Hermann Zapf’s passion for typeface design can be traced back to his apprenticeship as a retoucher. After spending his youth in Nuremberg he moved to Frakfurt in 1938 and in the same year began developing typefaces. He was primarily self-taught, devoting himself to the intense study of the work of Rudolf Koch and Edward Johnston. In the Second World War he was employed both as a taker of minutes at meetings and as a cartographer. Then in 1947 he was hired as artistic director of the type foundry D. Stempel AG in Frankfurt.

Both in this role and, from 1956, in a self-employed capacity, Zapf created an extensive graphic portfolio, including the design of books, stamps and custom typographical pieces such as the calligraphic transcription of the preamble of the UN Charter in 1960. In 1964 he held his first lecture on typographical computer programs at Harvard University. Palatino (1950) and Optima (1958) are among his most famous font designs, of which there are more than 200. Zapf was professionally active until well into his senior years and in 1998 released the highly successful Zapfino font. In 2010 Hermann Zapf was awarded a first class Order of Merit by the German Federal Republic.