A Life in Type

A typographic encapsulation of Hermann Zapf’s design philosophy.

Project Overview

Objective

Using typography, reinforce the meaning of a specific quote from Hermann Zapf, while also writing and designing an essay about his life and impact. Developed for my Typography course at The University of Baltimore.

Solution

For this piece, I took inspiration from the modern architecture of the Getty Museum in Los Angeles. The highly structured yet flowing design of the building acts as a visual allegory, reinforcing Zapf's point that effective typography requires both careful construction and free-flowing creativity.

Discovery

My goal with this project was to make Zapf's impact and legacy clear to all — even those outside the design world who might not be familiar with his work. I wanted to create a design that could add to viewers' understanding of my selected quote, providing greater insight into Zapf's overall design ethos. So I started with a research phase, diving deep into Zapf's life as I drafted my essay. This gave me a fuller picture of Zapf's philosophy and impact — information that I would use to drive my later typographic experiments.

Experimentation

I then started exploring my expressive type design, quickly honing in on "architecture" as the key word in my selected quote. Using typography, I experimented with different ways I could reinforce the structure, sturdiness, scale, and geometry of the word.

Implementation

Using feedback I gathered from my classmates, I was then able to implement my final design. The white-on-blue text evokes a blueprint, with the repeated word "architecture" forming a building that is both fluid and structural. The design elements and grid of this piece are echoed in the facing typographic page. Its essay adds depth, texture, and context to the quote, providing greater insight into Zapf's life, philosophy, and legacy.

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