Hermann Zapf est né le 8 novembre 1918 à Nuremberg, Bavière, Allemagne. Il était marié à Gudrun Zapf-von Hesse. Il est mort le 4 juin 2015 en Allemagne.
His best-known fonts include Palatino, Optima, Melior, and Zapfino. Zapf Dingbats is a collection of symbols that became popular when it was built into an Apple laser printer in the 1980s.