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Formal writing with the edged pen - all but dead a century ago - now
enlivens much of the text we read. It is assumed that the written word has
been supplanted by keystrokes, yet this resurgence and interest in
calligraphy and typefaces derived from the hand is flourishing. How did
this happen? In no small part it is a result of the efforts of two
designers: Hermann Zapf and Gudrun Zapf von Hesse. For more than half a
century, they have been creating typefaces while educating designers and
technologists about letterforms. This is clearly a cause for celebration.
Hermann Zapf and Gudrun Zapf von Hesse, world-renowned calligraphers and
type designers, embraced the changes in printing and foundry technology
over the second half of the last century. When film type was a nascent
technology, the Zapfs put much effort into understanding and designing for
this new technology. Soon after, as digital type developed, the Zapfs were
there to design type, solve technical problems with engineers, and provide
a standard of typographic excellence for the next generation of designers.
An original exhibition honoring these two very significant and influential
people is being held in San Francisco in the fall of 2001. The exhibition
will feature several of the typefaces designed by the Zapfs, their
calligraphic work that influenced the typeface development, and special
books and posters designed using their typefaces. A second part of the
exhibition will focus on 14 other calligrapher/type designers: Alan
Blackman, Erik van Blokland, Rick Cusick, Timothy Donaldson, Jean Evans,
Phill Grimshaw, Cynthia Hollandsworth, Akira Kobayashi, Richard Lipton,
Jacqueline Sakwa, Robert Slimbach, Viktor Solt, Jovica Veljovic and Julian
Waters.
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