Sarah Rew: Erik Spiekermann

Part A
Erik Spiekermann, a designer, information architect, and writer, is best known as founder of MetaDesign and FontShop, not to mention his numerous typefaces. Spiekermann was born on May 30, 1947 in Stadthagen, Germany. Even at a young age, he was attracted to type, an aspect in his life that never changed. Growing up, his first home was located next to a neighbor who ran a Heidelberg Platen press. Spiekermann remembers being fascinated by the “whoosh, bang” noise of the press, a fascination that sparked his interest in type. When Spiekermann’s family moved to Bonn, his access to the press did not cease; in fact, his new home was located in front of Bonn University Press. At age twelve he was given a tabletop press and some metal type, which he single handedly used to create his school magazine.

At seventeen, Spiekermann moved to Berlin to avoid being drafted, a move that allowed him to study History of Art and English at Berlin’s Free University in 1967. All the while, he supported himself by running a letterpress printer and hot metal typesetter. It was during this time that he developed what would later become MetaDesign’s philosophy and design trademark. With scarce resources, Spiekermann “found the limitations of [his] materials and exploited them to the full.” Furthermore, he developed a style of always using a “narrow rectangle or bar bleeding off the confines of the page, usually in just one of two colors: black or red, with type dropped out in white,” for this provided a framework for the type. Finally, he “adhere[d] to the use of asymmetric layouts, carefully spaced text, both in terms of character fit and linespacing, and unjustified setting…, taking as much care with the spaces as with the type.”

After college, Spiekermann married Joan, and along with their son, moved from Berlin to London to begin work as a freelance artist in 1973. During this time he began working for large design firms, like Wolff Olins and Henrion Design, and type producers like Berthold and Letraset. Furthermore, he took up a teaching position at London College of Printing and he became involved with the leading advertising typesetters at Filmcomposition. Spiekermann’s involvement with large corporations in London gave him a view into the world of numerous clients, a system that he would later be applied to MetaDesign; for with 150 employees, MetaDesign is the country’s largest design corporation. He also discovered what he truly wanted to focus on in the world of typography. He began to call himself a typographic designer, stating that these designers “start from the word up; a graphic designer starts from the picture down.”

In 1979 Spiekermann returned to Berlin and, along with two partners, Dieter Heil and Florian Fischer, founded MetaDesign. However, in 1983 all three men decided on a mutual split. It was not until 1990 that Spiekermann, Uli Mayer and Hannes Kruger joined together to give MetaDesign another try, a move that would soon result in Germany’s largest design firm. Throughout the years MetaDesign has contracted with BVG, Heidelberg Printing, Berlin Public Transport System, Apple, Adobe, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Lexus, VW, Audi, and more. This success was not solely accomplished in Berlin, but was a combination of the work from offices around the globe. With it’s success in Berlin, Spiekermann decided to create two more branches of MetaDesign. The second, started in 1992, was co-founded by Spiekermann with Terry Irwin and Bill Hill and is located in San Francisco, California. The last office was founded in 1995 in London with Tim Fendley and Robin Richmond. To further MetaDesign’s success, it was crucial that each office could learn from one another. The San Francisco office focuses on digital technology and interface design, while the London office, the smallest of the three, has a more experimental environment and focuses on product development and management consultancy.

During the development of MetaDesign, Spiekermann faced a constant challenge of advancing technology. His novel, published in 1987, Rhyme & Reason, focuses on this issue and how to “maintain typographic standards in the face of de-skilling and the computer revolution.” Spiekermann believed a rise in digital technology was on the way, and when it arrived, he embraced it. He found that his experience with hot-metal lessons gave him a greater understanding of the printing that creates these designs. This allowed him to make a smooth transition between the “print revolution of filmsetting and lithography of the 1970s and 80s, and beyond into the digital 21st century.” In fact, Spiekermann is known as Germany’s first designer to own an Apple computer.

In an interview by Spiekermann, he elaborates on many of the type aspects that designer’s face. Even with the advancing technology, he believes that “All good type designers I know sit down with a pencil first, no matter how fast they are on the screen.” He starts by designing the most important or frequently used weight of the font, usually regular. Once completed, he designs most bold and lightest weights possible for that typeface. After this step, technology helps advance the typeface by “calculating the in-betweens.” Furthermore, software comes in handy when a slight change in the type is needed, for you don’t have to redraw the entire thing.

Before one sits down to sketch out a font, it is important to remember one thing, “that you don’t actually design the black, you design the white: the space inside it and the space around it. That is very important. If you apply that to screenfonts, you can make a really legible screenfont.” Once a designer has this step ingrained, there is one other major concept to indulge in. Spiekermann believes that “The problem with designing typefaces is that 90% has to look like everything else, because an A has to be an A and a B has to be a B. But you have to use that other 10% of leeway to make it look different!” Optimizing this 10% is the key.” Spiekermann and his co-workers at MetaDesign have been able to optimize this percentage in numerous fonts. The most notable today are FF Info, ITC Officina, FF Meta, Folha, and Glasgow, all of which were developed for a client.

Spiekermann wanted to build a company around the idea that it would “look at the big picture (often beyond the brief), and take care of tiny detail. Our work can change a client’s culture, but it also manifests itself in how well a document can be read on their computer screens. MetaDesign is about turning powerful ideas into everyday experiences.” Making sure a design really works is another ideal behind MetaDesign. Testing the functionality of a design is key, for a wonderful logo is “worse than useless” if it cannot be printed or takes up all of your computers memory. Furthermore, he felt that “messy typography can destroy even the most profound design concept.” Finally, he wanted to prove that “it was possible to work on large corporate design projects and maintain really intelligent, high-quality deign solutions.”

While MetaDesign was booming, Spiekermann and his wife began another enterprise, FontShop, which would become the world’s first digital typeface foundry and distributor of fonts. After compiling 600 typefaces, the Spiekermann’s put together a mail-order catalogue available to all. With its quick success, like MetaDesign, FontShop spread world wide, opening offices in Canada, founded by Ed Cleary, and Britain, by Neville Brody where it became known as FontWorks. When the business began publishing its fonts, it became known as FontFonts, complete with over 1200 typefaces. The Spiekermanns’ business had made a name for himself, for “Designers knew that if we said a front worked, it did.”

In 2000 Spiekermann left MetaDesign and started UDN (United Designers Network), recently renamed SpiekermannPartners, a collaboration of many designers he has worked with throughout his professional years. They too have offices in Berlin, London and San Francisco. The business now has clients like Bosch, Deutsche Bahn, Pioneer Investment, Messe Frankfurt, and Nokia.

He is currently is an honorary professor at the Academy of Arts in Bremen and board member of ATypI and German Design Council. Along with these positions he has previously been the president of the International Society of Typographic Designers and the International Institute of Information Design. In 2003 he received the Gerrit Noordzij Prize for Typography. Also, in 2006 received an honorary doctorship from Pasadena Art Center. In 2007 Spiekermann was given the Federal German Design Prize. Finally, in May 2007 Spiekermann became the first designer to the elected into the Hall of Fame by the European Design Awards for Communication Design.

Spiekermann’s interest in type at a young age allowed him to make great advances in the world of typographic design. From a company consisting of only four men, he globalized MetaDesign to make it Germany’s largest design firm. Spiekermann formed it around the principals that “deep industry knowledge and experience, a global perspective, and a user-focused approach,” believing these would lead to success. With the knowledge gained from MetaDesign, his other business enterprises, and life itself, Spiekermann seems powerless in the world of type, and will continue to further his career.

Part B
Fonts designed by Spiekermann:

Berliner Grotesk BQ
FF Govan Dingbats One
FF Govan Dingbats Two
FF Govan One
FF Govan Three
FF Govan Two
FF Info Display
FF Info Office
FF Info Office Numbers One
FF Info Office Numbers Two
FF Info Text
FF Meta
FF Meta Boiled
FF Meta Condensed
FF Meta Condensed LF
FF Meta Correspondence
FF Meta Hairline
FF Meta Headline
FF Meta Headline Compressed
FF Meta Headline Condensed
FF Meta LF
FF Meta Serif
FF Meta Serif Black
FF Meta Serif LF
FF Meta Serif LF Black
FF Meta Subnormal
ITC Officina Display
ITC Officina Display Arrows
ITC Officina Sans
ITC Officina Sans (EF)
ITC Officina Serif
ITC Officina Serif (EF)
FF Unit
FF Unit Black
FF Unit Black LF
FF Unit LF
FF Unit Rounded
FF Unit Rounded At
FF Unit Rounded Black
FF Unit Rounded LF
FF Unit Rounded Ultra
FF Unit Ultra

FF Meta
-Sans Serif
-1984
-Originally designed for Deutsche Bundespost (German Federal Post), but never used.
-Designed to be readable and sturdy, working on the postage stamp scale, post boxes and post vehicles. Attention was paid to creating a face that was easily readable from an angle, and in a smaller point size.

Characteristics:
1) No Stresses
2) Mono Weight
3) The loop of the “g” does not close
4) The arm and leg of the upper and lowercase “K” do not connect with the stem.
5) Curved tops of lowercase letters. On letters with two stems, only the left stem is curved, except for the letter ‘u’
6) Slightly taller x-height
7) The left arm of the “y” does not completely match the right portion of the letter

Part C
1984
- The first Apple Macintosh goes on sale.
-The Space Shuttle Challenger is launched on the 10th space shuttle mission.
-Ronald Reagan calls for an international ban on chemical weapons.
-The longest game in Major League Baseball history.
- The Summer Olympics are held in Los Angeles, California.
- Reagan and Vice President George H.W. Bush are re-nominated.
- The Space Shuttle Discovery takes off on its maiden voyage.
- Ronald Reagan defeats Walter F. Mondale in the U.S. Presidential Election.

Some work: