Erik Spiekermann began his typography journey when he was very young. He had his own small printing press when he was 12. In his early twenties, he traveled to Britain, where he began his own freelance printing business and became inspired by all the design and art he saw there. Fueled by foreign design, he eventually came back to Germany and founded the famous German design company, MetaDesign. While working there, he designed the logos and typefaces for big car brands like Volkswagen, Skoda, and Audi. Several years later, he began the very first typeface selling business, in which he partnered with the newly arising Adobe programs to sell their typefaces to the rest of Europe. FontShop, as it was called, now has an online presence and is a collaborative effort by many designers. He now runs another company which he founded, called Edenspiekermann. His work is known well by his crisp typefaces such as ITC Officina, FF Real, FF Meta, Berliner Grotesk, and many others. His ITC Officina is now used in public transportation signage around Germany. His style is denoted in part by his stricter adherence to a grid, which makes his work always look neat ‘n’ tidy, and above all, readable. He is known also for his work with manual printing presses, which he still uses alongside Adobe’s computer programs. So, if these designers’ styles are so sporadically different, what is it they have in common? What unites these artists is not their styles, but rather the kind of work they did. Both of them had a hand in some of the world’s best known brands. Ever heard of Nestle or Mattel? CVS Pharmacy? Starbucks, Target, or even Coca Cola? Margo Chase, and her design company Chase Design Group, had a hand in them all. The logos and typefaces for Volkswagen, Audi, Nokia, and even FireFox wouldn’t be what they are today without Spiekermann. Both of them created beautiful and highly unique typefaces, recognizable on the spot. They share an understanding of the value of using traditional tools, such as a printing press, and even calligraphy pens. Chase doodled and drew all the time, and experimented with pens, nibs, and line weights. Spiekermann still uses a printing press to make simplistic yet elegant posters, displaying witty quotes in his own type. What this book aims to do is showcase their different approaches to similar end goals, specifically all these well known brands these two helped create.
The Face Behind the Type |
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