The face of type

Erik Spiekermann is a tireless and outspoken talking head for the functional and aesthetic design of absolutely everything.

First Published in

Erik Spiekermann barely needs an introduction. Look at airport signs, road signs, some of the world's most prestigious corporate typefaces, numerous internationally consumed newspapers-and you'll recognise typeface after typeface, design after design. The work is omnipresent; so ingrained in our minds that it almost goes unnoticed, so integral is it to the world we inhabit.

Erik Spiekermann is a tireless and outspoken talking head for the functional and aesthetic design of absolutely everything, from typefaces to transportation schedules. If has function without form, it is useless; and vice versa.

Spiekermann is the original founder of MetaDesign, Germany's largest design studio, and through another of his offspring, FontShop International, is responsible for such statuesque typefaces as FF Meta (one of the most popular fonts in the USA and Europe), ITC Officinia (which features on just about every other webpage you're likely to see) and FF Info, which was selected as the passenger navigation system in one of Europe's most high traffic and potentially confusing airports.

As one of the first Germans to own a Macintosh computer, Erik Spiekermann has continually pushed the limits of desktop typography and design to approach that of industry leaders, Berthold and Monotype. The scope of work passing through Erik's Mac includes writing, editing and coding websites for multinationals like Audi and Sony, to pushing the boundaries with websites like ideo.com or Fuse98.com. He has created large corporate programmes for Audi and Volkswagen worldwide and has designed exhibits for the new Getty Museum, retail graphics for Nike, a typeface for Glasgow, a signage system for the city of Bristol, a daily newspaper in Dresden and a new image for The Economist.

In August 2000, Spiekermann left MetaDesign and now works as a freelance design consultant in Berlin, London and San Francisco.