Hermann Zapf, font legend who created Palatino and eponymous 'Dingbats,' is dead at 96

[Recursion]

Source: The Week

In the rarified, slightly arcane world of typography and font design, Hermann Zapf was a giant. You may know his name from the fonts Zapfino and Zapf Dingbats, a pre-emoji set of symbols, but he also created Palatino and Optima, plus fonts you may never have heard of like Melior and Marconi Antique. Zapf died last Thursday at his home in Darmstadt, Germany, at age 96.

Palatino, an updated classical Roman design Zapf first dew by hand in 1948, was his "breakthrough font," says Bruce Weber in The New York Times' obituary, published Wednesday. Weber briefly explains the art of designing typefaces for the uninitiated, but he talked to Zapf's colleagues to show the late typographer's place in the font firmament.

"Last Thursday, all the rest of us moved up one," said Matthew Carter, designer of the popular fonts Verdana and Georgia. "Hermann was on top." Jerry Kelly, another leading U.S. typographer, added: "What Michelangelo was to sculpture and Beethoven was to music, that's what Hermann Zapf is to type design and calligraphy.... He was like the Beatles. His typefaces are so popular — go anywhere in the world, pick up a magazine in any airport, you'll see Hermann Zapf typefaces — but they're also so good that the connoisseurs all know it. And that happens maybe every 100 years."

Read more: http://theweek.com/speedreads/559708/hermann-zapf-font-legend-who-created-palatino-eponymous-dingbats-dead-96

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

1. ...

[sdfernando]

2. I understand that he was quite the character! /nt

[gregcrawford]

3. I still use Palatino quite often...

... though I'm partial to Garamond and its softer serifs for most body copy.

And who doesn't love a dingbat? Ba-dum-bum-bum!

RIP, Herr Zapf.

[Ino]

4. Optima is my favorite san serif...

and you can make awesome large headlines with palatino light italic, condensed 50%.

We've lost a great

[kentauros]

7. Robb is the only dingbat.

Palatino is a favorite (though I'm also partial to Centaur.)


Pass gently, Hermann

[scarletwoman]

5. Good journey to you, Hermann Zapf. I love fonts.

I love to try out different ones, I love to be able to identify which fonts were used in all the advertising material I come across in my work. I love to go, "Aha! They used Monotype Corsiva here!" It's addictive.

To premier font designer Zapf, I salute you! Thank you for your contributions to the form and design of the written word!

[scarletwoman]

6. Is it wrong to post a wee font joke in this thread? This may be my only chance to be among other

font fans who might appreciate it.

A font walks into a bar. The bartender says, "Hey, we don't serve your type here," and he called the Serif.

[Ino]

8. hahaha!!!

Love it!

[gregcrawford]

9. Have you got a cold?

That's a nasty kerf you've got there! (Rimshot-Ba-dum-bum-bum!)

I can remember specing type for hot lead back in the sixties, and everyone in the graphics industry being obsessed with Helvetica and the Swiss Grid System, which was basically design by numbers. As I recall, it was just a variant, a rebranding if you will, of the centuries-old Golden Mean (1:1.618)