Elsner+Flake

Elsner+Flake is a German type-foundry and type-consulting brand associated with the production, digitization, licensing, and distribution of digital typefaces. The business was founded in 1986 by Veronika Elsner and Günther Flake, following the founders’ earlier freelance work in type design, typography, and the digitization of fonts and logos. Its early identity was EF Designstudios; the company later adopted the name Elsner+Flake Type Consulting GmbH, while Elsner+Flake became the trademark used for its type-related activities. The company is currently based in Hamburg. Its principal area of activity is digital typography rather than consumer packaged goods or general software. The brand’s collection contains more than 2,500 digital fonts, representing the central product asset of the business. These typefaces are made available in several historical and contemporary font formats, including Mac PostScript, PC PostScript, PC TrueType, and OpenType. The range reflects the transition from platform-specific desktop-publishing formats to more broadly compatible digital-font standards. Elsner+Flake’s work sits at the intersection of type design, font engineering, typography, and intellectual-property licensing. Its offering is relevant to graphic designers, publishers, branding agencies, advertising studios, digital designers, and other professional users who require fonts for identity systems, editorial work, display typography, or electronic publication. The available reference material does not document a retail network, a parent corporation, public listing, major acquisitions, or a separate consumer-facing product portfolio. The brand is therefore best understood as a specialist type-foundry identity rather than a mass-market technology brand. The company’s distinguishing characteristic is the breadth of its digital type library combined with its historical connection to professional type consulting and font digitization. Although detailed information about individual type families, licensing arrangements, current leadership, and recent commercial developments is not established in the supplied sources, Elsner+Flake’s documented history places it among Germany’s specialist digital-type businesses. Its continued use as a trademark and its association with a substantial font collection indicate an ongoing presence in the type and typography sector.

Elsner+Flake originated in Germany’s professional type-design and typography environment. Veronika Elsner and Günther Flake founded the business in 1986 after spending approximately a decade working independently in type design, typography, and the digitization of fonts and logos. This prior freelance experience provided the foundation for a company centered on converting typographic knowledge and design work into usable digital type products. The enterprise was initially known as EF Designstudios. Its activities developed around type consulting and the creation or digitization of fonts, placing it within the broader transformation of typography caused by desktop publishing and digital production. During this period, fonts increasingly needed to be delivered in technical formats compatible with different computer platforms and publishing environments. Elsner+Flake’s subsequent collection of Mac PostScript, PC PostScript, PC TrueType, and OpenType fonts reflects that technological progression. The company later adopted the corporate name Elsner+Flake Type Consulting GmbH. The Elsner+Flake name continued to function as a trademark associated with the foundry and its type collection. Rather than being presented as a broad software publisher, the business is documented as a focused type-foundry and consulting operation, with its commercial identity built around font design, font digitization, typography, and licensing. Over time, the collection grew to more than 2,500 digital fonts. This library is the principal documented expression of the brand and provides fonts for professional design and publishing uses. The range of supported formats indicates service to users across multiple generations of digital typography systems, from platform-specific PostScript and TrueType environments to OpenType workflows. Elsner+Flake is currently based in Hamburg, Germany. The available reference material does not provide a detailed account of later ownership, executive appointments, individual font-family launches, financial performance, acquisitions, campaigns, or controversies. Consequently, the documented history is strongest on the company’s origins, name changes, specialist scope, and digital-font collection. Within those limits, Elsner+Flake can be characterized as an established German specialist brand in type design and digital typography.

• 1986

  Elsner+Flake founded

  [1]Elsner+Flakeen.wikipedia.org

  Veronika Elsner and Günther Flake founded the business after earlier freelance work in type design, typography, and the digitization of fonts and logos.

• Business renamed Elsner+Flake Type Consulting GmbH

  [1]Elsner+Flakeen.wikipedia.org

  The enterprise moved from its earlier EF Designstudios identity to the corporate name Elsner+Flake Type Consulting GmbH.

• Digital-font collection expanded beyond 2,500 fonts

  [1]Elsner+Flakeen.wikipedia.org

  The company became associated with a collection of more than 2,500 digital fonts distributed in several desktop and OpenType formats.

• Headquarters established in Hamburg

  [1]Elsner+Flakeen.wikipedia.org

  The company is documented as currently based in Hamburg, Germany.

A specialist German type-foundry and typography consultancy focused on digital fonts, font digitization, and professional typographic use.

• Digital typefaces

  Digital font collection

  Elsner+Flake’s principal documented offering is a collection of more than 2,500 digital fonts. The library represents the brand’s type-foundry activity and is intended for professional typography, graphic design, publishing, branding, and related visual-communication work. The supplied reference does not identify individual type families or provide a complete catalogue, but it establishes the collection as the company’s central product asset.

• Font format

  Mac PostScript fonts

  Mac PostScript versions form part of the company’s documented digital-font offering. This format was designed for use in Macintosh-based professional publishing and design workflows and illustrates Elsner+Flake’s support for established desktop-typography environments.

• Font format

  PC PostScript fonts

  PC PostScript fonts are another documented format in the Elsner+Flake collection. Their inclusion indicates that the foundry distributed typefaces for professional Windows and PC-oriented publishing systems as well as Macintosh workflows.

• Font format

  PC TrueType fonts

  The collection also includes PC TrueType fonts, supporting a widely used digital-font standard for personal-computer applications. These fonts extend the technical reach of the type library beyond PostScript-based production environments.

• Font format

  Plain OpenType fonts

  Plain OpenType fonts are included among the formats associated with Elsner+Flake. OpenType provides a more broadly compatible platform for contemporary digital typography and helps connect the company’s established type collection with newer design and publishing workflows.

1. 1Elsner+Flakeen.wikipedia.org