Hermann Zapf is a modern day type designer and calligrapher. Born in Nuremberg, Germany in 1918, Hermann lived through the first world war and served in the second.http://www.art-directory.info/design/hermann-zapf-1918/ During his childhood, two of Hermann's siblings succumbed to the Spanish Flu and died.http://www.identifont.com/show?14C In the mid to late 1930's, Hermann Zapf worked as a retoucher for Karl Ulrich & Co, printers.http://www.art-directory.info/design/hermann-zapf-1918/ Zapf served in the German Army as a Cartographer starting in 1939. He was originally enlisted as an infantryman, but because of heart problems, he was commissioned to draw secret maps of Spain.http://www.linotype.com/1494-12707/atthecartographicunitinthearmy.html Hermann escaped further combat by showcasing his ability to draw very small letters without the assistance of optics.http://www.linotype.com/1494-12707/atthecartographicunitinthearmy.html After the conflict, Hermann was held as a prisoner of war by the French in Tübingen. He returned to a nearly destroyed Nuremberg in 1945—where he later began giving lessons in calligraphy.http://www.linotype.com/1494-12707/atthecartographicunitinthearmy.html

Hermann Zapf has designed 29 fonts that are widely used as standards in typography since 1945.http://www.linotype.com/645/hermannzapf.html While working at Linotype in 1948, Hermann created the fonts; Zapfino, and Palatino.http://www.linotype.com/en/6336/bundesverdienstkreuzfrhermannzapf.html Hermann taught typography in Darmstadt, Germany from 1972 to 1981 at the Technische Hochschule.http://www.art-directory.info/design/hermann-zapf-1918/ For ten years beginning in 1977, Hermann Zapf professed printing techniques for type at the School of Printing in New York.http://www.art-directory.info/design/hermann-zapf-1918/ On March 25, 2010, he was awarded the Order of Merit from the Federal Republic of Germany for his lifetime contribution to calligraphy and typography.http://www.linotype.com/en/6336/bundesverdienstkreuzfrhermannzapf.html He currently resides in Darmstadt, Germany, with his wife, Gudrun—a type designer herself.http://www.identifont.com/show?14C

During his time as a professor at the School of Printing, Hermann was among a select few pioneers to digitize fonts. Since the late 1980s, he has digitized over 200 fonts for use in contemporary technology.http://www.art-directory.info/design/hermann-zapf-1918/http://www.identifont.com/show?14C The digital version of Hermann Zapf's most notable fonts come bundled with Microsoft and Apple operating systems.http://www.microsoft.com/typography/fonts/mac.htm Many type foundries including FontShop carry the entire collection of Hermann Zapf fonts ready for purchase.http://www.fontshop.com/fonts/designer/hermann_zapf/