The man who inspired Steve Jobs to bring multiple typographic styles to the Mac, the Trappist monk and calligrapher Rev. Robert Palladino, died late last month at the age of 83.

Palladino taught calligraphy classes at Portland's Reed College, which Jobs attended during his dropout year. Yesterday The Washington Post published a retrospective highlighting the development of Palladino's art, the encounter between the two men, and the continuing influence Palladino's calligraphy had on Jobs' aesthetic vision.

Palladino calligraphist

Robert Palladino teaching in 1978 (Image: Reed College)

Palladino's creative journey began in 1950 when he joined a New Mexico monastery at the age of 17. A scribe monk in the Trappist order noticed Palladino's elegant handwriting, and tutored him in the art of decorative lettering over the course of five years.

Eventually, Palladino left New Mexico and moved to Lafayette, Oregon, where his art caught the attention of Lloyd Reynolds, an expert calligraphist and the creator of the calligraphy program at Portland's Reed College.

After striking up a friendship with Reynolds through written correspondence, Palladino left the silent monastic life in 1968 to study under his new mentor full-time, before Reynolds retired a year later and left Reed College's program in Palladino's hands.

Steve Jobs enrolled in the college in 1972, but dropped out after his first semester. However, the future Apple co-founder continued to frequent the campus and Palladino's work soon caught his eye. Jobs recounted his appreciation for the handwritten art in his 2005 commencement address at Stanford:

Throughout the campus every poster, every label on every drawer, was beautifully hand calligraphed. Because I had dropped out and didn’t have to take the normal classes, I decided to take a calligraphy class to learn how to do this. I learned about serif and sans serif typefaces, about varying the amount of space between different letter combinations, about what makes great typography great. It was beautiful, historical, artistically subtle in a way that science can’t capture, and I found it fascinating.

None of this had even a hope of any practical application in my life. But 10 years later, when we were designing the first Macintosh computer, it all came back to me. And we designed it all into the Mac. It was the first computer with beautiful typography. If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts.

"He came back afterwards and consulted me about Greek letters for a type font," Palladino later recalled for a Reed College 2008 oral history project. "I don’t know if he ever used my Greek letters, or if he just used them as a starting point, but we had a good time. He was educating me about what a computer is, as I hadn’t the foggiest idea what he was talking about."

Palladino never owned, or even once used, a computer, but recalled Jobs as being "as nice a guy as you could meet," in a 2011 Hollywood Reporter interview. He also taught other famous students, including typeface designer Sumner Stone, who created the ITC Stone font during his time at Adobe.

Palladino calligraphist

Robert Palladino in his home studio in Sandy, Oregon, in 2012 (Image: Liz Devine)

Palladino taught until 1984 before retiring with his wife to a 20-acre farm, where they raised sheep. He became a Catholic priest in 1995, but worked as a professional calligrapher until his death on February 26.

You can watch Palladino interviewed for the 2011 PBS documentary Steve Jobs: One Last Thing, in a segment covering the artistic influences that shaped Jobs' character.

Top Rated Comments

2457282 Avatar
122 months ago
I was not aware of this man and his history. I just read the bio from Reed college and he seemed like an amazing person. And most amazing is that in this day and age, he never once owned or used a computer. This takes OLD SCHOOL to another level.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
rdlink Avatar
122 months ago
And in other news the Producer of The Battles also passed away. Interesting facts in the news about how he influenced their sounds, came up with clever ideas for their tracks.
I assume you mean the Beatles?
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
campyguy Avatar
122 months ago
Interesting that he was a trappist monk, to me it is synonymous with greatness. In my opinion, and in many others’ shared opinions, some of the best beers in the world are made in trappist monasteries. If you drink beer and find this, I highly recommend trying it. 10/10
Agreed, to a degree. I've visited Belgium several times, but favor other beers in their history - I do favor and recall drinking fruit-based Lambics in Oudenaarde and Bruges, Belgium (so much better fresh than what we get in the bottle here!). The Abbey that Mr. Pallidino belonged to, the Our Lady of Guadalupe Trappist Abbey, was invested in timber, wine, bindery, breads, and fruitcake(?) - but not beer (odd, being so close to Portland). I'd been by Reed College and Sandy so many times over the past 30 years - I studied typography in the late 80s during my technical writing degree program and just loved Palladino's work.

RIP, Rev. Robert.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
apolloa Avatar
122 months ago
And in other news the Producer of The Beatles also passed away. Interesting facts in the news about how he influenced their sounds, came up with clever ideas for their tracks.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
AtomicDusk Avatar
122 months ago
And most amazing is that in this day and age, he never once owned or used a computer. This takes OLD SCHOOL to another level.
To think he designed and did this by hand. I look at my handwriting and just cringe. His calligraphy is truly an art form.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Jess13 Avatar
122 months ago
Interesting that he was a trappist monk, to me it is synonymous with greatness. In my opinion, and in many others’ shared opinions, some of the best beers in the world are made in trappist monasteries. If you drink beer and find this, I highly recommend trying it. 10/10


Trappistes Rochefort 10

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/207/645/




Attachment Image
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

iPhone 17 Pro Lower Logo Feature 1

iPhone 17 Pro Coming Soon With These 14 New Features

Monday June 30, 2025 1:08 pm PDT by
Apple's next-generation iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are less than three months away, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices. Apple is expected to launch the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Air, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max in September this year. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models:Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an...
A18 Pro Chip

New MacBook With A18 Pro Chip Spotted in Apple Code

Monday June 30, 2025 8:05 am PDT by
Apple is developing a MacBook with the A18 Pro chip, according to findings in backend code uncovered by MacRumors. Earlier today, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo reported that Apple is planning to launch a low-cost MacBook powered by an iPhone chip. The machine is expected to feature a 13-inch display, the A18 Pro chip, and color options that include silver, blue, pink, and yellow. MacRumors...
iPhone 17 Pro Lower Logo Magsafe

iPhone 17 Pro's New MagSafe Design Revealed in Leaked Photo

Wednesday July 2, 2025 8:37 am PDT by
The upcoming iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are rumored to have a slightly different MagSafe magnet layout compared to existing iPhone models, and a leaked photo has offered a closer look at the supposed new design. The leaker Majin Bu today shared a photo of alleged MagSafe magnet arrays for third-party iPhone 17 Pro cases. On existing iPhone models with MagSafe, the magnets form a...
Apple Watch Ultra Night Mode Screen

Apple Watch Ultra 3 Launching Later This Year With Two Key Upgrades

Wednesday July 2, 2025 1:13 pm PDT by
The long wait for an Apple Watch Ultra 3 appears to be nearly over, and it is rumored to feature both satellite connectivity and 5G support. Apple Watch Ultra's existing Night Mode In his latest Power On newsletter, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said that the Apple Watch Ultra 3 is on track to launch this year with "significant" new features, including satellite connectivity, which would let you...
macbook air spacegray purple

Apple Planning to Launch Low-Cost MacBook Powered By iPhone Chip

Monday June 30, 2025 3:20 am PDT by
Apple is planning to launch a low-cost MacBook powered by an iPhone chip, according to Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. In an article published on X, Kuo explained that the device will feature a 13-inch display and the A18 Pro chip, making it the first Mac powered by an iPhone chip. The A18 Pro chip debuted in the iPhone 16 Pro last year. To date, all Apple silicon Macs have contained M-series...
iOS 18

Apple Releases Second iOS 18.6 Public Beta

Tuesday July 1, 2025 10:19 am PDT by
Apple today seeded the second betas of upcoming iOS 18.6 and iPadOS 18.6 updates to public beta testers, with the betas coming just a day after Apple provided the betas to developers. Apple has also released a second beta of macOS Sequoia 15.6. Testers who have signed up for beta updates through Apple's beta site can download iOS 18.6 and iPadOS 18.6 from the Settings app on a compatible...
Wi Fi WiFi General Feature

iOS 26 Adds a Useful New Wi-Fi Feature to Your iPhone

Wednesday July 2, 2025 6:36 am PDT by
iOS 26 and iPadOS 26 add a smaller yet useful Wi-Fi feature to iPhones and iPads. As spotted by Creative Strategies analyst Max Weinbach, sign-in details for captive Wi-Fi networks are now synced across iPhones and iPads running iOS 26 and iPadOS 26. For example, while Weinbach was staying at a Hilton hotel, his iPhone prompted him to fill in Wi-Fi details from his iPad that was already...
maxresdefault

Five Features Coming to AirPods Pro 3

Friday June 27, 2025 10:52 am PDT by
Apple hasn't updated the AirPods Pro since 2022, and the earbuds are due for a refresh. We're counting on a new model this year, and we've seen several hints of new AirPods tucked away in Apple's code. Rumors suggest that Apple has some exciting new features planned that will make it worthwhile to upgrade to the latest model. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Heal...
replay all time playlist apple music

Apple Music Debuts All-New Personalized Playlist

Monday June 30, 2025 7:16 am PDT by
As part of its 10-year celebrations of Apple Music, Apple today released an all-new personalized playlist that collates your entire listening history. The playlist, called "Replay All Time," expands on Apple Music's existing Replay features. Previously, users could only see their top songs for each individual calendar year that they've been subscribed to Apple Music, but now, Replay All...