Joshua Darden

Case Study: Meta Headline

Often called the typeface of the 90s, Erik Spiekermann's FF Meta is one of the most celebrated designs of the digital era. While the fonts have been popularly used at display sizes since they were first available, Spiekermann's original brief (for the Deutsche Bundespost) called for a font optimized for "the detailed requirements of small type on bad paper."

When the time came to revise FF Meta for display use, Spiekermann and frequent collaborator Christian Schwartz hired Joshua Darden to develop the design. Under their direction, Darden developed a series of twelve new faces in widths from Compressed to Normal and weights from Light to Black.

FF Meta Headline features several strategic departures from its text-size forbear. Curved terminals have been minimized, and in some cases disappear, to facilitate ultra-tight tracking in headlines. Quirky forms that aided in legibility at text sizes (such as the high-contrast lowercase 's') have been refined to withstand readers' scrutiny of a magazine headline or billboard slogan.

The original FF Meta Condensed could only get so narrow due to concerns for legibility at small sizes. FF Meta Headline augments the family's versatility with a much narrower Compressed, in addition to an improved Condensed to match the originals.

Released in June 2005, FF Meta Headline is now available from FontShop International.