Erik Spiekermann is information architect, type designer and author of books and articles on type and typography. Two of his typefaces, FF Meta and ITC Officina, are considered to be modern classics. In 1979 he founded MetaDesign and in 1989 FontShop. He is behind the design of well-know brands such as Audi, Bosch, VW, German Railways and Heidelberg Printing, among others; information systems for Berlin Transit and Düsseldorf Airport and for publications like The Economist. The family of typefaces he designed with Christian Schwartz for DB German Railways won the Gold Medal in the German Design Awards 2007.

Today he is managing partner and creative director of Edenspiekermann, Amsterdam, Berlin, Stuttgart and San Francisco. Erik is Honorary Professor at the University of the Arts in Bremen and in 2003 received the Gerrit Noordzij Award from the Royal Academy in The Hague. In 2006 he was awarded an honorary doctorship from Pasadena Art Center. He was made an Honorary Royal Designer for Industry by the RSA in Britain in 2007 and Ambassador for the European Year of Creativity and Innovation by the European Union for 2009. He just received the 2011 German Design Award for Lifetime Achievement. Erik lives in Berlin, London and San Francisco.

Listen to Erik talk about his career at the Type Directors Club 2017 conference, Type Over Time, in this video.