesse Ragan works as a typeface designer and partner at XYZ Type, where he designs typefaces such as the publicly-released Aglet and Study. He specializes in making fonts from scratch, creating lettering for logotypes, and helping people understand how letterforms tick. In his work for clients like Rolling Stone, Dartmouth College, and the New York Public Library, he solves the puzzle of each assignment with systematic thinking and strategic historical references.
Jesse studied graphic design at Rhode Island School of Design. After interning at Font Bureau, he began his career at Hoefler & Frere-Jones, where he helped create the typeface Gotham. He served on AIGA NY’s board of directors and co-founded Type@Cooper, the postgraduate program at Cooper Union where he taught typeface design for four years.
Zrinka Buljubašić
Zrinka Buljubašić is a Croatian typeface designer and educator living in Guadalajara, Mexico. After working as a graphic designer for more than a decade, she attended Type@Cooper in New York City where her curiosity about typeface design transformed into an obsession. From there, she pursued a second master’s at KABK’s TypeMedia program in the Netherlands, building on her first master’s degree from the Art Academy in Croatia.
Before joining the team at XYZ Type, Zrinka spent five years drawing and producing typefaces at Dual Type, the studio she co-founded. She balances her typeface design work by teaching classes at Cooper Union and co-organizing the Letrástica Festival in Mexico.
Tyler Dean
Tyler Dean is a UX professional and project manager driven by the challenge of crafting simple, delightful experiences that resonate with users and serve product teams. Her journey has been winding, taking her from legal to software development to the world of typeface design. Along the way, she’s worn many hats—UX researcher, operations specialist, and project manager—always keeping human needs at the forefront. Outside of work, you’ll find her volley-balling in a meadow, marinating in a local cafe, or tinkering at her craft space (her dining room table).
Our collaborators
We’re grateful to the talented typeface designers who have expanded our capabilities for individual projects: