Tom Carnase

After graduating with an associate bachelor of fine arts degree from New York City Community College in 1959, Carnase spent the first five years of his career in the design division of Sudler & Hennessey under the direction of Herbert Lubalin before creating freelance design studio Bonder & Carnase Inc. with Ronne Bonder in 1964.

Carnse left Bonder & Carnase Inc. in 1967, becoming vice president of Lubalin, Smith, Carnase (also known as Herb Lubalin, Inc. or Lubalin Inc.). Much of the lettering attributed to Lubalin during this period was created by Carnase under Lubalin's direction contrary to popular belief. Carnase has stated that he felt under compensated and recognized for his work at this time, particularly in regards to his contributions to ITC Avant Garde.

Carnase co-founded the World Typeface Corporation, also known as the World Typeface Center and abbreviated to WTC in 1980. From 1982 to 1987, WTC released the quarterly typography journal Ligature, published and creatively directed by Carnase. Volume 1, Number 1 of the journal was released in June, 1982 and describes itself as "all about type and typography. It's about letterforms, their use and abuse, their history and their future." The journal presented articles about typographic technology and specimens of WTC fonts.

Throughout his career, Carnase held various different teaching positions. Institutions he worked at include the Pratt Institute, Parsons School of Design, and Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT).