THE
MANY
TYPE FACES
OF
ERIK ERIK SPIEKE SPIEK 1
By Andrea Dunn
Photo by Gestalten, Illustration by Andrea Dunn
E
rik Spiekermann is an internationally renowned typographer, designer, author, and an entrepreneur. He claims he is a victim of “Typomania�, a sickness that is incurable but not lethal.
RMANN KERM 2
I’M “ OBVIOUSLY A
TYPOMANIAC ”
O
n May 30th,1947, the legendary German type designer, Erik Spiekermann, was born. Erik had an interest in design at a young age. He studied History of Art and English at Berlin’s Free University and funded himself through a letterpress printing press he began in his basement. From 1972 to 1979 he worked as a freelance designer, and then founded Germany’s largest design firm, MetaDesign in 1979. In 1988, Spiekermann started FontShop with the help of Neville Brody, and his wife Joan, in Berlin, which was the first mailorder distributer for digital fonts. Later, FontShop International was established, publishing the FontFont range of typefaces. In 2001, Spiekermann left MetaDesign and started United Designers Networks which is currently known as Edenspiekermann. He is also a professor at the University of the Arts in Bremen. Some of his achievements include becoming the first designer to be elected
A poster designed and printed by Spiekermann Photo by Spiekerblog
into the Hall of Fame by the European Design Awards for Communication Design. The German Design Council gave him their 2011 Lifetime Achievement Award, the highest award in Germany. In May 2011 he was the 25th recipient of the TDC Medal, awarded by the Type Directors Club New York. In 2001 he redesigned The Economist magazine in London. He co-authored a book for the Adobe Press, Stop Stealing Sheep with E.M. Ginger in 2002. It has been reprinted several times and even translated into German, Russian and Italian. Spiekermann has designed many commercial and corporate typefaces Some of the most influential typefaces he designed are FF Meta, ITC Officina, and Fira Sans. He is a strong believer that communication between citizens and the government is often hindered due to bad design. He uses the tax forms and voting
ballots as an example. They provide information to the citizens that is imperative to navigate through and comprehend. The miscommunication can be caused by confusing layouts and illegible typefaces. Spiekermann’s work can be seen virtually everywhere in Berlin. He redesigned the typeface for German railways and the Berlin Underground. Whereever you go, you will be able to see Spiekermann’s work. Whether it be the typeface used for a car logo, transfortation map, or on the screen of your phone, Spiekermann’s work is always providing us with information.
Photo by Sam Davis
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He is fascinated by the physical and visual shape of language. As an avid reader, he experiences the same fascination from letter shapes as from reading. “It is like writing music in a way. The tune isn’t done by me. The tune is what people write. I do the sound. A
Photo by Spiekerblog
sentence is a sentence is a sentence and a tune is a tune is a tune but whether you play the tune on a banjo or a piano or you sing, or whether a girl sings or a man sings it makes it sound different. And that’s what I do, I add the sound. An “a” is an “a” and a “b” is a “b”, I can’t go away from it.” He begins the creative process with composing small sketches with a 2B pencil. He doesn’t include very much detail because they are just exercises for him. He then creates cleaner, more detailed sketches of 4 or 5 characters, usually including an A, N, and G. Then he sits down with one of his professional type designers to transform the sketches into digital data.
If he has a specific typeface in mind for a client, he will study the typeface carefully and sketch over it; and then come back the next day and draw it from memory. His creations are influenced by others, but are not a copy. Spiekermann sees himself as a problem solver, rather than an artist. When designing interface typefaces they need to be easily deciphered on a small scale on a screen which can be a difficult task for other designers. He believes that, “being obsessive about detail is being normal”, and that “each solution has to function in every small detail, while at the same be seen as part of a larger total. Nothing is irrelevant…”
When asked what he admires in design he responded with, “Well made, obviously, that I can use for a long time. And I also like things where I have the impression that people like making them. I think that’s probably the best thing. If somebody loves what they do, that comes across; whether it’s in cooking, or making cars, or building websites. Some of that comes across.” Without a doubt, Erik Spiekermann has made a major impact in the typography industry and is a force to be reckoned with. Spiekermann’s advice for students is, “I always tell students that, you know, the most important thing these days, and probably always has been, is that you never stop learning.”
“ BEING OBSESSIVE
ABOUT DETAIL IS BEING NORMAL ” 4