R.I.P. Hermann Zapf, 1918-2015

June 9, 2015 3:21 PM

"Hermann Zapf (previously), the designer of fonts such as Palatino, Optima, Zapfino, Melior, Aldus, and the bizarre but much beloved Zapf Dingbats, has died [on June 4] at age 96."

"In his long and prolific career, Zapf worked on many fonts, but his personal favorite was the humanist sans serif typeface Optima, the lettering chosen for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial wall in Washington, DC."

posted by ZeusHumms (47 comments total)

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posted by Faint of Butt at 3:23 PM on June 9, 2015

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posted by Termite at 3:26 PM on June 9, 2015

Don't forget Zapf Chancery, the go-to face for faux renaissance invitations and posters back when DTP was new.

(A lot of his typefaces are kind of overused and not so well considered today, but I think most of them show very good craftsmanship.)
posted by Joakim Ziegler at 3:26 PM on June 9, 2015 [4 favorites]

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posted by randomkeystrike at 3:26 PM on June 9, 2015

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posted by jeff-o-matic at 3:27 PM on June 9, 2015

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posted by zombieflanders at 3:28 PM on June 9, 2015

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posted by ZeusHumms at 3:30 PM on June 9, 2015

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posted by Pecinpah at 3:32 PM on June 9, 2015

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posted by Fizz at 3:32 PM on June 9, 2015

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posted by Thorzdad at 3:38 PM on June 9, 2015

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posted by Meatafoecure at 3:41 PM on June 9, 2015

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posted by yhbc at 3:50 PM on June 9, 2015

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posted by Samizdata at 3:53 PM on June 9, 2015

He was.
posted by Stonestock Relentless at 3:54 PM on June 9, 2015 [1 favorite]

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posted by Gin and Broadband at 3:56 PM on June 9, 2015 [1 favorite]

I saw this post here about 2 hours after finding this Kickstarter project for a reproduction of Zapf's sketchbook/notebook. The intro video features Mr. Zapf himself.
posted by amtho at 4:05 PM on June 9, 2015 [1 favorite]

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posted by Cash4Lead at 4:07 PM on June 9, 2015

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posted by TheWhiteSkull at 4:07 PM on June 9, 2015

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posted by Wordshore at 4:37 PM on June 9, 2015

I still love Palatino. Thank you, Herr Zapf.
posted by wenestvedt at 4:41 PM on June 9, 2015

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posted by WesterbergHigh at 4:41 PM on June 9, 2015 [1 favorite]

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posted by scruss at 4:51 PM on June 9, 2015

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posted by valkane at 4:56 PM on June 9, 2015

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posted by oceanjesse at 5:00 PM on June 9, 2015

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posted by trip and a half at 5:10 PM on June 9, 2015

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posted by Smart Dalek at 5:20 PM on June 9, 2015

Some nice recollections and samples of his work here from TypeDrawer and here from Linotype (with a link to his own telling of his life story).

To me the most impressive thing about Zapf's work, compared to all the other typography of his generation — the moment of modernism, geometric form, automation — is the constant, humane presence of the calligrapher's hand in his work.
posted by RogerB at 5:21 PM on June 9, 2015 [1 favorite]

I'd hardly call Zapf Dingbats "bizarre."
posted by jonathanhughes at 5:23 PM on June 9, 2015

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posted by radwolf76 at 6:17 PM on June 9, 2015

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posted by Phssthpok at 6:22 PM on June 9, 2015 [1 favorite]

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posted by Canageek at 7:58 PM on June 9, 2015

the constant, humane presence of the calligrapher's hand in his work

I understand he only ever considered calligraphy a sideline to his work designing typefaces, but he really was magnificent.
posted by MrBadExample at 8:00 PM on June 9, 2015 [2 favorites]

A lot of people don't get Zapf Dingbats; they think it's a gimmick font. I've heard people joke that it's the one font no one ever uses. I was a newspaper editor for a few years, and I used it every issue... just not a lot of it. That square or triangle setting off the start of the deck, just below the headline? A dingbat. The checkboxes or arrows in an infographic or sidebar list? Dingbats. The suit symbols in the bridge column? Yep.

Darn useful things... they were always there when I needed just the right element, just the right little arrow or shape. Thank you, Herr Zapf.
posted by kikaider01 at 8:40 PM on June 9, 2015 [8 favorites]

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posted by bukvich at 8:57 PM on June 9, 2015

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He designed my favorite fonts: Palatino and Optima! I had no idea.
posted by honey badger at 10:04 PM on June 9, 2015

I'm stunned no one has mentioned his involvement in computer typography yet.
posted by Canageek at 11:21 PM on June 9, 2015 [2 favorites]

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posted by Kinbote at 12:28 AM on June 10, 2015

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posted by ormon nekas at 2:41 AM on June 10, 2015

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posted by mfoight at 5:09 AM on June 10, 2015

Calligrapher and designer Paul Shaw has an excellent series of blog posts on Zapf.
– Zapfiana no. 1: About More Alphabets
– Zapfiana no. 2: What Our Lettering Needs
– Zapfiana no. 3: Works and Typefaces
posted by ormon nekas at 5:19 AM on June 10, 2015 [2 favorites]

He is survived by his wife, also a prolific font designer, who is actually a few months older than him. We should all live such long, productive, fortunate lives.

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posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 5:27 AM on June 10, 2015

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posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 6:05 AM on June 10, 2015

Goodbye, Hermann Zapf.
posted by plinth at 6:39 AM on June 10, 2015

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posted by Quasirandom at 8:00 AM on June 10, 2015

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posted by klausness at 10:52 AM on June 10, 2015

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posted by mumimor at 11:22 AM on June 10, 2015

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posted by tilde at 11:38 AM on June 10, 2015