Erik Spiekermann Looks Back at the More Than 20 Years of FontShop

If you read just one thing this Friday morning, we recommend that it be Erik Spiekermann‘s reflections on the past twenty years of his company (which has gone through a variety of names, ultimately ending up as FontShop). There’s a nice introduction putting all the pieces together, with Neville Brody and Spiekermann working together, along with a small handful of others, to launch the company that would grow to become one of the biggest names in type. It’s a nice look from Spiekermann’s perspective (sometimes via Yves Peters and a host of other contributors) at how a little company that could actually did. Here’s a bit:

You have to realize there was no real business plan for a few years, and not much distinction between FontShop and FontFont. Only when I got busier with MetaDesign and had less time for the font business did we start getting more organized about publishing fonts. Don’t forget it originally started as a mom and pop shop with [Joan Spiekermann] and myself in 1988. As soon as we had the first fonts in the warehouse (which was the cellar below MetaDesign’s small offices), Joan hired [Petra Weitz]. That must have marked the start of the business proper.

Weitz also has her own full entry, as does Joan Spiekermann, about memories of the company’s past 20 years, which is also highly recommended reading.

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