In August 1942, the Second World War was in full swing and Wehrmacht troops were approaching Stalingrad. At home in the German Empire – in Nuremberg, the city that previously hosted the Nazi Party rallies – the population was offered distraction and entertainment in the form of “true-to-nature geography and ethnology”.

Each week, the Kaiser-Panorama (est. 1888) in the Mauthalle presented a different virtual journey. This time, visitors could view stereoscopic glass slides depicting fifty three-dimensional scenes from the Republic of Peru in South America, from the Pichu-Puchu [sic!] to a herd of llamas. Students and DAF members paid a reduced entry fee; soldiers, children, seniors and disabled persons even less.

The typography of the leaflet combines blackletter and non-blackletter typefaces. There are two sans serifs, the bold rounded Block and the wide Industria, both from before the First World War. The price information at the bottom is set in an Art Nouveau roman that’s even older, Schelter-Antiqua halbfett from 1906. The two blackletter typefaces are the youngest designs: the dates are shown in Straßburg, released in 1926, and the list of scenes in Thannhaeuser-Fraktur, first cast in 1938.

Cover with slanted Croissant for the title

From the Ventoline website (translated from the French):

Ventoline is a fanzine born of both a daily enthusiasm for everything to do with music, and a genuine weariness at the near-absence of women's words on this vast subject. Commenting, criticizing, prescribing, sharing stories, tastes, dislikes – in short, musical culture… […]

Ventoline is an entirely self-produced and self-distributed editorial project that receives no public or private financial support, and has been running for three years thanks to the sale of its issues and a few hectoliters of elbow grease. Everyone contributes on a voluntary basis, according to their desires, means and time. The frequency of each issue is therefore erratic, but this absence of imperatives also proves to be a relief: Ventoline comes out when you can, when you want.

In issue no. 6, the contributors talk “about record collecting. Algerians, unloved instruments, Mexican narco-culture, euphoria and mourning of concerts, a heterotopic club of dykes, Moldavian tradition, and even motherhood – who knows!”

The text typeface in this feature is GR10. The blackletter used for the headline is Neue Theuerdank Fraktur.

Contents (“sommaire”) ft. Spider Panic and Optima with faux small caps and faux italics. The numbers are from GST Aero; the text at the top is set in OCR-X.

Insitu in two columns for text, with Tekton for the headline and emphasis

Body copy is set in Glasgow. The quote uses Modern Blackletter and the bold extended grot is OPS Facitype.

More text in GR10, paired with drop caps from Neue Theuerdank Fraktur and some Ober-Türkheim.

Verona on an angled baseline, with body text in Figure Monospace. The sans used for the lines on a steep angle appears to be ES Allianz.

The poster (50×34 cm) included in Ventoline no. 6 is a transcript of a TV interview with Edith Massey, a.k.a. the Egg Lady, actress and friend of John Waters, and performer of two punk rock hits including “Punks, Get Off the Grass”. The display typeface is Lyric Stencil NF, slanted, paired with more Figure Monospace.

On the left: Produkt and Glasgow Italic with headlines in obliqued Optima. On the right: WS Naive with triple contour and replies in Routed Gothic.

More of the interview in Produkt and Routed Gothic

Frankfurter Medium (left) and ITC Souvenir Italic (right), with big type in IM Fell DW Pica Italic and Lyric Stencil NF

The box on the bottom left of the right page is set in EB Garamond. The colophon in OCR-X additionally mentions Eccles and Hershey Times, but these fonts don’t seem to be shown in the images included here. Jakob, Aston Script and Flash represent a mirrored reproduction of an exhibition poster, and Harrington (“Club Ventoline”) appears to belong to a previous design, too – these aren’t listed under the fonts used for the design of this zine.

Paper bags with an advertisement for table salt – shakers from 10 cts. – from Bogamy, a “wettig gedeponeerd handelsmerk” (registered trademark) from Utrecht, the Netherlands.

“STROOI-BUSJES” and the rotated “TAFELZOUT” show bold caps from Hollandse Mediaeval, “the first original Dutch text face created for over a century” (Jan Middendorp in Dutch Type), designed by Sjoerd H. de Roos and issued in 1912–1913. The wide “TAFELZOUT” is set in Post Oldstyle Roman No. 2. It was sold by Lettergieterij Amsterdam as Columbia (not to be confused with their 1950s release of the same name). “VAN 10 CTS.” is yet another serif, Ohio-Schrift by the Schriftguss foundry from Dresden, Germany. This version of ATF’s Pabst Oldstyle can be distinguished by its jelly bag cap A.

The Art Nouveau caps used for “UTRECHT / HOLLAND” are probably from a typeface, too, but I don’t know its name. Staudel Xenotype K and Chianti are vaguely similar phototype-era interpretations of related styles [edit: it’s Otfried].

The inline sans serif for “BOGAMY” appears to be the youngest type in this smorgasbord. It is Lux Antieke, made at Lettergieterij Amsterdam under the direction of De Roos in 1924. Derived from Das Antieke, it may have been inspired by the success of Jakob Erbar’s Lichte fette Grotesk a.k.a. Phosphor (Ludwig & Mayer, 1923).

A selection of pages from the A4 handouts printed for each exhibition

ISSUES is a contemporary art gallery in central Stockholm, initially set up as an ambulancing space in 2014 by Oscar Carlson, Johan af Geijerstam, Julia Eriksson and Peter Ström.

Between 2014 and 2021 the gallery produced thirteen shows around Stockholm, where the geographical location was of equal importance as the artist. For Issues #3 in 2015, Ryan Trecartin’s work CENTER JENNY was shown in the local Mediamarkt store on all 196 TV screens simultaneously. For Issues #4 in 2017, a group exhibition took place in an (at the time) empty space on Södermalm shaped like a display window, where the artworks were rotated every fifteen minutes in order to let that specific space come to its fullest.

Because of these new physical and geographical locations, the visual identity for the gallery was changed each time, adopting different typographic references to the current space.

In 2021 a more permanent space on Vattugatan 13 was found, turning the gallery into a commercial one in a fixed location – at least for the time being.

A permanent design system was introduced with the new space, where the location was less important – almost the opposite, as the new space was in a location almost unheard of even for the most hardcore Stockholmer, in an area filled with governmental buildings.

The design system takes its starting points in concrete poetry and early computer art (mainly ASCII) using Vincent Chan’s Quadrant Text Mono, complemented with the addition of a typeface and treatment picked for every artist – giving each artist their own visual identity connected to the space. Each typeface and treatment picked either refers to the artist’s practice or is connected to the idea of a place in downtown Stockholm – or in some cases, both.

The grid is based the word “ISSUES” written 16 by 10.5 times on an A4 sheet — because, you know, too many ISSUES…

The visual identity for ISSUES 4 took its typographic starting points in the typeface Eurostile found at the logo of a left over vacuum cleaner in the space.

The new space at Vattugatan 13 uses Quadrant Text Mono on all its signage and printed matter, as well as on the website and social media.

Insta stories using frame-by-frame tap animations, mixing ASCII and logo typography in ABC Honeymoon

Selected front and back covers from the A4-sized catalogue that comes with each exhibition.

Covers featuring Brush Script, Crowbar, Horizontal, and Jannon

Insta stories featuring P22 Arts and Crafts, Antique Olive Nord, Purple Haze, and PC Myungjo

For most of the shows, merchendise has been made in order to promote the shows with and to the local community and scene that ISSUES is part of. Reflective wests for Henning Hamilton using ABC Maxi Round, gym bottles for Hampus Wernemyr in Jannon, hats for Zoe Barca in Monaako, and candy, T-shirts and mugs in Quadrant Text Mono.

For DOWNTOWN ISSUES 2 in September 2023, one T-shirt with a typographic identity was designed for each participating artist printed in a single copy only. Seen here is a selection of the almost 70 T-shirts in total.

A few examples: The typography for Elis Monteverde Burrau with Tesla references the big amount of Teslas in the neighbourhood (and indicates where this Swedish poet might be heading in the future?). The typography for Georg Nordmark in Amsi references local pet food chain Arket Zoo because of Georg’s interest in animals in his art. The typography for Militza Monteverde Burrau uses Dinamo’s ABC Honeymoon and connects to her organic sculptures in glass. The typography for Ilja Karilampi links to his meme lord status via its use of Impact. Siri Carlén was treated with the never-to-be-released Småländsk Antikva by Konst & Teknik – which started around the same time Siri was a student of Konst & Teknik at Konstfack. Viktor Fordell got a Ford logo knockoff typeface because of... you know... Ford.

The non-personal T-shirts come with one front cover and three different back versions: The big 2 is based on the most downtown building Stockholm offers, parking house Parkaden and its beautiful brutalist numbering system and fascade. “DOWN TOWN” refers to local clothing brand Our Legacy WORK SHOP that is often seen on T-shirts around town. A version of the T-shirt with all the artist names overprinted was made in an extra limited edition of only five copies. All T-shirts printed in white ink on black fabric by Everynight Studios.

Fonts in USE!

In some regards, Habsburg could pass as the wide companion style to Radium. In fact, it precedes the Ludwig & Mayer release by a year or two: Habsburg was designed by Heinz Keune and first cast by Schelter & Giesecke in 1903. The Leipzig-based foundry also offered a narrower style named Wittelsbach, and a bolder variant, Wallenstein.

Here it can be seen on the first pages of a book about a sanatorium in Darmstadt, Germany, with contributions to the application of physical healing methods by Hermann Lossen. Established in 1898 as Darmstädter mechano-therapeutische Anstalt, it was named after Ernst Ludwig, the last Grand Duke of Hesse, in 1905 – the year the book came out. Printed by the Joh. Conr. Herbert’sche Hofbuchdruckerei (Fr. Herbert), Die Ernst-Ludwigs-Heilanstalt was published by G.L. Schlapp.

The subtitle is set in Gebr. Klingspor’s contribution to the Romana/De Vinne genre. The first styles of this family named Reform were cut in 1900 at the company that at the time still went under the name Rudhard’sche Gießerei, in nearby Offenbach. The author’s name appears to be set in Mediäval-Egyptienne – either Schelter & Giesecke’s or Bauer’s cut. Both are closely related to Bookman, and appear to be based on one of its precursors, cf. Old Style Antique No. 7.

The third image shows a page that reads (translated):

Dedicated in deepest reverence to His Royal Highness Ernst Ludwig Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine, the ever-ready patron and promoter of the arts and sciences.

In 1899, Ernst Ludwig founded the Darmstadt Artists’ Colony at Mathildenhöhe. Among its members was typographer and type designer Friedrich W. Kleukens. Together with his brother Christian Heinrich Kleukens, he ran the Ernst-Ludwig-Presse, one of the first German private presses. Note Habsburg’s ch ligature, which looks a little like a pitchfork (⋔), or an upside-down Greek letter Psi (Ψ).

Title page

Dedication

Program poster for Tunnel, a club in Glarus, Switzerland. Letterpress printed from hand-cut linoleum, cast Ludlow slugs (Ludlow Condensed Gothic) and wood type (Meier-Schrift).

In the video you see that with the same printing elements, a total of three program posters for in two sizes have been produced. A tricky system to be able to print two sizes from the same printing formes. Firstly, the split-fountains have been printed on large sheets for both the small and the large posters. Then the sheets for the small posters got cut in half to be overprinted with just the upper half of the linoleum cut. Then they got cut in half again to be finished on a smaller press. The large versions stayed uncut and got finished on the large press, printed with the same hand-cut linoleum block. Watch the whole video, you’ll figure it out!

“The worst is yet to come…everything will be alright.” Letterpress printed from hand-set wood type and hand-cut linoleum with stretched letterforms of the same typeface, Meier-Schrift. From the series “The absurdity of the moment”, a visual diary of letterpress printed posters about the 2020/2021 Covid-19 pandemic.

First published by Schuster & Loeffler in 1910, this is a later edition of Der Hahn von Quakenbrück and other novellas by Ricarda Huch (1864–1947), from 1920. The cover typography pairs Walbaum Italic in all caps with Rudolf Koch’s Maximilian.

Zierstücke (“decorative pieces”), halbfette and schmale fette Schelter-Antiqua by J.G. Schelter & Giesecke, Leipzig, in use on the cover of Deutscher Buch- und Steindrucker, May 1919.

Monatlicher Bericht über die graphischen Künste mit der Unterhaltungsbeilage „Graphische Feierstunden“
Hauptanzeigenblatt für das Buchgewerbe

Deutscher Buch- und Steindrucker was a monthly journal for the graphic arts and the book trade. It was published from October 1894 to 1926 by Ernst Morgenstern, Berlin. Its English title was German Letterpress and Lithographic Printer. In 1919, it absorbed the Journal für Buchdruckerkunst, Schriftgießerei und verwandte Fächer.

An assortment of paper signs for the use in restaurants and pubs, produced in Germany probably around 1930 and later.

“Empfehle prima lebende Karpfen” (“Recommend first-class live carp”) and “Bestellungen auf Gänse werden jetzt schon erbeten” (“Orders for geese are requested already now”) use condensed rounded grotesks in two sizes. The smaller one with squarish letterforms and the pointed tail in a appears to match the Schmale runde Grotesk as cut at J.M. Huck & Co. around 1885. It was later cast by their successor, the AG für Schriftgießerei und Maschinenbau, see this specimen from circa 1910. The larger one might be a poster cut of an equally generic name, cf. the rounded sans serifs shown in a wood type specimen by Klinkhardt from the end of the 19th century. The carp advert is enhanced with a formidable manicule.

“Das Behängen der Fenster sowie das Belegen der Tische u. Stühle mit Kleidungsstücken ist verboten” (“It is forbidden to cover the windows or occupy the tables and chairs with articles of clothing”) uses a bold weight from Schelter-Antiqua. This family was issued by Schelter & Giesecke between 1905 and 1907. The schmal fett was available in poster sizes up to 24 cicero (288 pt), with the larger sizes cut from wood. The typeface used for “Der Besitzer” (“The owner”) is Etienne schmal (1880).

The more concise variant “Das Belegen der Stühle und Tische mit Garderobe ist nicht gestattet” (“It is not permitted to occupy the chairs and tables with clothes”) features the most modern type: This sign is set in two weights from Erbar-Grotesk (1926). It includes a credit that reads “Gaststättenformular-Zentrale Kurt Leffler, Erfurt-Stotternheim — Dr1 / PhKE”. The latter abbreviation stands for Druckerei Philipp Kühner Eisenach. Its inclusion suggests that at least this sign was produced at a later date. Such printer identification codes were introduced in the GDR in 1951.

The signs measure between 29.5×21 cm and 39×25.5 cm.

Kräuter-Elixier (“herbal elixir”). The center-aligned typography shows three sizes of Eckmann-Schrift (1900). The long s (ſ) appears only in the sch trigraph (“verschiedener”, “geschätztes”). Contrary to the traditional rules, it’s not used for “wirksamen” or “Bestandteile”.

Labels for the use in pharmacies and drugstores, printed by Fr. Melsbach, Sobernheim. Established in 1832, the Melsbach company is still in the business of pharmacy supplies. Several labels found in a Melsbach album from 1886 are reproduced in the October 1966 issue of Gebrauchsgraphik and show predominantly lettering. The labels featured in this post were made about twenty years later, around 1905, and are typographic, i.e. they were made with the use of fonts.

See more pharmaceutic labels in altpapiersammler’s album on Flickr.

Lenilaxin uses a typeface that was sold by many foundries under various names, incl. Viktoria (Theinhardt), Phönix (Poppelbaum), and Medea (Flinsch; later continued by Bauer). The smaller text is in one of the light cuts added by German foundries to their Bradley adaptations, see Original-Altgotisch. The price is in Korinna (1904).

Peru-Kognak is set in Nelson, the German name for Cosmopolitan (1895) The roman is Schelter & Giesecke’s Romanisch (1889).

The label for Thymian-Keuchhusten-Saft (“Thyme syrup for whooping cough”) pairs Eckmann with Original-Altgotisch and a condensed grotesk.

Frangula-Elixier ft. more Eckmann for the name. The text is set in two weights of Berthold’s Secession. The price info uses Korinna.

Keuchhusten-Elixier ft. Liane halbfett (1909). “Gebrauchs-Anweisung” is in a condensed grotesk. The instructions are set in Tauchnitz-Antiqua, a stylistic variant of Schelter-Antiqua. distinguished by different forms for ‘dkvwxyAKMRUVWX’ (and probably also ‘Y’), in most cases replacing curved diagonals with straight ones.

Lenilaxin combines Schelter-Antiqua with two grotesks. All type is reproduced in negative.

Kingdom Come: Deliverance is an action role-playing video game developed by Warhorse Studios and published by Deep Silver for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. It is set in the medieval Kingdom of Bohemia, an Imperial State of the Holy Roman Empire, with a focus on historically accurate content. It was released worldwide on 13 February 2018. — Wikipedia

The logo is in Rudolf Koch’s Maximilian. The blackletter face is accompanied by 1529 Champ Fleury, a crude roman digitized by Gilles Le Corre.

Web graphic presenting a map, books and other fan merchandise.

In-game graphics with stats and menu in 1529 Champ Fleury.

Packaging of the Special Edition for PlayStation 4.

For the Russian website, 1529 Champ Fleury was replaced with Mikadan, see comments.

Animal and hunting stories by Hermann Löns. With pen drawings by Friedrich Hauchecorne. Issue 67 in the Kranz-Bücherei series, published by Verlag Moritz Diesterweg in 1928. The cover typeface is Rudolf Koch’s Maximilian.

The title page is set in two or more yet unidentified Fraktur typefaces. The title might be in Leibniz-Fraktur, the smaller lines look like a version of Breitkopf-Fraktur.

“Our typefaces are manually cut after drawings by leading German lettering artists. Beautiful, clear shapes and good readability are the virtues of Klingspor typefaces. Gebr. Klingspor · Offenbach · Main Type foundry, wood type factory”

Ad in: Typographische Mitteilungen, issue 10, October 1924

The first book from publishers Brinkmann & Bose, with three texts about three persons; Anton Wenzel Groß, Franz Jung, and Otto Gross, who met at the lunatic asylum in Troppau in 1914. The cover combines caps from Ohio-Schrift (the Schriftguss version of Pabst Oldstyle) with Stempel’s Künstler-Schreibschrift halbfett (the digital versions are all different). The interior (not shown) is set in Linotype-Walbaum-Antiqua (Korpus and Petit).

Photo: Florian Hardwig. License: CC BY-NC-SA.

How to follow up on a double feature? Well, with a triple feature, of course! This week’s episode is about three invoices by Karl Arnold, a specialized dealer and service provider for electrics in Halberstadt. The first one is undated, but the use of Deutsche Zierschrift suggests a date after 1921, and the unusual abbreviation for the currency (“Sa.Gmk.” for Summa Goldmark?) might indicate a date before the end of the hyperinflation in 1924. The second one was issued in September 1925, and the third one in November 1926. In any case, the invoices were all used within a few years, but are highly diverse in design. The series is another evidence that maintaining a consistent visual identity was not really a thing yet. Apart from the name, the only element that is repeated and hence has branding qualities is the circled ‘KA’ monogram with lightning bolts, and even that was dropped in the third version.

A new letterhead became necessary in 1926 because the phone number system had been extended from three to four digits. Also, the company now had a branch in Oschersleben which needed to be acknowledged. The reasons for the previous change are not so clear. Was blackletter no longer considered in vogue? Or were the printed invoices simply used up and Karl Arnold now longed for something fresh? The first and the second invoice were both printed by C. Doelle & Sohn and exclusively use typefaces by the Gebr. Klingspor foundry. The third one was printed by Max Arnold. It is inferior in design quality, and exhibits some characteristics that actually make it appear older – a more eclectic mix of typefaces including some that date from the 19th century, less clear alignments, and a goofy engraving of an electric motor. One year after the publication of Tschichold’s Elementare Typographie, this was definitely a step back.

Photo: Florian Hardwig. License: CC BY-NC-SA.

The first invoice is a feast for fans of Rudolf Koch’s work. In addition to the magnificient Deutsche Zierschrift (1921), there is Maximilian (1917), complete with a swash initial (in “Rechnung”) and the accompanying set of open roman caps also known as Maximilian-Antiqua (for “Spezialhaus für Elektrotechnik”). The fine print is in Walter Tiemann’s Tiemann-Fraktur (1914). The invoice is for equipping the pipe organ at the local St. Katharinen church with bellows powered by an electric motor. (John Cage’s organ piece As Slow As Possible is currently being performed in another church in Halberstadt.)

Photo: Florian Hardwig. License: CC BY-NC-SA.

Detail: The last line in the block between the green borders does not reach the full width. This has been balanced by filling the gap with a floral ornament from Maximilian’s glyph set.

Photo: Florian Hardwig. License: CC BY-NC-SA.

The invoice from 1925 arguably is the most modern one. Its typography is limited to a single typeface, Behrens-Antiqua (1907) by Peter Behrens. Color is used more selectively. The frame and the list of services and products were dropped in favor of ample whitespace.

Photo: Florian Hardwig. License: CC BY-NC-SA.

Detail: Metal type set on a curve! That’s quite a challenge. Further below: using two forms of ‘s’ can be helpful – the bank’s name doesn’t have a long ‘s’ (ſ). It hence is not Moo·shake, but Moos·hake, .

Photo: Florian Hardwig. License: CC BY-NC-SA.

The bold wide caps with triangular serifs are from Latin Wide (1883). The Victorian caps used for “Spezialhaus für Elektrotechnik” might be from Graziosa (around 1900?) as cast by J. John Söhne. The small sans serif bits are probably in Reform-Grotesk (1904). The footer (and only the footer) is set with long ‘s’ (“Berückſichtigung”, “dieſelben”). The secret star in this wild mix is Michel-Antiqua (1919), a horizontally hatched roman by Karl Michel. Unfortunately, it has been used for too much text, in too small sizes. In addition, the printing is so poor that this little gem can’t really shine.

Photo: Florian Hardwig. License: CC BY-NC-SA.

Detail: Karl Michel’s Schraffierte Antiqua was cast in sizes as small as 8pt. That doesn’t mean it is a good idea to use decorated typefaces in such small sizes.

Non-typographic side note: Two of the invoices are addressed to the St. Katharinen church, one to a Pfarrer Iseke. I was curious to know whether Iseke belonged to the same parish, and stumbled upon another terrible episode from the Nazi period. Franz Iseke (*1872) indeed was priest at St. Katharinen from 1917 on. During National Socialism, he didn’t knuckle down, continued to preach Christian values and tried to prevent teenagers from being indoctrinated by the Nazi ideology. The regime took revenge and harassed him repeatedly with house searches and interrogations. In August 1937, Iseke was arrested by the Gestapo and expelled from Halberstadt, which shook him to the core, leading to his premature death in January 1938. [Orlob, Dt. Martyrologium] When it’s about Germany in the second quarter of the 20th century, the horror of discrimination, persecution and war is rarely more than a web search away, even when the subject is type on letterheads. It’s a chilling reminder what totalitarianism means.

A tribute to Reid Miles’ 1950s covers for Blue Note: pared-down type, stacked nearly solid, and a duotone photograph.

By the Berlin branch of importer Groyen & Richtmann, Cologne.

The Virtual Typewriter Museum:

In 1891, George C. Blickensderfer (1850-1917) invented a small portable writing machine that featured the ability to change type styles at will. This unique design formed the basis of a typewriter manufacturing business that lasted almost thirty years

The depicted Model 7 was first introduced in 1897. — Wikipedia

Ein Totentanz (A Danse Macabre) is a series of reproduced silhouettes cut by Walter Draesner and published in 1922 by B. Behrs Verlag / Friedrich Feddersen, Berlin and Leipzig, with an introduction by Max von Boehn. Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek Düsseldorf has made an electronic edition available under a CC0-License (Public Domain Dedication).

The Gotisch typeface on the title page is Rudolf Koch’s Maximilian (1917), with a decorated capital ‘T’ and a swash alternate ‘z’. The drop cap in the introduction is also from Maximilian’s Zierbuchstaben. The artist’s name, the introduction text and the table of contents are set in Ehmcke-Fraktur (1912). The publisher’s name is rendered in caps from Ehmcke-Rustika (1914).

Marvel at all of Draesner’s spine-chilling silhouettes in the electronic edition. See also the recent French reissue Noirs Desseins, designed by Clément Le Tulle-Neyret using Yoann Minet’s Totentanz.

Plate No. 2, Der Tod und die Kinder (Death and Children)

in Linotype’s Luthersche Fraktur. Bitstream called its version of this typeface simply “Fraktur”.