What is good design?

"I call good art that by which the human mind increases in
wisdom; and that which, thought out by a keen mind and put in practice
by a skillful hand, will tend to the glory of God and the service of
man." —Wolfgang Fugger (1515-1568)

Fugger, a printer and calligrapher in Nuremberg, published an important handwriting manual in 1553, Ein nützlich und wolgegrundt Formular manncherley schöner schriefften. Nürnberg, 1553. [A practical and wellgrounded formulary for divers fair hands.] It was translated by Frederick Plaat, with a foreword by Harry Carter, reproduced in facsimile from the edition of 1597/1605, London/New York: Oxford University Press, 1960. Click here to see some samples of this type of script.

Noris Script™, a modern typeface created by Hermann Zapf, is based in part on the work of Fugger.  Drawn by master German calligrapher Hermann Zapf in the 1970s, Noris Script captures the irregularities of pen strokes. The idea behind Noris Script was to bring the spontaneity of a quick handwritten script using a broad edged pen into the modern typesetting environment. Noris is the Latin name of Nuremberg, Hermann Zapf’s native town. Nuremberg had a great tradition of writing masters like Johann Neudörffer (1497–1563), Wolfgang Fugger (1515–1568), and Rudolf Koch (1876–1934). Noris was first released for the Linofilm system in 1976. The typeface belongs to the Noris Script™ Font Family which is part of the Linotype Originals.