
FONTPLAY "HALL OF FAME" FONT DESIGNER
And Designer of the Month for July 2002
Happy Birthday to
MANFRED KLEIN
THE CRITERIA FOR THE HALL OF FAME IS HAVING MADE LOTS OF
NICE FREE QUALITY FONTS WITH FULL CHARACTER SETS.
In my opinion, Manfred is the coolest thing to hit the free font
scene since The L'ab. I have never seen anyone release so many
fonts so fast. Not to mention so many usable fonts. Many free
fonts are "display" category, but Many of Manfred's are very
usable and delightful text faces (with full character sets)
“Gäbe es einen Font-Oscar, würde Manfred
die meisten Trophäen mit nach
Hause nehmen; u.a. in den Kategorien Vielseitigkeit, Humor, Qualität und
Quantität. Aber wahrscheinlich erschiene er gar nicht bei der Verleihung,
weil er mit neuen Fonts beschäftigt wäre... Manfred, Du bist phänomenal!
He's truly a phenomenon, and I hope he'll never run out of ideas”
“There must be more than one Manfred Klein. Perhaps several.
How could one man produce so many wonderfully original - and
usable - typefaces? These are the kind of fonts that inspire you
to DO something!” - Peter Ramsey
“What an amazing man! To think that he releases at least one new
font a day astounds me. He releases them so fast that I haven’t
been able to keep up in finding a use for them all. All the fonts are well
crafted and the dingbats show Manfred’s sense of humour.” - Amulet
I wish there was some way the font community could give Manfred
a gift as wonderful as the many he has given us - there are fonts
and then there are fonts...Manfred has created such body of truly
useful fonts that are a must-have for all font users/admirers.
Thanks and Happy Birthday, Manfred! - John Thomas
“I'm awestruck by the variety of his large
collection of fonts.
a simple "Thank You" just doesn't seem fitting.” - Laura O
“Manfred is so prolific at font creating that he can actually make
fonts faster than I can download them!” :) - Frogii
“I have been constantly amazed at the wonderful amount of fonts
added almost daily to his site at Typoasis. But it wasn't until
I started to put together this archive that I fully appreciated
the level of professionalism and artistic talent Manfred has!
Each of his fonts I used carries a bit of his creative spark.
Thank you and Happy Birthday, MK... Blessings” - Zillah
I love using Manfred's fonts because
they never present any rude
surprises. Not only are all the fonts clean, expertly crafted, and
always display wonderfully, but there is always a beautiful selection to
match any mood or occasion. I doff my Stetson to Manfred and to all
those like him who have so freely shared the fruits of their talent and
labor with us, enabling us to present our own small art creations with a
zesty type, without which the art would be barren of nuance and effect.
Thanks, Manfred. I really appreciate it. - Rowdy
“When I was a little boy (a teenager in
fact...) I used to take the francs I
earned working at a Rennes' factory and go to a local art accessories
supplier to find my American dream - the sheets of rub-off (Letraset)
letters I needed in one of those bargain boxes at the foot of the cash
register and their glamorous stars.
The little boy is older - just a bit older. The shop had been closed a long
time ago but there's that 70 years old boy who is here tonight in
[Somewhere in this World ;-) ] with you, wonderful people from a.b.f,
still making the dream come true (directly to
my desk ;-).
Thank you Meister Klein.” - Julien Marie
"I have really fond memories of Manfred's earliest works, some stuff
he did for Apply, Alphabets, and Fontshop. That was the early- to mid-
1990s, when type was still making the transition from photolettering and
punches onto this new digital platform. Every old type and its grandfather
were being scanned and digitized in all the swift intensity of serial killers, as
if time were running out on us. Business concepts were being built around
computer letters, territories were being
marked, borders drawn... and into
all this comes the work of Manfred Klein, like a breath of lake breeze to
make light of everything. His Quill script and its hilarious dingbats were
among the first "deviate" shockers in type originals. His Birds and
Witches
dingbats will in my mind always be the very first "funnybats" ever made.
Also I shouldn't forget to credit him with the very first digitization I
have
ever seen of Gutenberg's type. There's been
many attempts at it after
that, but none had that same first-time effect on me.
I'm having a hard time believing that the man's turning seventy now. I
can't help but feel a little cheated. I've only known of him for less than
8 or 9 years. I've always thought of him as a star, so imagine if I knew
him in his thirties, fourties, or fifties. Still, I was lucky enough to
learn
of him, learn from him, even communicate
with him... all that makes
me feel less cheated, and somehow much more life-wise. My one-liner
about Manfred, if I were ever asked to
compose one, would be this:
The Mark Twain of type is a German called Manfred Klein."
Apostrophe
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