As far back as 1972, Walter Florenz Brendel had the idea of an electronic and digital system for typeface plotting and cutting, as well as automatic modification and reproduction. Before 1972, when type users demanded their type color to be "a little lighter or little darker", Brendel, as the owner of over 28 type shops across Europe employing about six hundred people, could not meet their demands with the existing typefaces. Consequently Brendel developed a method to satisfy their needs. Brendel was the originator of the concept, and contributor and partner in the development, of IKARUS by Peter Karow. He cut typefaces based on mathematical increments that would allow type weights to be graduated in equal steps. Brendel was an accomplished professional type designer. Lingwood, Montreal, Volkswagen, Derringer, and Casablanca and many more were his creations. He was a design collaborator of Congress, Litera, Worchester and others. The fonts of Brendel Type Studio are now available as the TypeShop Collection.