Erik Spiekermann is a world-renowned German typographer, graphic designer, ʻinformation architect,’ art historian, teacher, businessman, and author. He was a self-taught artist who became interested in typography and letter design after being exposed to print shops at a young age. He studied art history at Berlin’s Free University and is the author of “Rhyme and Reason” and “Stop Stealing Sheep.”

In the 1980s, Spiekermann became a voice of a generation and an early adopter of digital graphic design when he co-founded what became Germany’s largest design firm, MetaDesign, in 1979. 

Collaboration and communication is important to Spiekermann as a designer and studio manager because “the only way to run a studio is to have perfect knowledge about the people and the work” (qtd. in “Hello I am Erik”). Everyone must work together and contribute to produce the best outcome. 

In this project, I was tasked to design a series of six cards that presented Erik Spiekermann using text, information, indexical images, as well as images of the designer’s work.