Dieter Hofrichter was born in Mannheim, Germany. His artistic education started at the Rödel Art School where his education was focused on calligraphy and typography under the type designer Herbert Post. Here he also took classes in applied and decorative arts under Professor Charles Crodel. Afterwards he studied graphic design at the Academy of Fine Arts in Nuremberg with Professor Karl Hans Walter.

In 1988 Dieter Hofrichter came in contact with the famous type creator Günter Gerhard Lange who introduced him to the secrets of functional type. This was the beginning of a long relationship in a fruitful collaboration with many highly productive years. Among the types which Dieter Hofrichter collaborated on are: Futura BQ, Berthold Garamond, Whittingham, Akzidenz-Grotesk, Imago and many others.