Watch: Indra Kupferschmid on boring variable fonts

18 Feb / 2020 / Scanner /

So is variable type boring? The answer is tricky so let Indra Kupferschmid, German typographer and teacher based in Bonn and Saarbrücken, share her insights on this new realm in type design.

Kupferschmid studied visual communication at the Bauhaus-University Weimar and with Fred Smeijers in the Netherlands before founding her own studio mainly working in publication design (print and screen) and typeface development for consumer-product interfaces and electronic devices.

A professor at HBKsaar, University of the Arts Saarbrücken, at the South–West German border to France since 2006, Kupferschmid is a member of the DIN committees on legibility of typefaces and type classification -a long-time research field of hers- and she is interested -among others- in the history of 20th century typefaces -especially sans-serifs such as Akzidenz-Grotesk and Neue Haas-Grotesk/Helvetica-, font rendering and reading on screen, choosing typefaces and the many technological shifts in type production nowadays.

An author (her typographic reference book "Buchstaben kommen selten allein" published by Niggli, was awarded one of the best designed books in Germany and she has co-authored "Helvetica forever" by Lars Müller Publishers) and a scholar, Kupferschmid contributes to several publications and websites on typography and the many challenges of the craft.

Her blog is insightful on the state of type design and a bookmark is highly recommended.

One of her upcoming talks takes place early spring so do check your agenda.

Save the date:

Forgotten Shapes – Talks:
Indra Kupferschmid (@kupfers)
From ›Neue Moderne Grotesk‹ to ›Normal Grotesk‹
Thursday, March 12th
7pm at MZIN, Leipzig pic.twitter.com/uD4NSc4E9w
— Forgotten Shapes (@FoSh_Foundry) January 30, 2020