Erik Spiekermann | Find out how type works

About the Book

After almost three decades as one of the world’s bestselling introductions to designing with type, Stop stealing sheep & Find out how type works continues to educate, entertain, and enlighten design students and type lovers around the globe.
In this fourth edition, Erik Spiekermann brings his type classic fully up-to-date with an all-new chapter on variable typefaces, scores of visual examples on how to communicate with type effectively, and a full selection of new typefaces used and referenced throughout the book.
If you use type – and these days, almost everyone does – Spiekermann’s engaging, commonsense style will help you understand how to look at type, work with type, choose the best typeface for your message, and express yourself more effectively through design. Compact yet rich with anecdotes and visual examples, the handbook’s multilayered design not only makes for a fun, fast read but also invites exploration, ensuring you learn something new every time you open it up.

About the Author

Erik Spiekermann (*1947 is an information architect and type designer (FF Meta, FF Meta Serif, ITC Officina, FF Info, FF Unit, FF Unit Slab, FF Real, LoType, Berliner Grotesk, et al., and many corporate typefaces for The Economist, Cisco, Bosch, Deutsche Bahn, Heidelberg Printing, Mozilla, etc.), and author of numerous books and articles on type & typography.
In 1979 he started MetaDesign, Germany’s largest design studio, and in 1989 FontShop, the first independent distributor of electronic fonts. Erik’s many awards and medals would be too boring to list.
Apart from being on the board of Edenspiekermann, he now runs p98a.berlin, an experimental letterpress workshop in Berlin whose motto is “Hacking Gutenberg.” Spiekermann lives and works in Berlin, London and San Francisco. He owns 15 bicycles and has 290,000 followers on Twitter.

About the production and materials

Layout and typesetting: Erik Spiekermann & Ferdinand Ulrich
Type specimens and photographs: Erik Spiekermann, Ferdinand Ulrich, Norman Posselt, Max Zerrahn, Julie Heumüller, Thomas Nagel
Picture Research: Susanna Dulkinys, Norman Posselt, Max Zerrahn
Production Management: Daniel Klotz

Illustrations by Erik Spiekermann
Paper: Fedrigoni Arena White Smooth fsc

Printed in Italy
Grafiche Antiga, Crocetta del Montello, Italy
© 2022 Erik Spiekermann, p98a.berlin
ISBN 978-3-949164-03-3

 Photos by © Norman Posselt