05/2010
New studio: We have moved!
Everybody's moving, so we do: As of May 1st we have moved from Berlin Mitte to Kreuzberg. Our new (and slightly bigger) studio is now located at gorgeous Paul-Lincke-Ufer 44a (2nd backyard, door B).
03/2010
Schlesische Geschichtsblätter
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The Verein für Geschichte Schlesiens ("Association for Silesian History"), founded in Breslau (now Wrocław) in 1846, was among the most important German associations for the study of history and antiquity in the period before World War II. Its scientific authority was recognised well beyond the bounds of its discipline; nevertheless, it had to discontinue its work at the end of the war. The association was refounded in 1971, but it still took several decades until the "Schlesische Geschichtsblätter" ("Journal of Silesian History"), the association's own important magazine for questions of regional history, was published once again in 2010.
The basic concept for the new design of the republished magazine was to retain the features influenced by the typesetting limitations and the typographic Zeitgeist of the earlier period, and to enrich these with details offered by today's digital type design. We drew a new typeface for the title based on old covers, and also created a new redrawing of the historical seal (with Ole Häntzschel), from which only an old stamp imprint remained. For the same reasons, we chose to do without the register accuracy which is standard today (this was made possible by the opacity of the excellent "Fly"-Paper) and we set the paragraphs, like the footnotes, with the harmonious distances common to the period.
The footnotes, set in a block without a line break, as they sometimes appeared in the original issues from 1908–1943, are are good example of an aesthetically pleasing and often space-saving composition technique which has now almost completely disappeared because automated typesetting programs have replaced manual composition in this form.
Client: Verein für Geschichte Schlesiens e.V., Würzburg, Germany
01/2010
Sometree — 10/4
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A sampler on the Japanese label ezes code for the anniversary of the band sometree, formerly from Hanover and now based in Berlin, which brings together songs from the last ten years from the four musicians ("10/4"). Pressed at the longstanding Hammerpress (Kansas, USA). The specially designed cardboard CD case also includes a DVD with live videos. A matching poster was also produced.
The cover motif stacks up a mountain of jagged waves that fights against drowning in the massive black surface. Just as sometree sounded almost ten years ago, the first time we held one of their albums in our hands...
12/2009
Exhibition “In guter Verfassung”
There are undoubtedly easier topics for an exhibition than bringing the key elements of the liberal-democratic constitutional order closer to high school pupils: that, however, was the challenge of a competition which was decided in our favour. Together with TheGreenEyl (interaction design) and Björn Meier (exhibition architecture), we created a travelling exhibition which will be visiting the schools of Saxony from 2009 to 2015. With the help of interactive exhibition elements, it introduces pupils to this complex topic. The weightiness of the material is lightened by detailed illustrations from Jörg Hülsmann and Kheira Linder. Cartographic elements were provided by Ole Häntzschel. The text materials, specially tailored for young people, was developed by Ariane Hendrich and Andrea Schaufel.
11/2009
Seidenspinner Anthology
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The association of pupil writers supported a series of writing workshops in Brandenburg, in which children and young people could work with literature in varied ways. The latest anthology from the association comes from the workshop in Bernau. Published by Ulrike Erdmann and Antje Samoray, it contains 72 pages of colourful short stories from young authors aged ten to fourteen.
The book was illustrated by illustrators from the class of Prof. Hans-Jörg Kotulla at the Potsdam University of Applied Sciences. It includes illustrations from Felix Barthel, Athur Buliz, Martin Dziallas, Yeni Harkányi, Lucas Hasselmann, Marcel Kläber, Ines Kramaric, Susana MacLoughlin, Ksenia Mozhayskaya, Kathlen Pieritz, Josephin Sachs, Jasmin Wirthgen and Ulrike Zöllner. The little book was typeset in "North" (Lazydogs) from the Danish typographist and type designer Trine Rask.
09/2009
Elyjah — Planet, Planet
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After a split-7" release on Siluh, the debut album “Planet, Planet” (Klimbim Records/Cargo) put the spotlight firmly on the Berliner lads from Elyjah. For us it was clear: this CD is fantastic. Both playful and atmospheric, it leaves a lasting impression. To ensure that that message was conveyed to the customer, we fired pellets at all two thousand covers. They circle like planets around a fixed point. Returning to a time in which men had morals in their hearts and cloth handkerchiefs in their trouser pockets, we put the band in Herr von Eden suits (styling: Leena Zimmermann, production: Kieran Joel) and then printed the large-format photos shot by Norman Konrad by hand.
Typographically, we continued this theme with two typefaces from that time period: Memphis, from Emil Rudolph Weiß (1929) and the wonderful Wieynck Gotisch from Heinrich Wieynck (1926) were put into use on an old Heidelberg printing machine. The “shooting” didn't stop there. In the video for the single “Wired Song” (director: Hagen Decker, camera: Cüneyt Kaya), exploding light bulbs dance around the band like shooting stars.
client: Klimbim Records
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On “The Sparrow And The Crow” (Grönland), his second album to be released in Europe, the US singer-songwriter William Fitzsimmons handles the theme of his recent divorce. We took the idea of a fight between sparrow and crow (in which they would both be sure to lose a few feathers) literally, and created a typographic photogram.out of numerous sparrow and crow feathers.
Client: Grönland Records/SSC Group
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Mini festival poster for three bands of the Berlin based management agency Skrotzki&Kempf: Hundreds, A Golden Pony Boy and The Band On The Edge Of Forever.
Client: Skrotzki&Kempf, Berlin
06/2009
Landscape Izuma — Kolorit Remix
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The 2007 debut album "Kolorit" from one-man project Landscape Izuma was a great success for the Austrian label Siluh Records. The resulting remix colloborations (with Alec Empire and B.Fleischmann, among others) now find their rightful as part of a special edition 12" record with accompanying CD.
We took the name "Kolorit" quite literally and created a simple die-cut cardboard case. The record and CD were held in place only by coloured elastic bands, but were still well protected. The minimalism of the tracks was complemented by plain typography and the use of only black ink.
Client: Siluh Records
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