Sunday, June 7, 2015

Hermann Zapf (1918–2015)

The typographer and calligrapher Hermann Zapf has died. Here, from Quartz, is a look at his work (it includes a 1967 film of Zapf drawing letters). Hermann Zapf, as in Optima, Palatino, Zapf Dingbats, and Zapfino.

comments: 3

Geo-B said...

This is a fascinating gorgeous little film. I liked seeing his "normal" handwriting, as he made notes on the letters he had just drawn. It's also interesting that he is positive about the ballpoint, which I see as having destroyed handwriting. (I never ever use a ball point, which makes it good when my wife has misplaced her pen, because she knows I would never touch it)

The Crow said...

Is his name the source for, or related to, the word zaftig?

Michael Leddy said...

His “normal” handwriting makes me feel like a first-grader.

Someone who knows more about German might know about zaftig. M-W traces the Yiddish zaftik to zaft, which goes back to saf. Whether that‘s close to the name Zapf or far removed, I don’t know.