Since typography is the design of a written language, Johannes Gutenberg should be a name that comes to mind when talking about its origins.  While Gutenberg wasn't the first to invent a movable type, that credit goes to Bi Sheng,  he invented a practical typeface that was used on the original printing press. As the printing press inventor, Gutenberg designed a typeface emphasizing practicality and simplicity. While the typeface does not look simple to us now, Gutenberg had to design a set of letters that were all the same size and that could be interchanged in the press, compared to the differing sizes of the hand-written characters of his time. Gutenberg designed a typeface for the printing press that we now call Donatus-Kalender. Donatus-Kalender solved Gutenberg’s sizing problem while keeping the style and swirls of the classic hand-written characters. Said typeface was used in the printing of the first Bible printed. Gutenberg’s design is essential in the study of typography because it combines the artistic style of classic handwriting and the practicality of the printing press.

(José Alberto Mauricio, Gutenberg B Type Family, 7/6/2012, Myfonts,)