Conversation with Erik Spiekermann

This conversation was recorded in Berlin in April 1992, in time snatched from a hectic working day. Erik Spiekermann is a German graphic designer, who has specialized in information design and typeface design. He worked in London in the 1970s, and since 1981 has worked in Berlin, as a partner in MetaDesign. In 1989, the practice expanded to become 'MetaDesign plus'. Spiekermann is also a partner in FontShop, established in 1989 as a retailer of typeface software, with branches in Europe and North America.The main topic of this conversation is the work being undertaken by MetaDesign for the transport authority in Berlin - the BVG. Other issues discussed are recent debates over typography and legibility, and the critical discussion of typography. In the course of the exchange, the real processes of design are exposed - in a way that more formal discourse cannot do. The text given here has been transcribed from the tape-recording, with minimum editing.