Sibylle Hagmann began her career in Switzerland at the Basel School of Design, exploring her passion for anything type-related in California while completing her MFA at CalArts. During this time she developed typefaces, most notably the award-winning Cholla family, originally commissioned by Art Center College of Design and released soon after by Emigre in 1999. Cholla was among the winning entries of bukva:raz!, the 2001 type design competition of the Association Typographique Internationale (ATypI).

Hagmann's typeface family Odile, first published in 2006, was awarded the Swiss Federal Design Award that same year. Her work has been featured in numerous publications and recognized by the Type Directors Clubs of New York and Japan. Hagmann has presented her work nationally and internationally at typography conferences and educational institutions, also teaching occasional workshops. She has been a professor at the University of Houston’s School of Art since 2002.