Jim Parkinson: 1941 – 2025
The design world was saddened to hear of the passing of iconic type designer Jim Parkinson on June 26 in his hometown of Oakland, Calif. He was 83.
Jim’s distinctive lettering defined the visual identities of some of the world’s most recognizable publications. A master of both tradition and innovation, Parkinson was best known for his redesign of logos for Rolling Stone, Esquire and Fast Company, as well as blackletter nameplates for the San Francisco Chronicle and the Los Angeles Times. Over the course of six decades, his work has shaped the tone and personality of editorial design across print media, while his fonts brought 19th-century flair into the digital age.
Jim’s love for hand-drawn letters set him on a journey that traversed sign painting and record covers to international recognition and acclaim in the type design world. His deep respect for historical typefaces was counterbalanced by a bold and contemporary eye, resulting in typefaces that were as expressive as they were functional. Through his independent foundry, Parkinson Type Design, he created fonts that carried the soul of wood type and the precision of digital tools. His influence is imprinted not just on pages, but on the way we visually interpret language itself.
The Society has lost a great friend and teacher. We’re forever grateful for the many times Jim lent his talents and voice over the years to our community. We send our condolences to his wife, Dorothy A. Yule, and his family. He will be missed around the world.
“I found that working for a publication, designing a custom typeface or a logo, was much more fulfilling than all the other lettering work I’d been doing and, after that, I tried to make it a point to work for publications as much as possible,” Parkinson wrote in 2011.
Find out more
- Tribute: Typographica commentary (includes videos and additional samples)
- Rolling Stone: Jim Parkinson, Typographer Behind Iconic ‘Rolling Stone’ Logo, Dead at 83
- Video: Letterform Lecture Series – Jim Parkinson at the San Francisco Public Library (2017). Parkinson surveys his career, shares back stories and many samples.
- Examples: The Parkinson Type Design website is still up with many examples of Jim’s work
- Current type library: Jim’s type library, including the display gothic Balboa and the blackletter Amador, is now managed by Delve Fonts.
- Logo design case study: XYZ Type breaks down the history and evolution of the Rolling Stone logo, including Jim’s and their own work
In their own words: A sampling of remembrances of Jim and his impact from contemporaries, collaborators and more
Mario Garcia
Senior Adviser on News Design and Adjunct Professor at Columbia; CEO/Founder of Garcia Media
Jim Parkinson was a maestro when it came to creating and updating publication logos. From Billboard to The Wall Street Journal, there was that masterful Parkinson touch. I am honored to have worked with Jim on a variety of projects around the globe. If the newspaper’s brand needed an update, Jim was the person to trust the task to, knowing that the result would be authentic. Jim was especially gifted in the reconstruction of traditional blackletter or Old English newspaper logos. He would give each letter “a bath,” with the typography emerging fresh and true to its original form. While we will miss his mastery of the craft, his body of work lives forever, hopefully allowing serious students of letterforms to dissect it and to learn from it. Rest in peace, Jim.
Samples of Parkinson’s work in Garcia Media projects, including The Wall Street Journal:
- The Wall Street Journal – unveils new nameplate
- It’s a new De Telegraaf today
- When is a newspaper’s design too modern?
- An Nahar (Lebanon), Hindustan (India) premiere new looks today
Roger Black
Typographer, 20th-century magazine designer, founder of one of the early desktop type design studios, Font Bureau (1989), and current chairman of Type Network.
Jim (center) with Roger Black and Tom Ingalls. Sadly, Tom has gone as well. And this photo was taken (by Jim MacKenzie?) at the memorial for Pinkie Black in 2016. None of them is gone from memory. I will keep them with me as long as I can.
OMNES TRANSEUNT
Jim Parkinson died today, after a long decline. He was almost the last of the great analog lettering artists, even though he adopted computers as fast as anyone, and produced many great typefaces on them. Still, his hand-drawn work was the best.
And those drawings have lasting power. All the logos he did for magazines and newspapers stay forever, if the publications can just hang on. You can see some of them at https://typedesign.com/logo/logo_1.html
I’ve missed Jim as he faded away, but I remember him vividly. It doesn’t take much to remind me of how much fun we had, starting with the Rolling Stone typeface and logo, 1975 – 77.
Vale, Parkinson.
Joe Hutchinson
Creative director, Rolling Stone magazine
I am saddened to hear this news. I have had the pleasure of working with Jim and witnessing his talent and kindness. We have lost a legend. Sending warm thoughts to Jim’s family and friends.
Mike Kellams
Senior Manager, Editorial Content, Abbott
What an all-time talent and gentleman. May his memory always be a blessing. He was the best.
Don Morris
Graphics editor, artist, art director; Principal Artist at Don Morris Illustration
Jim was a true wall dog, sign guy at heart. It only made him better in designing the world’s greatest masts and fonts. I loved seeing him each year at SND, we’d sneak off and find a small restaurant and just talk about everything Northern California. I haven’t seen Jim in years, but I remember his great smile and how he would melt into the background — and I figured he was always the smartest one in the room. Thoughts and prayers to his family.
Nick Shinn
Type designer, art director, creative director
Jim was a lovely and brilliant man.
BTW, he was also very prescient — he snagged the URL typedesign.com!
Sam Berlow
Owner/founder, The Type Founder; co-founder, Type Network
Jim was a wonderful man. For 20 years, he was my go-to for music recommendations.
May his memory be a blessing.
Ina Saltz
Art director, designer, author, photographer and Professor Emeritus of Digital Design at The City College of New York
So sorry to hear this news. Jim and I shared a birthday, October 23rd. And a picture of Jim’s tattoo “Born to Letter” is in my book, “Body Type: Intimate Messages Etched in Flesh.” Jim’s wife Dorothy, her twin sister Susan and I go back decades in the disco roller scene.
Bill Gaspard
Design director, SND past president, SND Lifetime Achievement honoree
What a dear and extremely talented man. The few times I was able to work with him on a project, it was the best experience with great results. Such a pro. Then there were the times we just got to hang out a little during a project or at a conference and just soak in his stories, prod him for his opinions, enjoy his humor, his charm, his style. An absolute gem. He will be missed. I’m glad I can still admire his work in so many places. RIP Jim.
Steve Dorsey
Consultant, editor; SND past president, SND Lifetime Achievement honoree
Jim was always such a generous, patient, voluminous, unparalleled expert. Truly one of a kind. Such a pleasure to work with — always with the best results — but also such a fun friend to spend time with. He will be sorely missed.
Matt Mansfield
CEO MG Strategy + Design; Partner, M. Harris & Co.; SND past president, SND Lifetime Achievement honoree
What a giant — and what a generous one. So sad he was in such a long decline.
I first worked with Jim during the 2000 redesign of the San Jose Mercury News, when we revisited the nameplate to clean it up, give it more musculature. I was still relatively early in my career, and he treated me like a true collaborator from the start. Jim had this rare way of making you feel like your ideas mattered, even as he quietly schooled you in the art of letterforms and typographic storytelling.
I remember he once told me that a nameplate should “breathe the DNA of the place,” and that line has stuck with me in every design project since. I also got to know Jim better through SND and kept on learning from him.
Deborah Withey
Designer, illustrator, printmaker and educator; SND past president, SND Lifetime Achievement honoree
I had the honour to ask Jim to work on several redesign projects. I was always thrilled because no matter how busy he was, he always said he would make the time. The most involved were restorations of the Blackletter nameplates of the Detroit Free Press and The Virginian-Pilot. Each had been tortured and contorted, left with swollen serifs and closed counters after years of copies of copies from those workhorse “velox” machines.
Jim revelled in the creativity of restoring not only the sense of history to each letterform but adding personality and flair, not to mention slimming those serifs to their former glory.
Thank you, Jim, I’m sure “God” could use a good retooling.
Gayle Grin
Design consultant; SND past president, SND Lifetime Achievement honoree
I feel very sad to hear about the death of Jim Parkinson. So talented and also a lovely person to spend time with. Wow. What a loss not only in talent but also as a loss of a wonderful person.
Pegie Stark
Creative director
What a lovely man and a creative genius. May he rest in peace as we cherish our memories with him.
Susan Mango Curtis
Emeritus Professor Northwestern University, Medill, Digital Literacy & Visual Storytelling; SND past president, SND Lifetime Achievement honoree
No, not Jim. I truly love him. He was always so willing to help out with things for school and who else would’ve hung out with at SND. It was a pleasure having him speak into my life Jim you will definitely be missed.
Dennis Brack
President, Rappahannock Media LLC
Very sorry to hear. Jim was a legend — a legend who was good to work with.
Ernie Smith
Editor, Tedium; freelance journalist
What an icon. We live in the time of absolute legends. Sad we lost him.
Neal Pattison
Executive Editor at The Herald & Heraldnet, retired; SND past president
Jim was a wonderful colleague — more talented than most of us, but always a good friend. I am sorry that he is gone.
Delve Withrington
Founder, Principal Designer, Delve Fonts
Jim Parkinson cut a large figure in my life both personally and professionally. His reputation preceded him, and I was awestruck and a bit intimidated when I first met him, but, of course, Jim’s kind nature allowed me to quickly get past all that. In the early ’00s, he recommended me to Jim Wasco at Monotype, which led to my getting hired on there as a type designer. Jim and I frequently supported each other’s efforts crafting typefaces: him generously critiquing my designs and me assisting him with the technical aspects of building digital fonts. We got along quite well and shared many meals and many laughs together over the years and, man, the stories from his life that guy would recall often just blew my mind. He even once let me convince him to exhibit his marvelous paintings at TypeCon. Jim, I’ll always owe you a debt of gratitude. I miss you. Rest in peace my friend.
Compiled and edited by Steve Dorsey, SND Past President and Lifetime Achievement Award honoree
and Alex K. Fong, San Francisco Chronicle creative director and SND Vice President