meta:
a typeface designed by Erik Spiekermann
ABCDEFGHIJKL MNOPQRSTUVWXYZ abcdefghijkl mnopqrstuvwxyz 1234567890
meta: the family
“Other people look at bottl 60 point meta roman
girls’ bottoms. I get kicks o 60 point meta bold
erik spiekermann 60 point meta capitals 2
meta: the family
les of wine, or, you know, 60 point meta italic
out of looking at type.� 3
characteristics: uppercase
The base of the G has no spur
SEG J Angled finials are definitive of the Meta typeface. They occur in the top strokes of the E, F, G, and on both sides of the S, C, and Z The J has no loop 4
characteristics: uppercase
MQR The tail of the Q is wavy
The junction of the M rests on the baseline The leg of the R is curved
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characteristics: lowercase
Several of Meta lowercase have particular traits that distinguish the face from other sans serifs. The ascenders of the b, k, h, and l are slightly bent at the top, a feature that is carried through the stems of the m, n, p, q, and the spur of the u. The finials of the v, w, and y are slightly angles, unlike the Meta family capital letters.
gy characteristics: lowercase
Other distinguishing features include the doublestoried g that has a highly unusual open bowl.
The y has an offset junction.
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comparison: helvetica
Typomaniac Typomaniac 2
1
3
2
1
1. Overall, Meta is a more condensed face than Helvetica, and it has only a slightly lower x-height.
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2. Both Meta and Helvetica letterforms have narrow shoulders.
90 point meta
4
3
3. The angled finials of Meta give the typeface a playful look, while finials of Helvetica are strictly horizontal or vertical.
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90 point helvetica
4. While the dots of Meta letterforms and punctuation are rounded, Helvetica has square dots.
comparison: futura, gill sans
flat junctions 72 point meta 72 POINT FUTURA
72 POINT GILL SANS
baseline junction
circular form
angled finials
circular form
MMM
aaa GGG
middle junction
pointed junctions
vertical/horizontal finials
connected crossbar
vertical bar
t t t
loop
the creator: Erik Spiekermann
“I use words like everybody else. I write words. But I go a little deeper, into the letters. For me, it’s inseparable, totally combined. The physical fascination with the letter shape is the same as the fascination I have from writing... it’s all language.” 10
the creator: Erik Spiekermann
erik spiekermann Erik Spiekermann, born in 1947, calls himself an information architect. He is equally comfortable and prolific as a writer, graphic and typeface designer, but type is always at the epicenter of this communication dynamo. In 1988, Spiekermann started FontShop, a digital typeface foundry and distributor of fonts. Spiekermann currently holds a professorship at the Academy of Arts in Bremen, is vice president of the German Design council, president of the International Institute of Information Design, president of the International Society of Typographic Designers and a board member of ATypI. origins of meta In 1984, the German State Post Office, the Budespost, was persuaded by Erik Spiekermann of MetaDesign to commission a new, exclusive font for use on all of the Budespost’s printed material. The aim of the project, which began in 1985, was to develop a face that was easy to read in small sizes,
available in several weights, unmistakable as an identity, and technologically up-to-date. Although the font was digitized, tested, and approved in the summer of 1985, the project was canceled. The Bundespost returned to using one of its many previous typefaces, Helvetica, assuming that digital type would not catch on. In 1989, after design software made creating new fonts more efficient, MetaDesign refined the Bundespost typeface for its own exclusive use, renaming it Meta. Initially, Meta was just used for inhouse projects, but soon MetaDesign began to use it in mail-order catalogs for FontShop, a digital type foundry, confounded by Erik Spiekermann. FontShop encouraged the parent company to license the face. Released as FF Meta, it has become one of the most successful typefaces available from FonFont, a subsidiary of FontShop.
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bibliography “Erik Spiekermann – Putting Back the Face into Typeface.” Gestalten. Vimeo. 2011. Web. Sweet, Fay. MetaDesign: Design from the Word up. New York: Watson-Guptil Publications, 1999. (A&A: VNC999.6.G4 M48 1999 and Vault) Spiekermann, Erik and Ginger, E.M. Stop Stealing Sheep & Find out how Type Works. USA: Hayden, 1993. (Vault) Revival of the Fittest: Digital Versions of Classic Typefaces/essays by Carolyn Annand ... [et al.]; edited by Philip B. Meggs and Roy McKelvey, New York: RC Publications, c2000. (A&A: Z250 .R45 2000)
unm
mistakable.
This book was created by Shelby Lindblad in the Fall of 2012 at Washington Univeristy in St. Louis. Typefaces used include Meta, Helvetica, Futura, and Gill Sans.