Gudrun Zapf-von Hesse facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Gudrun Zapf-von Hesse
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Gudrun Zapf-von Hesse at her home in Darmstadt; photographed on March 20, 2016.
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| Born |
Gudrun von Hesse
2 January 1918 Schwerin, Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, German Empire
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| Died | 13 December 2019 (aged 101) Darmstadt, Germany
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| Occupation | Bookbinder and Typographer |
| Years active | 1951–1990s |
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Notable work
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Diotima |
| Spouse(s) | |
| Children | 1 |
Gudrun Zapf-von Hesse (born January 2, 1918 – died December 13, 2019) was a talented German artist. She was known for her work as a bookbinder, calligrapher, and type designer. This means she designed beautiful books, wrote fancy letters, and created fonts for printing. She even won a big award, the Frederic W. Goudy Award, in 1991. To celebrate her 100th birthday in 2018, a company called Monotype released a special font named Hesse-Antiqua.
Contents
Early Life and Learning
Gudrun von Hesse was born on January 2, 1918, in a city called Schwerin in Germany.
From 1934 to 1937, she became an apprentice at a bookbinding workshop. It was run by Otto Dorfner in Weimar. During this time, she also started practicing calligraphy. She learned to write beautiful letters. She wasn't happy with the lessons she got, so she taught herself at home. She studied the works of famous calligraphers like Rudolf Koch and Edward Johnston.
After finishing her apprenticeship in 1937, Gudrun worked as an assistant until 1940. She earned her Master's Diploma in bookbinding in 1940. She also studied at the Berlin Graphic Arts School in 1941.
Her Family Life
After World War II, Gudrun moved from Potsdam to Frankfurt around 1945 or 1946. She said Potsdam was not a good place to start a new life then. In 1948, she met Hermann Zapf. He was an art director at a company that made typefaces. They saw her letter designs at an exhibition and invited her to visit.
Gudrun and Hermann got married on August 1, 1951. They both worked in design but kept their professional lives somewhat separate. They had one son named Christian (1955–2012). Gudrun once said she was a little sad she didn't have much time for bookbinding when Christian was young. But later, she focused more on calligraphy and type design. Gudrun Zapf-von Hesse passed away in December 2019. She was 101 years old.
Her Amazing Career
In 1941, Gudrun worked as a bookbinder in Berlin. From 1944 to 1945, she taught bookbinding and calligraphy. She helped soldiers with head injuries at a hospital in Austria. After the war, in 1946, she opened her own bookbinding shop. It was inside the Bauer type foundry in Frankfurt. The director, Georg Hartmann, let her use their space.
While working at Bauer, Gudrun learned how to make metal type. She created her first full alphabet, Hesse-Antiqua. She got help from Bauer's main type maker, Joseph Spahn. This alphabet was for adding gold designs to book bindings. In 2018, this special font was made into a digital version.
From 1946 to 1954, Gudrun taught calligraphy at the Städelschule in Frankfurt. Her work was noticed at an exhibit by the director of D. Stempel AG Type Foundry and Hermann Zapf. They asked her to design typefaces for their company.
This is how her career as a type designer began. Her first font for Stempel was called Diotima, released in 1951. The New York City Opera used Diotima for their ads in the New York Times. It was also used for headings in the British Airways in-flight magazine.
In 1948, Gudrun opened a bookbinding studio with an apprentice. It was in the Stempel Type Foundry building. Her shop closed in 1955 when her son was born. But she kept designing typefaces whenever she had time.
In the 1970s, Gudrun worked with her husband, Hermann Zapf. They prepared designs for his fonts, Marconi and Edison. As technology changed, she kept designing fonts for new printing methods. She designed typefaces into the 1990s for companies like Berthold, Bitstream, and URW Hamburg.
Her Unique Style
Gudrun Zapf-von Hesse's work is known for its "elegant simplicity" and "technical precision." Her designs are beautiful but not overdone. For bookbinding, she used a flexible method with thin boards. This was different from what she learned as an apprentice. After getting her Master's Diploma, she created a style that was "simple and pure." Her special skill was flexible binding. Her style was fresh and modern, standing out from others.
For her typefaces, Gudrun's background in calligraphy was very important. You can see this influence in her fonts like Diotima and Columbine. She believed that studying calligraphy was the best way to create new alphabets. Her calligraphic art included many styles, from traditional to more artistic. She worked with different types of letters, like blackletter, italic, and roman. A great book showing her work is Gudrun Zapf von Hesse: Bindings, Handwritten Books, Type Faces, Examples of Lettering and Drawing. It was published in 2002.
Awards and Recognition
In 1991, Gudrun Zapf-von Hesse became the second woman to receive the important Frederic W. Goudy Award. This award is given to top experts in typography. It comes from the Rochester Institute of Technology in New York. In 2001, she also received a Lifetime Achievement Award. This was from the Friends of Calligraphy group.
Her typeface, Diotima italic, has been called "one of the finest italic types ever." It's seen as a "perfect masterpiece." Gudrun and her husband, Hermann, supported the Cary Graphic Arts Collection. This collection at the Rochester Institute of Technology has many of their materials. In 2008, a book called Manuele Zapficum was published. It celebrated their ninetieth birthdays.
A documentary film called "Alphabet Magic" was made about their lives. It was shown in Germany shortly before Gudrun passed away. She even attended the showing! The film was also part of the Zapf Centennial celebrations. These included an exhibit of her work and a special event in New York City.
Exhibitions of Her Work
Gudrun Zapf-von Hesse's work has been shown in many exhibitions:
- 2019: "Magic Alphabets: 100 Years With Hermann and Gudrun Zapf" in Spain.
- 2019: "Alphabet Magic: A Centennial Exhibition" at the Grolier Club in New York.
- 2007: Melbert B. Cary, Jr. Graphic Art Collection, Rochester Institute of Technology.
- 2001: Skylight Gallery of the San Francisco Public Library.
- 1998: Hessische Landes– und Hochschulbibliothek in Darmstadt.
- 1991: Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester.
- 1985: ITC-Center of the International Typeface Corporation in New York.
- 1970: Klingspor Museum in Offenbach am Main.
- 1952: Grafiska Institutet in Stockholm.
Typeface Designs
You can see pictures of Gudrun Zapf-von Hesse's typefaces online. Check out the Klingspor Museum's Online Font Library.
Metal Typefaces
These fonts were made from metal for printing presses.
- Diotima Roman (Stempel – 1951): Gudrun designed Diotima based on her beautiful calligraphy. She used it for a special handwritten book. The directors of Stempel Type Foundry saw this calligraphy. They invited her to design fonts, starting her career. Diotima was made into metal type by August Rosenberger. The font was later changed for newer printing methods, but Gudrun felt it lost some of its original beauty. Diotima is named after a Greek priestess.
- Diotima Italic (Stempel – 1953)
- Ariadne Initials (Stempel – 1953)
- Smaragd (Emerald) (Stempel – 1954)
Photocomposition Typefaces
These fonts were designed for a printing method using light and film.
- Shakespeare (Hallmark – 1968): Gudrun was asked by Hallmark Cards to create this font. It was used for a 1968 Hallmark book of Shakespeare’s Sonnets.
Digital Typefaces
These fonts were designed for computers and digital printing.
- Nofret (Berthold – 1987): Nofret was named after the Egyptian queen Nefertiti. It was used to print a book called Your Creative Power. The Hamburg University of Applied Sciences also used Nofret as its main font.
- Carmina (Bitstream – 1987)
- Columbine (URW Hamburg – 1991)
- Christiana (Berthold – 1991)
- Alcuin (URW Hamburg – 1992): This font was inspired by Alcuin, an advisor to Charlemagne, and his Carolingian writing style.
- Hesse-Antiqua (2018, Monotype, with Ferdinand Ulrich)
See also
- List of type designers
- Bookbinding
- Calligraphy
