FF Meta - Development

Development

Development 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. 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. 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.

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. 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 characters for similar 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. In addition to these demands, to meet Bundespost's needs, the family would also contain three fonts: regular, regular italic, and bold.

After completing and digitizing the typesetting font, mockups were generated for Bundespost's new forms and publications 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." Bundespost, despite funding the project, continued instead to use a variety of different versions of Helvetica.