Hans Eduard Meier

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Hans Eduard Meier Swiss type designer in Obstalden, Switzerland, born in 1922 in Horgen am Zürichsee, who was associated with ETH Zurich for a long time. He died in 2014. In his obituary, Meier's long-time friend and former publisher Erich Alb wrote: He was a tireless, quiet craftsman, alone in his room, away from everything, who worked with endless stamina. The high quality of his calligraphic work, his sure eye in drawing letterforms, his teaching skills, his drawing, painting and graphic work distinguish him as a unique international figure. Meier created these typefaces: Barbedor (1984) and Barbetwo. The school fonts BasisSchrift Eins EF (2002), ABCSchrift Drei EF (2001-2002), ABCSchrift Eins EF and ABCSchrift Zwei EF. See this school script web page. In 2016, this ws formally published by Elsner and Flake as ABC Basisschrift. The calligraphic family Elysa EF (2002). Lapidar. Linotype Syntax Lapidar (1995). Syntax Lapidar Serif (2001). Oberon (1992). Done as an OEM for Institut fuer Computersysteme in Zürich. Available from Elsner&Flake as OberonEF. SNB Alphabet (1994). Designed for the Swiss National bank) as an adapted version of Helvetica Condensed. The notes themselves were designed by Joerg Zintmeyer. Syntax, Meier's humanist sans chef d'oeuvre, started in 1954, and is inspired, according to Meier himself, by Tschichold's Sabon. An intermediate version was called Ur-Syntax (1964). Syntax was first released in 1968-1972 by Stempel. The last metal typeface produced by Stempel AG, it was available in just two weights of roman and a single italic design. When the design was digitized in the late 1980s, additional roman weights were added. Meier completely reworked and enlarged Syntax in 2000 and renamed it Syntax Next. The modern Bitstream version of Syntax is called Humanist 531. See also Saxony and S841 Sans on the SoftMaker MegaFont XXL CD, 2002. Compugraphic's identical clone is CG Symphony. Other copies of Syntax include Synthesis, Cintal, and Synchron. URW has its own version. Linotype Syntax (2000), a reworking of his original Syntax, earned Meier a Bukvaraz 2001 award. Derived or related typefaces: Syntax Serif (1999), Syntax-Letter (1992), and Neue Syntax, all by Meier. Links to some of the digital versions of Syntax: Humanist 531 (ParaType), Humanist 531 (Tilde), Humanist 531 (Bitstream), Syntax Series (URW++), Linotype Syntax (Linotype), Saxony Serial (SoftMaker), Syntax Next (Linotype), Linotype Syntax Serif (Linotype), Linotype Syntax Lapidar (Linotype), Linotype Syntax Letter (Linotype), Syntax (Adobe), Linotype Syntax Lapidar Serif (Linotype), Syntax (Linotype). ITC Syndor (1988). Elysa (2002). Gestickte Antiqua (2004). His books include Die Schriftentwicklung (published in 1995 by Syntax Press in Cham, Switzerland). This teaching book contains over sixty of Meier's calligraphic specimens, as well as a historical survey of scripts from ancient Greece to today. One of Meier's specimens, entitled Roman Lapidary 1st Century, was worked into a digital typeface family by Elsner and Flake as Meier Kapitalis (2013). References: Superb analysis of his life and contributions by Roxane Jubert (in French). See also Swiss Typographic Magazine Nr 3: Hans Eduard Meier 1922-2014, by Erich Alb, Cham, Switzerland, 2014 [Erich Alb, who knew Meier quite well, spoke about Meier's life at ATypI 2015 in Sao Paulo]. Linotype link. FontShop link. MyFonts link. Klingspor link. View Hans Eduard Meier's typefaces. View various digital versions of Syntax and Humanist 531.	EXTERNAL LINKS Hans Eduard Meier [Buy fonts] [Designer info] Monotype link Klingspor Museum page MyFonts search Monotype search Fontspring search Google search INTERNAL LINKS Type designers ⦿ Type designers ⦿ Mathematics fonts ⦿ Type design in Switzerland ⦿ School fonts ⦿ Calligraphic typefaces ⦿ Lapidary typefaces ⦿