Hermann Zapf's name should ring a bell
with anyone in the design or printing
business. He has designed an impressive
number of typefaces (fonts), well over
30 since 1941, and he's still going strong.
Zapf was born in Nürnberg (Nuremberg)
in Germany in 1918. In 1934 he started
a four year apprenticeship with a local
printing company, Karl Ulrich & Co.,
where he worked as a retoucher. He quickly
discovered his deep interest in calligraphy.
In 1938, after finishing his apprenticeship
he moved to Frankfurt and was hired
by Paul Koch's workshop, where he studied
printing, punchcutting and other
related subjects. In 1949,
in collaboration with his mentor,
August Rosenberger, he published
a collection of 25 calligraphic
alphabets titled "Feder und Stichel"
(meaning "Pen and Graver").
Some of the typefaces Hermann Zapf designed are:
Gilgengart (1941),
Palatino (1948),
Michelangelo (1950),
Sistina (1950),
Aldus (1952-53),
Melior (1952),
Saphir (1952),
Kompact (1952),
Virtuosa (1952-53),
Phidias (1953),
Frederica (1953),
Heraklit (1954),
Optima (1958), originally named
"Neu-Antiqua",
Hunt Roman (1962),
several different typefaces for
Hallmark Cards (1967-72),
Venture (1969),
Medici (1969),
Orion (1974),
Marconi (1976),
Comenius (1976),
Zapf Book (1976),
Zapf Dingbats (1977),
Zapf International (1977),
Edison (1978),
Zapf Chancery (1979),
Vario (1982),
Aurelia (1983),
Euler (1983), produced for the American Mathematical Society, using
Metafont,
Civilite (1984-), a script face,
Zapf Renaissance (1984) and
Zapfino Four (1998) for Linotype.