Hermann Zapf of Germany

Born: Nuremberg, 1918

Contemporary German calligrapher, teacher, book designer and type designer associated with Stempel, Linotype, Hell, ITC, and Bitstream.

It was in 1935 that Zapf started on his course to becoming one of the 20th century’s most significant type designers and calligraphers by buying writing manuals of Rudolf Koch and Edward Johnston, and teaching himself. In 1938 he worked at the workshop of Paul Koch in Frankfurt, learning about punchcutting and other techniques of fine printing. He joined Stempel later that year, alongside the punchcutter August Rosenberger. He began to design type for them the next year. During World War II Zapf was a cartographer.

Zapf has designed some of the 20th century’s most important fonts, including Palatino and Optima. He recently worked with David Siegel, Apple, and Linotype to create Zapfino, a font of his calligraphic handwriting; special features enable it to adapt itself to the text it is displaying.

He is married to Gudrun Zapf von Hesse, also a calligrapher and type designer.

Fonts by Hermann Zapf

Aldus, URW Antiqua, Aurelia, Comenius BQ, Edison, URW Grotesk, Kompakt, Marconi, Medici Script, Melior, Michelangelo BQ, Noris Script, Optima, Orion, Palatino, Palatino Sans, Palatino Sans Informal, Saphir, Sistina, Vario, Venture, ITC Zapf Book, ITC Zapf Chancery, ITC Zapf Dingbats, Zapf Essentials, ITC Zapf International, Zapf Renaissance Antiqua, Linotype Zapfino

Browse all fonts by Hermann Zapf

Activities

  Type Design
  Writing
  Calligraphy
  Type Copyright
  Dingbats Design

Related Links

 • Gutenberg-Gesellschaft: Gutenberg-Preisträger 1974 Hermann Zapf (German)
 • Linotype Library Designers: Hermann Zapf
 • Nicholas Fabian: The classical master of Type Design - Hermann Zapf
 • Unos tipos duros: Hermann Zapf (Spanish)
 • Hay Creek Studio: The Many Faces of Zapf

Please note: This is not an official page of Hermann Zapf and e-mailing us is not a good way to contact him. Corrections welcomed.

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