Spiekermann wrote an article on the abandoned design for Baseline magazine in 1986. Bundespost, despite funding the project, continued instead to use a variety of different versions of Helvetica (before changing them to Frutiger). However, despite positive interest from the German Minister of Telecommunications among others, Bundespost decided not to implement the new exclusive typeface for fear it would 'cause unrest'. The typeface is particularly similar to Syntax, one of Spiekermann's candidate typefaces.Īfter completing and digitizing the typesetting font, mockups were generated for Bundespost's new forms and publication. In addition to these demands, to meet Bundespost's needs, the family would also contain three fonts: regular, regular italic, and bold. The typeface would have to be a sans-serif to match the client, narrow (but not condensed) to save space, feature strokes thick enough to withstand uneven printing but also light so that individual characters do not run together, contain clearly distinguishable glyphs for similarly shaped characters, versatile capitals and figures that are clear but not obtrusive, and curves, indentations, flares, and open joins to combat poor definition, optical illusions, and over-inking. Taking into account research done on six font families and the constraints of the brief, the characteristics of what would become FF Meta began to take shape. Whereas traditionally, typefaces are designed to be viewed beautifully large, the goal with this particular typeface was to produce a typeface which worked well for its primary application.

As the typeface would be used repeatedly in small sizes, for identification (rather than copy), require two different weights, and printed quickly on potentially poor paper stock, the brief called for a very legible, neutral, space-saving, and distinguishable (in regards to weight) typeface with special attention to producing unmistakable characters. This is believed to promote legibility and make the letterforms more clearly different from one another.ĭevelopment began in February 1985 when Deutsche Bundespost approached Sedley Place Design, where Spiekermann was working at the time, and commissioned a comprehensive corporate design program. E and T are not symmetrical.Ī general feature of FF Meta is relatively open apertures, in contrast to the more folded-up appearance of Helvetica. Slanted upper terminal on the top right of E, T and F.Angled letter M, more resembling Futura or an upturned W than Helvetica or Gill Sans.A very distinctive y where the two strokes do not join smoothly.Bend to the right at the top of the letter d.Bend to the left at the top of the letters b, h, k, l.Not fully closed bottom loop in binocular g.Double-storey a with a very open aperture at the top.Curved bottom of l, making it clearly different to a 1 or upper-case i.Ends of the letter s are nearly horizontal.New York Review Books uses FF Meta for their covers. The Government of Greece has used FF Meta Greek as the official government typeface since 2010. The University of Hull uses FF Meta Serif alongside FF Meta. These include Imperial College London, The Weather Channel, Free Tibet, the television stations WSYR-TV, WIVT and WUTR in upstate New York, Herman Miller, Zimmer Holdings, Mozilla Corporation, Mozilla Foundation, Schaeffler Group, Endemol, Greggs, Digital UK, Liberal Democrats, Mumsnet and Fort Wayne International Airport. įF Meta has been adopted by numerous corporations and other organizations as a corporate typeface, for signage or in their logo. Ginger writing that it had been dubiously praised as the Helvetica of the 1990s. Throughout the 1990s, FF Meta was embraced by the international design community with Spiekermann and E. It originated from an unused commission for the Deutsche Bundespost (German Federal Post Office). According to Spiekermann, FF Meta was intended to be a 'complete antithesis of Helvetica', which he found 'boring and bland'. FF Meta is a humanist sans-serif typeface family designed by Erik Spiekermann and released in 1991 through his FontFont library.

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