German Designer Peter Schmidt Dies at 87
It's been almost twenty years since Peter left us. The agency had become too big for him, and he was looking for a new challenge. Yet he kept returning to us. Word always spread quickly, “Peter is back. He’s in the meeting room.” Everyone would perk up. Even though he came in quietly, almost unnoticed. But that was his signature: entering a room softly, yet filling it completely with presence.
Whenever he returned, it felt like a silent audience – few words, but powerful ones. He would hold court. And enjoy it. So did we. It was an event for us. The agency doesn’t just carry his name, it also stands for his belief in design. He founded it in 1972. And with his design principles, he was far ahead of his time.
Clear elegance, holistic design, precise and timeless. Meaningful aesthetics that serve a purpose, not just themselves. And not only in fashion for Jil Sander or BOSS, but across all areas of life and everyday products.
His tableware ‘Form 2006’ for Arzberg is still used on our conference tables. A composition of the basic geometric forms: circle and square. A combination of opposites that creates both tension and harmony. Purist, and reduced to the essentials. Setting the table for meetings followed strict rules. Everything is precisely placed and aligned. Peter was a master of staging. For the big stage, but also for the smallest meeting. The traditional porcelain company Arzberg no longer exists, but Peter’s design and his idea endure.
Our work is shaped by his handwriting. So much so that we made it our agency font. It was meant as a birthday surprise. A few months earlier, we had lured him into the office under a pretense. During a workshop, we asked him for handwriting samples. Fully focused and immersed, he wrote words like ‘Valkyrie’, ‘Hamburg’, ‘Drumroll’, or ‘ELEPHANT’ with three different dip pens. We needed every letter of the alphabet in his hand.
But once again, he surprised us. No two letters were the same. Every word was different. Each time new and unexpected. We almost thought he was secretly playing a joke on us. Or perhaps he simply didn’t want to be pinned down. That would’ve been just like him.
Yet the character of his handwriting was unmistakable. It was the versatility. In the many nuances and subtleties. Again, so typical. An unexpectedly long stroke over every lowercase ‘i.’ A surprising flourish on the o’. The details are rich and everywhere. Now his handwriting is our corporate font – on every computer, in every document and presentation that leaves the house. In this way, a small part of Peter’s personality remains part of our identity as an agency and is present everywhere. In the details and nuances. In the quiet things that often go unnoticed.
And in the evening, after the work and the meetings, Peter left the agency in the same way. Quietly. Unnoticed. We were already immersed in other topics and the next project. Only later did we realise that Peter had simply left, without saying goodbye. But the emptiness he left behind lingered in the room for a long time.
Peter Schmidt passed away on July 24, 2025, in Hamburg, at the age of 87.
