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meta was designed to be easily read at small sizes

book subtitle quoted from Erik Spiekermann

typeface origins

In 1984, the German State Post Office, the Bundespost, was persuaded by Erik Spiekermann of MetaDesign to commission a new,

exclusive font for use on all of their printed material. 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 in-house 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 FontFont, a subsidiary of FontShop.

Q E W K The tail of the Q is wavy

The base stroke of the E extends out past the rest of the character

The E has an angled finial on its top stoke, similar to the C, F, and G

characteristics • 4/5

Q E W K The K has only one junction

All Meta capitals have flat apicesThe junction of the W rests flat along the cap-height line, just as the junction of the M rests along the baseline

Meta is part of the Humanistic family of typefaces. These faces draw from calligraphic forms and often feature variable stroke

widths, something that makes them much more legible than other sans-serif fonts. Meta’s characters contain elements that are inconsistent within the family, which helps to make each letterform unique and personal. Meta’s nuanced construction and lack of regularized forms helps to create the typeface’s appealing personality.

bkhl

characteristics • 6/7

v w yThese lowercase letters all share slightly bent ascenders, a trait that is carried through the stems of the m, n, p. and q

The finials of these letters are all angled on top, unlike their capital counterparts

ZzYy

The upper finial of the Z is angled, opposed to that of the lowercase z which remains flush vertically

The y is unique, even within the Meta family, due to its offset junction along the baseline

gA defining characteristic of Meta is the open bowl of the double-story lowercase g

Varying stroke widths are something that allow Meta to be readable at such small sizes

Pack my box with five dozen liquor jugsMeta Book Roman (32/35pt)

Pack my box with five dozen liquor jugsHelvetica Neue Regular (32/35pt)

Pack my box with five dozen liquor jugsGill Sans Regular (32/35pt)

CCCMeta

AngledHelvetica NeueFlush Horizontal

Gill SansFlush Vertical

finial angles

comparisons • 8/9

Quirky characteristics exist within the Meta family to help quickly distinguish it from other sans-serif type families. Elements such

as angled finials and bent stems are unique to the FF Meta family. Both Helvetica Neue and Gill Sans are much more linear, regularized typefaces, the latter being highly geometric in its construction.

OOOMetaHelvetica Neue

Gill Sans

relative width Meta is a much more condensed typeface than either Helvetica Neue or Futura, as seen when comparing the width of their Os

10/10

“A real typeface needs rhythm, needs contrast, it comes from handwriting... Helvetica hasn’t got any of that.”

“A real typeface needs rhythm, needs contrast, it comes from handwriting... Helvetica hasn’t got any of that.”

—Erik Spiekermann, designer of FF Meta

QMQMAa Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Mm Nn Oo Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt Uu Vv Ww Xx Yy Zz 0123456789 !@#$%^&*()Meta Book Roman (29/33pt)

Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Mm Nn Oo Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt Uu Vv Ww Xx Yy Zz 0123456789 !@#$%^&*()Helvetica Neue Regular (29/33pt)

humanistic forms The stems of the Meta M are angled, and the tail of the Q is wavy. These features lend themselves to a more hand-drawn style, a defining characteristic of FF Meta that differentiates it from Helvetica Neue

comparisons: the antithesis • 12/13

JGAa Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Mm Nn Oo Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt Uu Vv Ww Xx Yy Zz 0123456789 !@#$%^&*()

differing partsThe Meta G does not have a spur on the bottom of it, as does the Helvetica Neue G; similarly, the Meta J does not loop on the bottom as does its Helvetica counterpart

the smallest detailsThe dots, both over characters and in punctuation, of FF Meta (left) are round, opposed to the linear, square forms found in Helvetica Neue.

Meta was designed by Erik Spiekermann as an “antithesis of Helvetica,” which he found “boring and bland.” Ironically,

Spiekermann was the Design Consultant for the creation of Helvetica Neue. However, in the documentary Helvetica, he makes a witty comparison by saying, “Most people who use Helvetica use it because it’s ubiquitous. It’s like McDonald’s...it’s there...on every street corner, so let’s eat crap because it’s on the corner.”

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.

When it comes to the design of typefaces, Spiekermann sees himself as more of a problem solver than an artist. His process for beginning a new typeface is simple and straightforward. “Identify a problem–like space saving, bad paper, low resolution, on-screen use–then find typefaces that almost work but could be improved,” he explains. “Study them. Note the approaches and failings. Sleep on it, then start sketching without looking at anything else.”

colophonThis book was designed by Zach Thomas in the Fall of 2012 for Typography I at Washington University. It measures 6"x9.7" and was printed on 28lb Hammermill paper with a brightness of 100 using a Xerox Color Fiery 550 printer. Pages were bound in an accordion format using cloth tape. All typesetting and diagrams were done using Adobe InDesign CS6. Typefaces in this book include FF Meta Book, book capitals, and Bold, Helvetica Neue, and Gill Sans Light, which was used for copy and caption text.

designer bio

bibliography

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, © 2000.(A&A: Z250 .R45 2000)

http://fonts.comhttp://fontfont.comhttp://linotype.comhttp://quotefully.comhttp://typography.comhttp://typophile.com

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