DesignChat Guest - Erik Spiekermann

This Wednesday, August 11th, at 8PM CST, DesignChat welcomes the universally-respected creative director, typographer and design advocate, Erik Spiekermann to the conversation. Original designer of typefaces like ITC Officina, Unit, and even Meta— called one of the most successful humanist sans serif typefaces of the previous decade. (The Helvetica of the 90’s?).

Spiekermann has lead the industry with game-changing innovations like FontShop — the first independent digital font distributor — started in 1989 with Neville Brody and wife Joan Spiekermann.

He also founded Germany’s largest design firm MetaDesign in 1979, branching it to London, Berlin and San Francisco. His work there included way-finding projects for the Düsseldorf Airport as well as identity and brand-image projects for internationally-known companies like Audi, Volkswagen, Lexus and Heidelberg Printing. In 2001 he left MetaDesign and is now a partner in Edenspiekermann with offices in Amsterdam, Berlin, London and San Francisco.

On any given day you might find his likeness providing color commentary on fonts in movies like Helvetica…. or even advising the members of the European Union in matters of design. It’s a long way from “…redrawing old hot metal faces from the Berthold library, back in the 70s.” (Responsible for the original modernization of fonts LoType and Berliner Grotesk.)

With his book “Stop Stealing Sheep & Find Out How Type Works” in its second edition and a list of international associations and board memberships and too long to type, we know he’s one of the sharpest design-minds out there.

There’s so much to this guest that we feel inadequate to cover it completely; so, please…
Join us, and Erik Speikermann, this Wednesday at 8pm CST here at http://designchat.info/chat for a live video and text chat.

We feel honored to have him and hope to see you there too.

Eurotaxi Interview

Additional Interview From the DVD version of Helvetica

Learn more about Erik Spiekermann.

Link Round-Up:

• @espiekermann on Twitter
• Spiekermann’s Blog
• Prof. Dr. Erik Spiekermann’s xing profile
• Twitpics from Spiekermann
• ATypI (Association Typographique Internationale) Talks about Spiekermann
• FontShop designs by Spiekermann
• Linked-In to Speikermann
• design mind article
• Spiekermann at Edenspiekermann
• The Edenspiekermann Manifesto