Q&A withHermann Zapf

Graphis, Jul/Aug 2004

Where do you seek inspiration? My work focuses on digital type design and computer programs, so there is very little space for inspiration. You have to work within specific technical requirements and constraints to find the best solution for a given purpose.

Professionally, who has influenced you the most? Edward Johnston in calligraphy.

Who is/was your greatest mentor(s) in life? Paul Standard ( 1991.) Standard was a teacher at the Cooper Union in New York. He introduced me to the United States in 1952 and promoted the art of calligraphy worldwide. Also Aaron Burns ( 1992.) Burns was my partner in the firm Zapf, Burns & Company in New York. He was an expert in type-face design and in typography.

What is your greatest professional achievement? My typefaces: Palatino, Optima, Melior. The Zapfino Script was the most expanded and complicated script I ever did. I taught typographic computer programs at the Rochester Institute of Technology (1977-1987)-it was the base of the firm Zapf, Burns & Company.

What is your work philosophy? The interpretation of a message should be direct, without delays caused by fancy typefaces, amputated letter-forms, and other ideas ignoring the necessity of legibility. We no longer live in the time of Renaissance palaces and Baroque costumes but in the computer age. For modern industrial products, letterforms of the 16th century or 18th century are an anachronism. We should also stop copying 19th century typography and graphic design. Design has an immense social responsibility, a cultural message to people in regards to taste, education, and communication.

What is your free-time philosophy? Save nature. Since we use up the treasures of this globe in so many ways, I believe that it is our first and foremost responsibility to leave a good environment for the next generation.

Do you have a favorite cause you like to work on? I am very interested in the symbolism of figures and in magic square numbers, which are included in several of my designs. I am also interested in super ellipse, which was used in the design of the Melior Roman font.

What is your favorite design studio? Pentagram.

If you were to invite 1-5 personalities for a dinner conversation, who would they be? Jerry Kelly (New York); Maxim Zhukov (New York); David Pankow (RIT Rochester); Julian Waters (Gaithersburg, VA) and Adrian Frutiger (Bern, Switzerland).

What do you collect? Fine editions. As a book artist and a type designer I am interested in fine printing for this is the classical form of book production and it is a dying art in this digital age.

What is your most valuable possession? Letters written by Albert Einstein, ca.1933.

Do you have any hobbies? Gardening.

If you were to retire tomorrow, what would you do with your free time? I have been "retired" for 20 years now. But many ideas are still unfinished. I am still very much connected to type design. In the last years I redesigned several of my typefaces for digital use. Some have been done originally as metal types within the many limitations and compromises of the casting process. For digital resolution you have practically no limitations, so today alphabets can be made better compared to how they were done in the past. Photo by Christian L. Zapf