Illustrator Memories from José Scaglione

Thanks to José Scaglione, Co-Founder and Type Director of TypeTogether for sharing memories of Illustrator. Check out the rest of the series here.

What is your earliest memory of using Adobe Illustrator?
That must be in 1993. I believe it was version 5.0. I had seen it a couple of years before that, an earlier version, at a friend’s studio. But 1993 is the first time I used it.

How did Illustrator impact your career path as a type designer?
As a type designer it was mostly the early training with Bézier curves. But as a graphic designer it was a powerful and helpful tool, something I used everyday for several years.

How did your relationship to Illustrator change over the years?
It was fundamental in my first design studio, where we mainly worked with packaging. It must have been some 4 or 5 years of very intensive use of both Photoshop and Illustrator. Later on I shifted my focus in editorial design and Illustrator was no longer my default app.

How do you use Illustrator in your work today?
Only for testing typography.

What do you think Illustrator’s biggest type-related legacy has been?
Its versatility, allowing use of type both as text based contents and as images. As a logo design tool is simply amazing, but it can also handle paragraphs with great precision. Illustrator made it possible for both aspects of type to be manipulated professionally and in detail.

Anything else to add?
Yes, Happy Birthday Illustrator!

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Meghan Arnold

Meghan Arnold

Typekit Product Marketing Manager. Former TYPO San Francisco conference director. Probably taking photos of signs or San Francisco sunsets. Will one day write about her adventures.