---
title: "FF Meta (1991) — Erik Spiekermann"
description: "FF Meta was designed by Erik Spiekermann in 1991. What it signals, where you have seen it."
url: https://atoneplace.net/font/meta/
site: "At One Place"
---

# FF Meta

**FF Meta: Erik Spiekermann, 1991**

Sans-serif · The 1990s doing corporate identity properly. Warm, readable, slightly quirky.

Commissioned by the Deutsche Bundespost, then rejected as too different from Helvetica, then released independently and used everywhere. It has been called the Helvetica of the nineties, which Spiekermann has said he takes as an insult and a compliment simultaneously.

## The facts

- **Designed by:** Erik Spiekermann
- **Released:** 1991
- **Classification:** Sans-serif
- **What it signals now:** The 1990s doing corporate identity properly. Warm, readable, slightly quirky.

## Where you have seen it

- The German post office, originally
- Mozilla
- The Economist for a time

## Other typefaces from the 1990s

| Typeface | Year | Designer | What it signals |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Comic Sans | 1994 | Vincent Connare | A hospital notice, a village hall poster, or a joke about typography. |
| Verdana | 1996 | Matthew Carter | A website designed between 1998 and 2008. |
| Georgia | 1996 | Matthew Carter | A blog, a newspaper website, or long-form reading on screen. |

> This page describes the typeface rather than showing it. Displaying a specimen requires a licensed font file and almost none of these may be redistributed, so the descriptions name the letters to look at instead.

## Common questions

### Who designed FF Meta?

Erik Spiekermann, in 1991.

### What is FF Meta used for?

The 1990s doing corporate identity properly. Warm, readable, slightly quirky. You will have seen it on The German post office, originally, Mozilla, The Economist for a time.

## Related pages

- [Typefaces from the 1990s](https://atoneplace.net/font/decade/1990s/)
- [Akzidenz-Grotesk](https://atoneplace.net/font/akzidenz-grotesk/)
- [Franklin Gothic](https://atoneplace.net/font/franklin-gothic/)
- [Johnston](https://atoneplace.net/font/johnston/)
- [Futura](https://atoneplace.net/font/futura/)
- [Gill Sans](https://atoneplace.net/font/gill-sans/)
- [Helvetica](https://atoneplace.net/font/helvetica/)
- [Univers](https://atoneplace.net/font/univers/)
- [Optima](https://atoneplace.net/font/optima/)

## Sources

- Official vendor product documentation — At One Place (/about/)