Hermann Zapf and the World He Designed – A Biography

This is the first comprehensive biography of Hermann Zapf (1918-2015), whom Robert Bringhurst has called "the greatest type designer of our time, and very possibly the greatest type designer of all time."002018 marked the 100th anniversary of the birth of both Hermann Zapf and Gudrun Zapf von Hesse. Hermann Zapf's contribution to type design and calligraphy is immeasurable. His typographic work alone has greatly expanded the language of letterforms through ubiquitous fonts such as Palatino, Optima, and Zapfino (to name a few). Zapf's typefaces have become among the most used -- and most admired -- of all time, and he is arguably the most important type designer of the 20th century.00No less important, though perhaps less well known, is his work in typography and book design. Zapf has also been at the forefront of type technology. His Marconi alphabet design was the first typeface ever created specifically for digital typography. Also noteworthy is Zapf's calligraphic art. It first became widely disseminated in his writing manual Pen and Graver (1949), and has since been seen in numerous books and exhibitions, and has been a major influence on generations of calligraphers.00Exhibition: The Grolier Club, New York, USA (20.02.-27.04.2019).