Hermann Zapf, master type designer, calligrapher, and book designer passed away a little over a week ago at the age of 96. Zapf has been an inspiration to several generations of designers. Sumner Stone is one of them. He worked with Zapf at Hallmark Cards, and counts Zapf as an important influence on his own letter-making career. Sumner will give an illustrated eulogy. (Photograph by Juergen Roehrscheid, courtesy Fontshop.)
Sumner Stone is a type designer, type founder, author, and teacher. From 1984–1989 he was Director of Typography for Adobe Systems where he conceived and implemented Adobe’s typographic program including the Adobe Originals. In 1990 he founded Stone Type Foundry Inc., now located in Rumsey, California. The Foundry designs and produces new typefaces and creates custom designs for a diverse range of clients including Hallmark Cards, Stanford University, The San Francisco Public Library, Daedalus: Journal of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, The Greenwood Press, Arion Press, and Full Belly Farm. His type designs include the popular ITC Stone Sans and the prize-winning ITC Bodoni. His most recent type designs are Davanti, Sator, and Popvlvs.