Optima is a sans-serif typeface created by German type designer Hermann Zapf, who designed Palatino and Zapfino.
In 1950, while visiting the Santa Croce church in Florence, Zapf sketched some letters from grave plates cut in 1530. Having no other paper with him, he did the sketches on two 1000 lire bank notes.
By 1952, after careful legibility testing, the first drawings were finished, and in 1958, after further refinements, Optima was finally produced in matrices for the Linotype typesetting machines. The type was cut by the famous punchcutter August Rosenberger at the D. Stempel AG typefoundry in Frankfurt.
Zapf felt Optima was compromised aesthetically to accommodate the requirements of lead casting. So in 2002, he collaborated with Akira Kobayashi to redesign and improve Optima digitally into Optima nova. Whereas Optima’s Italic is a mere oblique, Optima nova exhibits a true Italic weight. The new version also includes a Condensed and a Titling weight with extraordinary capital ligatures.
Optima has inspired a number of imitators and clones, including: Zapf Humanist, Optane, Opulent, CG Omega, and Eterna.
Optima is the typeface used on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall.
What makes Optima exceptional is the way it combines modernist and classical sensibilities. Optima looks modern, yet it exhibits classically roman proportions and character. Though it lacks serifs, its tapering stems seem to imply them. It feels more humane than most san-serifs.
Zapf designed its letterforms in the proportions of the Golden Ratio.
