For some excellent musings on typography and design from the very wonderful Erik Spiekermann, you simply must watch this great video, written by Mike Croft, featuring Erik Spiekermann; produced by Alphabeat & Parson Research:
A prolific designer, Erik has been responsible for some of the best typeface designs of the last 20 years, was the co-founder of FontShop and has designed faces for Nokia and The Economist.
We would also heartily recommend his seminal book, Stop Stealing Sheep
Baaa-rilliant!