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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

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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.

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Philip Emde is an artist. We designed and produced the reproductions of three of his sketchbooks named "Philip Emde hat mein Leben zerstört" ("Philip Emde ruined my life"). That’s a description that does little justice to their content, however, as the quality far exceeds mere sketches. It would be better to say an “art book”, and the standard of production was appropriately high.

Client: Philip Emde

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The “Wiener Slawistischer Almanach” (“The Vienna Slavic Studies Almanac”), a literature and linguistics periodical, has been published twice yearly since 1978 and is complemented by themed special editions. We designed the themed edition “Der dementierte Gegenstand” (“The denied object”), edited by Anke Hennig and Georg Witte, which examines the reception of materiality in the Russian avant-garde. The focus of our work on the issue was the book’s complex, multilingual composition, requiring suitable, language-specific typeface settings.

Client: Freie Universität Berlin, Collaborative Research Centre 626

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The master-class students a Bremen’s University of the Arts present their graduation works each year in an exhibition. This year we were asked to design the accompanying catalogue, which should serve both as an individual catalogue for each artist and as a collective catalogue to the exhibition as a whole. Light typography in a reserved design template brings the works of the graduates into the foreground. A band sealed with wax and stamped with the logo of the exhibition holds the individual catalogues together.

Client: Hochschule für Künste Bremen

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In 2005, creative director Götz Offergeld decided that a new magazine was called for. Somewhat reminiscent of the old “Twen”, with a lot of black and white, large format and raw paper for high fashion themes. Together with Floor 5 we developed a strict design template and a very formal typography, choosing Smeijers “Arnhem” for the body text and modifying a narrow sans serif for the headlines. The result was “Liebling”, which created much excitement in the magazine market in 2006 – and not only in Berlin. We also ensured the careful production of the magazine, printed in Berliner, or midi, format, which comes without a central fold and therefore was complied in layers by hand.

with Floor 5
Layout (editions 3 and 4) with Jörg Walter (Groupe Dejour)

Client: Liebling Verlag

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For the publishing house “From Here To Fame Publishing”, first established in Cologne and now based in Berlin under the guidance of Akim Walta, we designed a series of projects for Martha Cooper, who has been charting the rise of hip hop culture for several decades, and who is especially well-known in Germany for her book “Subway Art”, published in 1984 with Heny Chalfant.

We designed a Carhartt edition of her portfolio, numbered and limited to 500 copies, to promote her 2004 book “Hip Hop Files” at the “Bread&Butter”. Then, in 2005, “From Here To Fame” published “Street Play”, an illustrated book designed by us, featuring kids playing in late-70s New York who, a few years later, would become the very first hip hop protagonists.

Client: From Here To Fame Publishing

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The dictionary presents an extensive compilation of dialect terms from the Erzgebirge, collected by the dialect researcher Alfred Süß. For us and for the author, the feel of the book and a handy size were particularly important, as the product is targeted as a gift. The arresting surface of the dust jacket, the illustrations commissioned from Robert Lakomczyk and the small format ensured the hoped-for success. A second print run was released for sale just one year later.

Illustrations: Robert Lakomczyk, Berlin; cartography with Jan Stöwe, Berlin.

Client: Alfred Süß (self-publisher), Schwarzenberg (Erzgebirge)