Erik Spiekermann

Erik Spiekermann was born on May 30, 1947, in Germany. He is a type designer, information architect, and an author of type-related books.http://www.identifont.com/show?12X Erik is a firm practitioner of spending a few days of designing type on paper first—making adjustments in pencil as necessary.http://www.dwr.com/category/designers/r-t/erik-spiekermann.do In 1979, he founded MetaDesign which became Germany's largest design firm.http://www.identifont.com/show?12X Prior to that, he ran a printing press in the basement of his home to pay for education.http://www.atypi.org/30_past_conferences/60_leipzig/programme/spiekermann.html In 1989, Erik and his wife started the first ever mail-order type foundry, FontShop that created and distributed electronic fonts.http://kisd.de/klopfer_spiekermann.html?lang=en In 2001, Erik ended his relationship with MetaDesign and is now the creative director and managing partner of Edenspiekermann.http://www.identifont.com/show?12X He was awarded an honorary doctorate from the Pasadena Art Center College of Design.http://www.dwr.com/category/designers/r-t/erik-spiekermann.do

In 2006, Erik Spiekermann won the Federal German Design Prize for his work on redesigning the type for railway transit and timetables.http://www.dwr.com/category/designers/r-t/erik-spiekermann.do For the 2007 film, Helvetica, that explored the widely used typface, Erik was interviewed for his roll in paving the history of modern day typography.http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0847817/fullcredits#cast In a blog entry titled, A New Decisive Step Towards More Typographic Diversity on the Web, Spiekermann's company becomes the first of many type foundries to release their fonts for web use under the Web Open Font Format (WOFF).http://fontfeed.com/archives/web-fontfonts-a-new-decisive-step-towards-more-typographic-diversity-on-the-web/

Notable Fonts

List of notable fonts for Erik Spiekermann from the Association Typographique International and Design Within Reach a web publication for a company under the same name that distributes mid-century modern furniture.http://www.atypi.org/30_past_conferences/60_leipzig/programme/spiekermann.htmlhttp://www.dwr.com/category/designers/r-t/erik-spiekermann.do

FF Meta
ITC Officina
LoType
Berliner Grotesk
FF Info
FF Unit
Nokia Sans
Bosch Sans

Interview with Erik Spiekermann

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Erik Spiekermann - Extra Interview

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Erik Spiekermann discusses how he's obsessed with typography and that he even reads large type books while in bed. His favorite letter is the lowercase 'a' because it crosses three planes (top, middle, and bottom). He was commissioned to redesign timetables for the German railways station. He goes on to explain why that is such a challenge and how he can lessen the chance of someone making a mistake whilst reading them through proper design principles. Erik gets a kick out of being the unknown artist, as most of his work is not explicitly attributable to him.