MetaDesign
Encyclopedia
MetaDesign is an influential global design consultancy founded by Erik Spiekermann
, Uli Mayer-Johanssen and Hans Ch. Krüger. The business has offices in Berlin
, Beijing
, Hamburg
, Düsseldorf
, Zurich
and San Francisco and more than 330 employees.
overlooking the Berlin Wall
at Potsdamer Platz and was serendipitously in the right place, with the right people at the right time to take full advantage of the reunification of Germany
and the City of Berlin in particular. Today the company resides in a 1920s landmark industrial building in Berlin-Charlottenburg. MetaDesign's principal reputation was gleaned through engagements for the Berlin Transit System
(BVG) in a project that became a figurehead for the reunification of the city. Further landmark engagements followed for Volkswagen
, Audi
, Düsseldorf Airport Authority
and Springer Verlag
, with MetaDesign providing corporate identity solutions for the first wave of internet adopters. The Meta typeface, also designed by Spiekermann, originally for the German Bundespos
t, was by this time also becoming ubiquitous.
) and Terry Irwin (Landor Associates
), and then in 1995 the London office around Tim Fendley (now Founder of Applied Information Group), and Robin Richmond (now founder Immersive Projects), formerly Union Design. Meta's San Francisco office grew a reputation for client relationships with Silicon Valley
technology companies and developed innovative interactive teaching media including ViZability, IDEO's first web site, publishing systems for Ernst & Young
and McGraw Hill and specialist event publicity for Fuse 98. The MetaDesign London office specialized in branding for the digital arena working for clients including The Economist Group
, Ferrari
, and European identities for Lexus and Škoda Auto
. The company also developed the Bristol Legible City initiative for The City of Bristol. In 1998 the San Francisco office brought in Stan Leopard as principal and chairman. In 1999, the London office left the group and joined Icon Medialab, who then merged with Michiel Mol's Lost Boys in 2002. In 2001, Lost Boys had also purchased the majority of the shares of MetaDesign in Berlin. By 2001 founder Spiekermann had left to run his own projects forming the United Designers Network in 2002-3 which formerly became rebranded as Spiekermann Associates in 2007. MetaDesign Suisse was founded in Zurich, Switzerland, in 2000, with partners Dr. Alexander Haldemann and Bruno Schmidt.
, branding
and corporate identity
.
Erik Spiekermann
Erik Spiekermann is a German typographer and designer. He is a professor at the University of the Arts Bremen....
, Uli Mayer-Johanssen and Hans Ch. Krüger. The business has offices in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
, Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
, Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf is the capital city of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and centre of the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region.Düsseldorf is an important international business and financial centre and renowned for its fashion and trade fairs. Located centrally within the European Megalopolis, the...
, Zurich
Zürich
Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich...
and San Francisco and more than 330 employees.
Berlin, 1979 and 1990
Spiekermann founded the company in 1979, and went through two iterations of the business before the most successful period when he partnered up with Hans C. Krueger, a businessman with a background in banking, and Uli Mayer-Johanssen, a graphic designer and stage designer in 1990. Initially the company had offices in BerlinBerlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
overlooking the Berlin Wall
Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall was a barrier constructed by the German Democratic Republic starting on 13 August 1961, that completely cut off West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin...
at Potsdamer Platz and was serendipitously in the right place, with the right people at the right time to take full advantage of the reunification of Germany
German reunification
German reunification was the process in 1990 in which the German Democratic Republic joined the Federal Republic of Germany , and when Berlin reunited into a single city, as provided by its then Grundgesetz constitution Article 23. The start of this process is commonly referred by Germans as die...
and the City of Berlin in particular. Today the company resides in a 1920s landmark industrial building in Berlin-Charlottenburg. MetaDesign's principal reputation was gleaned through engagements for the Berlin Transit System
Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe
The is the main public transport company of Berlin, the capital city of Germany. It manages the city's U-Bahn underground railway, tram, bus and ferry networks, but not the S-Bahn urban rail system....
(BVG) in a project that became a figurehead for the reunification of the city. Further landmark engagements followed for Volkswagen
Volkswagen
Volkswagen is a German automobile manufacturer and is the original and biggest-selling marque of the Volkswagen Group, which now also owns the Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, SEAT, and Škoda marques and the truck manufacturer Scania.Volkswagen means "people's car" in German, where it is...
, Audi
Audi
Audi AG is a German automobile manufacturer, from supermini to crossover SUVs in various body styles and price ranges that are marketed under the Audi brand , positioned as the premium brand within the Volkswagen Group....
, Düsseldorf Airport Authority
Düsseldorf International Airport
Düsseldorf International Airport is the largest airport in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, and the third largest airport in Germany, handling 18.99 million passengers in 2010....
and Springer Verlag
Springer Science+Business Media
- Selected publications :* Encyclopaedia of Mathematics* Ergebnisse der Mathematik und ihrer Grenzgebiete * Graduate Texts in Mathematics * Grothendieck's Séminaire de géométrie algébrique...
, with MetaDesign providing corporate identity solutions for the first wave of internet adopters. The Meta typeface, also designed by Spiekermann, originally for the German Bundespos
Deutsche Bundespost
The Deutsche Bundespost was created in 1947 as a successor to the Reichspost . Between 1947 and 1950 the enterprise was called Deutsche Post...
t, was by this time also becoming ubiquitous.
San Francisco, 1992, London, 1995 and Zurich 2000
In 1992, MetaDesign established the San Francisco office, around Bill Hill (IDEOIDEO
IDEO is an international design and innovation consultancy founded in Palo Alto, California, United States with other locations in San Francisco, Chicago, New York, Boston, London, Munich, Shanghai, and Singapore, as well as Mumbai, Seoul, and Tokyo. The company helps design products, services,...
) and Terry Irwin (Landor Associates
Landor Associates
Landor Associates is a San Francisco-based brand and creative design consultancy. Founded by Walter Landor and his wife Josephine in 1941, Landor pioneered many of the research, design and consulting methodologies that are now standard in the branding industry.-Operations:Landor offers brand...
), and then in 1995 the London office around Tim Fendley (now Founder of Applied Information Group), and Robin Richmond (now founder Immersive Projects), formerly Union Design. Meta's San Francisco office grew a reputation for client relationships with Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley is a term which refers to the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area in Northern California in the United States. The region is home to many of the world's largest technology corporations...
technology companies and developed innovative interactive teaching media including ViZability, IDEO's first web site, publishing systems for Ernst & Young
Ernst & Young
Ernst & Young is one of the largest professional services networks in the world and one of the "Big Four" accountancy firms, along with Deloitte, KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers ....
and McGraw Hill and specialist event publicity for Fuse 98. The MetaDesign London office specialized in branding for the digital arena working for clients including The Economist Group
The Economist Group
The Economist Group is a leading source of analysis on international business and world affairs, delivering information through a range of formats, from newspaper and magazines to conferences and electronic services...
, Ferrari
Ferrari
Ferrari S.p.A. is an Italian sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari in 1929, as Scuderia Ferrari, the company sponsored drivers and manufactured race cars before moving into production of street-legal vehicles as Ferrari S.p.A. in 1947...
, and European identities for Lexus and Škoda Auto
Škoda Auto
Škoda Auto , more commonly known as Škoda, is an automobile manufacturer based in the Czech Republic. Škoda became a wholly owned subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group in 2000, positioned as the entry brand to the group...
. The company also developed the Bristol Legible City initiative for The City of Bristol. In 1998 the San Francisco office brought in Stan Leopard as principal and chairman. In 1999, the London office left the group and joined Icon Medialab, who then merged with Michiel Mol's Lost Boys in 2002. In 2001, Lost Boys had also purchased the majority of the shares of MetaDesign in Berlin. By 2001 founder Spiekermann had left to run his own projects forming the United Designers Network in 2002-3 which formerly became rebranded as Spiekermann Associates in 2007. MetaDesign Suisse was founded in Zurich, Switzerland, in 2000, with partners Dr. Alexander Haldemann and Bruno Schmidt.
Beijing, Düsseldorf and Hamburg, 2008
The MetaDesign AG with co-founder Uli Mayer-Johanssen as managing director and CDO has opened offices in Beijing, Düsseldorf and Hamburg in 2008 and is now employing more than 330 people. It is now the third largest European design agency for corporate designCorporate design
A corporate design is the official graphical design of the logo and name of a company or institution used on letterheads, envelopes, forms, folders, brochures, etc...
, branding
Brand management
Brand management is the application of marketing techniques to a specific product, product line, or brand.The discipline of brand management was started at Procter & Gamble as a result of a famous memo by Neil H...
and corporate identity
Corporate identity
In Corporate Communications, a corporate identity is the "persona" of a corporation which is designed to accord with and facilitate the attainment of business objectives...
.