About us
Sharp Type is a digital type foundry based in New York City. The foundry produces custom & retail typefaces for print, digital, and environmental design for brands, design houses, and publications.
Since its establishment in 2015, Sharp Type has received awards of excellence every year by the TDC, the European Design Awards, Communication Arts and more. Sharp Type designs typefaces with utility and beauty for the modern era.
Chantra Malee, Co-founder, CEO
Malee attended Parsons the New School of Design and graduated with a BBA in Design and Management. She is an entrepreneur and worked in branding in New York City before co-founding Sharp Type with Lucas Sharp in 2015 where she handles strategy, brand management, graphic design, sales, and communication. Malee is the founder of The Malee Scholarship, a non-profit offering financial support, and mentorship to women of color entering the type industry.
Lucas Sharp, Co-Founder, Type Director
Sharp has been designing award-winning original typefaces for over a decade. In addition to designing his own typefaces, Sharp serves as the type director of the foundry, offering guidance, art direction, and mentorship to the type design team. Sharp has designed typefaces for major brands and organizations including Samsung, Dropbox, and Pentagram. Sharp’s typefaces have been honored by the TDC, the European Design Awards, and more.
Josh Finklea, Collaborator, Typeface Designer
Finklea received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Graphic Design at Art Center College of Design. He has worked as a designer in Los Angeles, Amsterdam, New York City, and is currently based in Austin, Texas. His typefaces Post Grotesk and Centra have been featured in creative works by designers at Pentagram and other influential design firms for clients such as Yahoo, Mars Inc., Expedia, and more.
My-Lan Thuong, Senior Typeface Designer, Graphic Designer
Thuong attended ÉSAD Amiens for Graphic Design and later pursued a career in type design. In 2018, she received an MFA in Type Design from the École Estienne in Paris. She collaborated with type foundries Coppers and Brasses and Type Network prior to joining Sharp Type as a type designer in 2019.
Calvin Kwok, Technical Director, Typeface Designer
Kwok attended the University of Reading MA for typeface design in 2016. Later that year, Kwok worked with the Apple Inc. Type Team where he contributed to the design and development of Latin and East Asian scripts. In 2019, he joined Sharp Type specializing in multilingual type design, lettering, and typography.
Justin Sloane, Lead Systems Designer, Type Designer
Sloane is a designer, artist and independent publisher working in West Los Angeles. He has collaborated with Ghostly International, Total Luxury Spa, 2x4, Sharp Type, Columbia GSAPP and many others. Justin has been part of exhibitions at MoMA PS1, Printed Matter, The Tokyo Institute of Photography and The Museum of Arts and Design. He released his debut typeface, Simula, with Sharp Type in 2019 and joined Sharp Type as a permanent member in 2020.
Marc Rouault, collaborator, typeface designer
Rouault earned his undergraduate degree in Graphic Design and later received an MFA in Typeface Design in 2016 at the KABK Type&Media program in The Netherlands. Since then, he has worked as an independent typeface designer, drawing letters for himself and custom type for clients, most notably Formula 1, Tour de France. He is currently an instructor at the graphic design school, ECV Paris, and at Type@Paris' summer program. His premier typeface, Trois Mille (3000) is now available at Sharp Type.
Theodore Jahng, Communications Director
The throughline of Theodore’s work experience is marked by a dedication to small businesses across the spectrum of creative industries. He attended UCLA before moving east to pursue a decade-long career in hospitality with an emphasis on natural wine and cultural programming, eventually taking on the roles of beverage and hospitality director at some of New York’s most notable restaurants and cultural institutions. Theodore also moonlights as a music supervisor within the fashion industry and maintains strong ties to the underground music community as a DJ with a longstanding residency at The Lot Radio. He joined Sharp Type as studio manager in 2021.
Select Clients
- Pentagram
- Samsung
- Hillary Clinton 2016
- Royal Danish Theater
- Time Inc.
- Zazzle
- 2x4
- Condé Nast
- Abigail Kirsch
- BBC
- La Repubblica
- Dropbox
- Prudential
- Virgin Voyages
- Mars, Inc.
- Discovery Channel
- Expedia
- Yahoo
Awards
- 2021 TDC Certificate of Typographic Excellence for Greenstone
- 2019 Communication Arts 9th Annual Typography Competition Winner for Trois Mille (3000)
- 2018 Communication Arts 8th Annual Typography Competition Winner for Beatrice Display
- 2018 Gold European Design Award for Most Original Typeface for Respira
- 2017 TDC Certificate of Typographic Excellence for Sharp Grotesk
- 2017 Communication Arts 7th Annual Typography Competition Winner for Sharp Grotesk
- 2016 Print Magazine Typography Merit Winner for Frauen
- 2015 Communication Arts 5th Annual Typography Competition Winner for Ogg
- 2014 TDC Certificate of Typographic Excellence for Ogg