Optima is a humanist sans-serif typeface designed by Hermann Zapf and released between 1952 and 1955 for the D. Stempel AG foundry, Frankfurt, Germany.
Though classified as a sans-serif, Optima has a subtle swelling at the terminals suggesting a glyphic serif. Optima was inspired by Roman and Italian stonecarving.[1]
Zapf intended Optima to be a typeface that could serve for both body text and titling. To prove its versatility, Zapf set his entire book About Alphabets in the regular weight.[2] Zapf retained an interest in the design, collaborating on variants and expansions into his eighties.