Although he is equally comfortable and prolific as a writer, graphic designer and typographer, Spiekermann always puts type at the epicenter of the communication process. Even as a child, he was drawn to the typographic arts. “I had a little printing press and taught myself to set type when I was 12,” he recalls. “Years later, when I went to university to study art history, I made a living as a letterpress printer and hot metal typesetter.”

After college, Spiekermann spent several years as a freelance graphic designer in London. He returned to Berlin in 1979, where with two partners he founded MetaDesign, then Germany’s largest design firm, with offices in Berlin, London and San Francisco. The firm’s projects included work for Audi, Skoda, Volkswagen, Lexus, Heidelberg Printing, Berlin Transit, Düsseldorf Airport and many other clients. In 1988, Spiekermann launched FontShop, a digital typeface foundry and distributor of fonts.

He currently holds a professorship at the Academy of Arts in Bremen, is vice president of the German Design Council, past president of the International Institute of Information Design, past president of the International Society of Typographic Designers and a board member of ATypI. His book, Stop Stealing Sheep, first published in 1993, has sold over 150,000 copies and is currently in its second edition. He withdrew from the management of MetaDesign in 2000 to work on a new project that has evolved into SpiekermannPartners, a collaboration of many designers he has worked with over the years.

TECTONIC ARRANGEMENT
Clearly it is difficult to pigeonhole Spiekermann. He is not just a typeface designer, nor does he confine his work to graphic design. He has been labeled as an information architect, but bristles at the characterization. “I would never describe myself as ‘information architect’,” he says. “I find that title pretentious.”

The title, however, makes some sense. When asked how he works, his response takes on an architectural cast: “Like an architect, I work with prefabricated elements. My bricks are typefaces, my walls are pages, my windows are images, all things that are normally made or defined by other people. I design a framework, a structure for these elements as houses for words and images, like an architect would design a building for people to live in. The tectonic arrangement of the elements is my main contribution.”

The distinction between how Spiekermann sees himself and his work and how many other designers view their work is both subtle and important. Spiekermann does not see himself as “creating” pages or designs. He is also more concerned with results than process. He approaches his work as the classic tradesman rather than as “artist.”

He is not about trends, fads or sizzle. He addresses design projects from the aspect of customer goals. “A graphic designer has to be modest,” he maintains. “It is not about him or her, but about solving a problem for the client. If it doesn’t work, it isn’t good design. We are measured by the results of our work, not by our good intentions. Insufficient budgets, bad clients, tight deadlines are inevitable facts, never excuses for bad work.” According to Spiekermann, “Ninety percent of the job is solving the problem, only 10 percent about aesthetics.” He’s quick to point out, however, that “the 10 percent can often make the difference between a good solution and a great solution.”

TYPOGRAPHIC POINT OF VIEW
Being an accomplished typeface designer brings a unique perspective and dimension to Spiekermann’s graphic design projects. Because he is intimately familiar with the subtleties and nuances of type, he is able to identify precisely the right font suite for any project and uses the designs with a confidence and familiarity that is rare. And, if he cannot find the perfect typeface for a project, he creates one that is.

“We all have these pet issues,” he says, “and if I like a face and it would be appropriate for a job but the figures are too prominent next to the lowercase, or the letter l should be more distinctive, I can change that—with, of course, a license from the original designer. In fact, if the designer is alive, I will try to discuss the changes with him. Type designers are a small community, and it is important that we respect each other’s work. If I’m working on a design project that calls for special figures or a new weight, I’ll go back to the original designer and ask for it.”

When queried on his criteria for selecting typefaces, Spiekermann responds with a well-defined procedure. “We always determine a profile,” he says. “We ask where the typeface will appear, what are the client’s brand values, what are the main media in which the type will be used, how many weights will be required— now and in the foreseeable future. Do we need sans and serif designs or perhaps even more? Do the typefaces have to fit in with other existing typefaces? What languages will need to be addressed? Once we have that profile, I usually suggest a few faces from memory and my colleagues set specimens.”

Spiekermann says he is cautious about using his own typefaces. He confesses, “It could create the impression of not being objective and really looking for the appropriate solution.”

GRAPHICAL PERSPECTIVE
His abilities and viewpoint as a graphic designer also enable Spiekermann to approach typeface design from a distinct perspective. “Being a practicing graphic designer has given me insight into what other graphic designers may need,” he says. “I designed ITC Officina because, as a graphic communicator, I saw the need for that sort of face back in the late 1980s. I designed FF Info for signage projects and FF Meta for small print on bad paper. These were all type issues I discovered while working on projects for graphic design clients. Type design is a lonely business, and it is easy for type designers to become removed from reality if they do not have access to clients and paying graphic design jobs.”

THREE ASPECTS OF GOOD TYPE DESIGN
When it comes to the design of typefaces, Spiekermann again sees himself as a problem solver rather than an artist. His process for beginning a new typeface is simple and straightforward. “Identify a problem—like space saving, bad paper, low resolution, on-screen use—then find typefaces that almost work but could be improved,” he explains. “Study them. Note the approaches and failings. Sleep on it, then start sketching without looking at anything else.”

Spiekermann believes the three most important aspects of a good typeface design are orthodoxy, diffidence and space. “When you design a text typeface,” he says, “Ninety percent of it has to be like all other text typefaces, or it won’t be acceptable. This leaves very little room to make it different. The remaining 10 percent must be used wisely.” He continues, “A type designer has to be modest. It is not about him or her, but about the reader.” And finally, “Type designers do not design the black marks, but the space between them.”

When asked if he could pass on one piece of advice to an aspiring typeface or graphic designer, Spiekermann’s response is, “Be curious. Ask questions. Never take no for an answer. Don’t talk about stuff you don’t know about. Never stop learning. That’s all the same piece of advice, just split up into five sentences.”

A TYPE DESIGNER’S CHOICES
Ever wonder if type designers play favorites? I posed the question to Erik Spiekermann. His selections and comments follow:

1. REKLAMESCHRIFT BLOCK “The staple diet of pre-war jobbing printing in Germany, and the one typeface I had from 8 pt. through 96 pt. Plus larger sizes in wood type, in my metal type shop, which burned down in 1977. I redrew some of the versions for Berthold in the ‘70s, making Block Halbfett into Berliner Grotesk Medium.”

2. AKZIDENZ GROTESK MAGER “The first font I purchased, bought from the Berthold Foundry as brand-new, metal type—8 pt., ‘Half a minimum,’ which meant that I got about eight letter As, nine of the letter E, two Cs, etc. It was 3.5 kilos of type and cost me half a month’s wages.”

3. CONCORDE “The first typeface whose design process I followed. This was Berthold’s answer to Times New Roman, and I think it is a much better design.”

4. FF CLIFFORD “By Akira Kobayashi, who is now type director at Linotype. This is an amazing book face by a Japanese designer. Not a revival, but in the baroque tradition. There is only one regular weight, but for three sizes, plus a great suite of italics and small caps.”

5. ARNHEM “By Fred Smeijers. This is a great typeface for newspapers, magazines, etc. Not so keen on the headline weights— they look too Dutch for my taste. The text weights, however, are a superb modern interpretation of a legible serif with an edge.”

“These are not the ones I use most,” Spiekermann says, “but the ones I love because they have influenced me or because I wish I had designed them. In real life, however, I use my own faces and corporate types like Frutiger, FF Transit, News Gothic, Minion, Univers, Myriad—even Helvetica.”