P22 type foundry began making artist inspired digital fonts in 1994. After a successful beginning of designing packaged font sets that catered to museum gift shops and specialty stores, P22 expanded into mail order catalogs and direct marketing. Along with fonts, P22 also started making other merchandise. The focus remained on design and art history.

To diversify the type of fonts offered, P22 branched out and started the International House of Fonts in 2001 as an online only type boutique that showcased designers from around the world. Another division, Sherwood Type, was created to highlight the many type designs of Ted Staunton. In 2004, P22 acquired the legendary Lanston Type Co. and in 2006 introduced the life-long collective works of Jim Rimmer via Rimmer Type Foundry. Despite the appearance of being a very large company, P22 is still a small group of dedicated individuals who design fonts, printed matter, packaging, websites and books.

The name P22 has no specific meaning or significance. It was a found name used by Richard Kegler and others for several art related projects in Buffalo NY in the mid 1980s