Erik Spiekermann (born 30 May 1947) is a German
typographer, designer and writer. He is an honorary professor at the
University of the Arts Bremen and
ArtCenter College of Design
The ArtCenter College of Design is a private art college in Pasadena, California.
It was incorporated in 1930 as a degree-granting institution of higher learning in the US created specifically for students of both the visual arts and design. ...
.
Biography
Spiekermann studied
art history
Art history is the study of Work of art, artistic works made throughout human history. Among other topics, it studies art’s formal qualities, its impact on societies and cultures, and how artistic styles have changed throughout history.
Tradit ...
at
Berlin
Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
's
Free University, funding himself by running a
letterpress printing press
A printing press is a mechanical device for applying pressure to an inked surface resting upon a printing, print medium (such as paper or cloth), thereby transferring the ink. It marked a dramatic improvement on earlier printing methods in whi ...
in the basement of his house.
Between 1972 and 1979, he worked as a freelance
graphic design
Graphic design is a profession, academic discipline and applied art that involves creating visual communications intended to transmit specific messages to social groups, with specific objectives. Graphic design is an interdisciplinary branch of ...
er in
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
before returning to Berlin and founding
MetaDesign with two partners.
In 1989, he and his then-wife Joan Spiekermann started
FontShop, the first mail-order distributor for digital fonts.
FontShop International followed and now publishes the ''FontFont'' range of typefaces. MetaDesign combined clean, teutonic-looking information design and complex corporate design systems for clients like BVG (Berlin Transit), Düsseldorf Airport, Audi, Volkswagen and Heidelberg Printing, amongst others.
In 2001, Spiekermann left MetaDesign over policy disagreements and started United Designers Network, with offices in Berlin, London, and San Francisco.
In April 2006, the
Art Center College of Design in Pasadena awarded Spiekermann an Honorary Doctorship for his contribution to design.
His family of typefaces for Deutsche Bahn (German Railways), designed with
Christian Schwartz, received a Gold Medal at the German Federal Design Prize in 2006, the highest such award in Germany.
In May 2007, he was the first designer to be elected into the
European Design Awards Hall of Fame.
In January 2007, UDN was renamed SpiekermannPartners. In January 2009, SpiekermannPartners merged with Dutch design agency Eden Design & Communication and continued its operations under the name Edenspiekermann . Edenspiekermann currently run offices in Amsterdam, Berlin, San Francisco and Los Angeles.
He now runs an experimental letterpress workshop in Berlin, Hacking Gutenberg (www.hackinggutenberg.berlin)
Spiekermann is considered a very influential personality in the field of typeface design and information design. He often attends international meetings, and has been giving a substantial contribution in several fields, such as app development and public wayfinding.
Notable works
Spiekermann has designed many commercial
typeface
A typeface (or font family) is a design of Letter (alphabet), letters, Numerical digit, numbers and other symbols, to be used in printing or for electronic display. Most typefaces include variations in size (e.g., 24 point), weight (e.g., light, ...
s as well as typefaces as part of corporate design programmes.
*
Berliner Grotesk (original is from 1913, digitization is from c. 1978)
*
Lo-Type (original is from 1911/14, digitization is from 1980)
*
ITC Officina Sans (1990)
*
ITC Officina Serif (1990)
*
FF Meta (1991–1998)
* FF Govan (2001)
* FF Info (2000)
* Nokia Sans (2002-2011, corporate typeface for
Nokia
Nokia Corporation is a Finnish multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications industry, telecommunications, technology company, information technology, and consumer electronics corporation, originally established as a pulp mill in 1 ...
and the default UI font for
Symbian S60 smartphones)
* FF Unit (2003)
* FF Meta Serif (with
Christian Schwartz and
Kris Sowersby, 2007)
* FF Unit Slab (with Christian Schwartz and Kris Sowersby, 2009)
*
Fira Sans (designed in collaboration with Ralph du Carrois) for
Firefox OS, released in 2013 under the
SIL Open Font License)
* FF Real (with Anja Meiners and Ralph du Carrois, 2011)
* Case, Case Text, Case Micro (with Anja Meiners and Ralph du Carrois, 2020)
Spiekermann co-authored ''Stop Stealing Sheep & Find Out How Type Works''. He also participated in the creation of numerous corporate identities and other works, including redesigns of the publications ''
The Economist
''The Economist'' is a British newspaper published weekly in printed magazine format and daily on Electronic publishing, digital platforms. It publishes stories on topics that include economics, business, geopolitics, technology and culture. M ...
'' and ''
Reason
Reason is the capacity of consciously applying logic by drawing valid conclusions from new or existing information, with the aim of seeking the truth. It is associated with such characteristically human activities as philosophy, religion, scien ...
''.
Spiekermann also appeared in the
documentary
A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...
''
Helvetica''.
Awards
*2003 –
Gerrit Noordzij Prize
*2006 –
German Design Award
*2007 –
European Design Awards Hall of Fame
*2007 –
Honorary Royal Designer for Industry,
Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures & Commerce, London
*2011 – Lifetime achievement award from German Design Prize
*2011 – TCD Medal Lifetime Award
See also
*
First Things First 2000 manifesto
References
Further reading
*Erik Spiekermann, E. M. Ginger: ''Stop Stealing Sheep & Find Out How Type Works'', third edition, Adobe Press, 2013, .
*Erik Spiekermann: ''ÜberSchrift'', Hermann Schmidt Mainz, 2004, .
*Erik Spiekermann, Jan Middendorp, ''Made with FontFont'', BIS Publishers, 2006, .
*Erik Spiekermann et al., ''FontBook'', FontShop International Berlin, 2006.
*Fay Sweet: ''MetaDesign: Design from the Word Up'', Thames and Hudson, 1999. .
*Erik Spiekermann, M. Klein, Y. Schwemmer-Scheddin: ''Type and Typographers'', Phaidon Press, 1991. .
* ''
Emigre''
51: First Things First, 1999
Issue 51* Erler, J., ''Hello I am Erik. Erik Spiekermann : typographer, designer, entrepreneur,'' Die Gestalten Verlag, 2014. .
External links
Erik Spiekermann’s blogEdenspiekermannletterpress workshopBiography and list of Spiekermann’s typefaces on FontFont.com
*Erik Spiekermann appears in the documentary '' Helvetica
Postage stamps designed by Erik SpiekermannErik Spiekermann on Workspiration
– quick interview about work
{{DEFAULTSORT:Spiekermann, Erik
1947 births
Living people
People from Stadthagen
German graphic designers
Design writers
German typographers and type designers
Berlin University of the Arts alumni
Academic staff of the University of the Arts Bremen