Vivaldi, The second Latin display typeface designed in Canada – type specimen, Friedrich Peter, 1966

Vivaldi is an elaborate, European-style italic display typeface designed in 1966 by Friedrich Peter – a German artist, calligrapher and teacher who immigrated to Vancouver in 1957.

Peter entered Vivaldi in the International Typeface Design Competition organized by the Visual Graphics Corporation (VGC). His design was one of 12 runners-up, earning a $200 USD prize and a royalty contract. However, one of the conditions of that contract was that the capital letters be made narrower to fit the visual constraints of the VGC Phototypositor. Several additional characters were modified, and three alternate lowercase letters — d, g, and z – were dropped from the released fonts.

In an email to Rod McDonald (dated September 6, 2017), Peter reflected on the aftermath:

“Later I discovered to my surprise one day that the typeface had appeared on the market under the Vivaldi name, issued by a different type foundry, with some changed character designs and insensitive kerning. After talking to Hermann Zapf, whose typefaces had also suffered severe plagiarism, I gave up the idea to pursue intellectual property rights and a royalty contract. It pains me when I see applications of this bastardised version.”

From his home in North Vancouver, Peter has continued to pursue a wide range of creative work, including painting, illustration, calligraphy, and teaching – influencing many young artists and designers in British Columbia and beyond. – Rod McDonald