The Zapfs
Zapf Alphabets · Hermann Zapf, Gudrun Zapf-von Hesse
A biographical overview of Hermann Zapf and Gudrun Zapf-von Hesse, the husband-and-wife type designers behind Palatino, Optima, Diotima and Zapfino, maintained by their granddaughters.
About
Hermann Zapf trained as a photo retoucheur and Gudrun as a master bookbinder; both taught themselves calligraphy from the books of Rudolf Koch and Edward Johnston, using the broad-edged pen as the foundation for all subsequent type design. Hermann worked at Stempel, later pioneered computerised typography in the United States, and held the first professorship in typographic computer programming at the Rochester Institute of Technology from 1976. Their granddaughters Frieda, Isabel and Susanna now steward the legacy through Zapf Alphabets.
Classification
This page is not a typeface product listing but a biographical overview of Hermann Zapf and Gudrun Zapf-von Hesse; no single typeface is being presented or classified here.