In addition to the obvious design elements of the new logo and the overall look and feel of documents, we gave considerable thought to the selection of the font the Pension and Health Fund would use. We wanted something that would be easy to read, would work well in paper and digital media, and which would have a modern, clean feel with a more personal presence than some of the typical business-related font selections.
Rather than go with an obvious choice like Helvetica or Arial, we selected Herman Zapf’s Optima typeface family. Zapf, a type-design legend, was born in Nazi-era Germany. His parents were trade unionists who lost their jobs when Hitler came to power. Denied access to the university system because of his opposition to the Nazis, Zapf became fascinated with typography after a family friend gave him a book on typography. He designed some of the most influential fonts of the 20th and 21st century and established one of the very first digital type foundries after he emigrated to the United States.