Every two years, the World Design Organization awards the title of World Design Capital to a city or region. In 2026, the Frankfurt Rhine-Main region will become an international stage for design. Together, we will bring to life groundbreaking projects and numerous events that showcase what design can achieve for society and democracy, for our shared lives, and for our daily routines.

In this booklet, published by the City of Offenbach in collaboration with the University of Art and Design Offenbach, all WDC events, sites, workshops and exhibitions are listed with short descriptions and dates. In addition, a detailed map shows all the locations. The booklet is designed by Masha Egorova and only uses typefaces that originated in the HfG type design class. The front and back cover are perforated stencils that can be torn off and used to scribble inside the booklet.

The project originates from a series of monotype experiments carried out on plastic surfaces sourced from everyday materials. By applying paint to plastic samples and then printing them onto paper, random and diffuse impressions emerged. The flexibility of the plastic favored the formation of folds and creases. These prints, somewhere between abstract landscapes and imaginary territories, quickly revealed their potential for a cartographic approach. Eight monotypes were digitized, modified, and vectorized to serve as modular templates. Variations in contours, colors, rotations, gradients, and line styles enabled the creation of a series of maps with multiple and evolving compositions.

To give these representations visual legitimacy, scientific imagery was employed. Titles, legends, scales, and grids were incorporated into the compositions, enriching interpretation while blurring the boundaries between science and fiction. These maps depart from the conventions of traditional cartography to offer a sensitive and poetic journey. Compiled as an edition, they form a fictional atlas: a guide to mysterious territories, at once foreign and familiar.

This atlas presents itself as a visual trace of an imaginary planet, a graphic testimony of life forms and spaces yet to be explored. By giving these fictional worlds a tangible dimension, it grants them artistic and cartographic recognition. Straddling abstraction and evocation, these representations offer an alternative perception of the world. They open up new perspectives, inviting contemplation, exploration, and immersion in a universe where reality intertwines intimately with the imagination.

Few Manhattan neighborhoods capture classic New York quite like Gramercy Park—a desirable enclave defined by its private garden, quiet tree-lined streets, and historic architecture. Bridging timeless elegance with modern livability, The Florian carries this legacy forward.

Watson shaped the brand from the ground up with a strategic naming approach: “The Florian” evokes warmth, greenery, and enduring character—positioning the residence as both refined and welcoming. The broader brand strategy centers on appealing to a new generation of first-time homebuyers putting down roots in New York City.

Drawing from Gramercy Park’s 19th-century ironwork, literary tradition and cultivated community, the visual identity system subtly balances history with forward momentum. A flexible logo suite spans from an expressive wordmark to a pared-back fleuron, enabling versatility across touchpoints while reinforcing a cohesive, place-based narrative. The typographic system reflects the neighborhood's effortless charm and ease while staying rooted it in its quiet sophistication. The neighborhood photography further grounds the brand in authenticity, emphasizing an emotional connection to this iconic New York location.

Both a tranquil retreat and a gateway into city living, The Florian is positioned as more than a residence—it’s a setting for new beginnings, designed for those ready to write their own New York story.

The logomark variations are set in MD Lórien with modifications to specific letterforms. Headlines are set in LL Catalogue and supporting copy is set in Founders Grotesk.

The Drei Weieren (“Three Ponds”) are definitely a favourite spot for the people of St.Gallen. The visitors to the neighbouring tourist highlight and UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Abbey District, are the ones who are least aware of the splendour of the local recreation area. As part of the tourism development concept, a separate brand identity and wayfinding system is to be introduced to strengthen the presence of the area, enhance it in a gentle manner and make existing attractions more visible.

Studio mi developed a solution that is both striking and in keeping with the characteristics of the area: the concise combination of 3 and W in the brand identity sets the tone for the visual language. Curved signposts and overview maps, as well as welcome banners, reflect the omnipresent movement in the topography, the walkers and swimmers, as well as the dominant element of water.

Map for Drei Weieren

From luxurious destinations in the 19th century to the dynamic advertising posters of the 1920s and 30s to modern airline series and fictional NASA travel posters from 2019, the motifs span the development of travel as a desire and a vision. The exhibition Ferne Länder, Ferne Zeiten / Faraway Countries, Faraway Times at the Museum Folkwang is accompanied by literary works by Felicitas Hoppe, who sheds new light on longing and wanderlust in exclusive “literary journeys of the mind.” The exhibition, curated by René Grohnert, is complemented by a large wall graphic in the form of a map that clearly visualizes all the tourist destinations presented. We created wall and floor lettering that typographically references the period in which the posters were created. These were supplemented by a large wall graphic in the form of a map that clearly visualizes all the tourist destinations presented.

Photography by Caroline Schlüter

N’de Jos’r is the thesis project of Gabriele Falcinelli (MA in Illustration, ISIA Urbino, March 2026), a work that sits between anthropological analysis, field research, and archival investigation. At its core is the Carnival of Putignano (Italy), observed not as a simple folkloric event but as a complex cultural device, layered and deeply rooted in the social dimension.

The theoretical framework, drawing on Mikhail Bakhtin, Arnold van Gennep, and Victor Turner, does not remain confined to a purely academic level, but translates into a concrete practice of in situ research. Falcinelli literally goes n’de jos’r (i.e. “inside the house” in the Putignano dialect), entering the domestic and private spaces of the festival and adopting an internal point of view that allows him to present carnival as a lived experience rather than a represented one. The result is a research publication that is dense yet accessible, where heterogeneous materials – texts, archival images, interviews, and illustrations – are organized into a solid structure capable of sustaining the complexity of the subject without becoming heavy.

This first artefact is accompanied by the illustrated leporello U Ndond’r (a dialect term evoking a swaying, unstable movement typical of a crowd in a state of collective euphoria), which performs a significant shift: from documentation to staging. Here, carnival is translated into a continuous processional dimension, an allegorical sequence that condenses symbols, rituals, and figures into a single visual narrative. The format itself – expandable and non-linear – becomes a narrative device consistent with the idea of a collective and chaotic flow that characterizes the final ritual of the Carnival.

It is, however, on the typographic level that the project reveals one of its most interesting aspects. In the research publication, the pairing of Forma DJR Text (by David Jonathan Ross) with Graphique Pro (by profonts) establishes a controlled balance between an academic register and a contemporary openness. Forma is used rigorously and consistently as the backbone of the text: a discreet presence that ensures readability and stability throughout the editorial structure. Graphique Pro, on the other hand, introduces a more pronounced variation, helping to define hierarchies and moments of discontinuity. The system works precisely because it maintains a clear distinction between these two levels, avoiding overlaps or ambiguities.

The leporello U Ndond’r features, on its front side, a screen-printed illustration of a procession in which the various symbols of the Carnival parade: from the arrival of the relics of Saint Stephen, through the Carnival Thursdays, the parade of floats, and the final rites, interspersed with iconic characters and events, including the many interpretations of the Farinella mask.

On the reverse, a text provides further insight into the history, rituals, and key figures of the Carnival of Putignano. This is accompanied by archival images reworked from those represented on the front. The project is thus structured on a double level, where visual synthesis and documentary depth coexist without overlapping.

Within this framework, Sole Sans and Sole Serif (by CAST) support the informational layer with a measured use, ensuring clarity and continuity without competing with the illustrative component, which remains the primary narrative focus.

In the confetti packaging, Falcinelli uses AM Assab (from the Alfabeti Modernisti collection) based on a direct association between typographic form and object: the character’s simple, geometric shapes echo the small, serial nature of confetti, establishing an immediate visual correspondence.

On the cover, a custom lettering designed by the designer appears, explicitly inspired by the one created by Mario Cresci in 1976 for the book Isabella Morra e la società meridionale del Cinquecento by Giovanni Caserta (Edizioni Meta).

Overall, the thesis project demonstrates a solid methodological awareness and the ability to hold together research, narrative, and design. The typographic choices fit coherently within this framework, avoiding obvious solutions and contributing to the definition of a layered yet controlled visual language.

The cover for Isabella Morra e la società meridionale del Cinquecento by Giovanni Caserta (Edizioni Meta) was a reference for Falcinelli’s lettering.

Ukryte szczątki (“Hidden Remains”) at the Muzeum Architektury we Wrocławiu responds to the layered history of postwar rural architecture in Poland. The show explores how centrally planned housing transformed the countryside after 1945, juxtaposing archival materials with contemporary photographic documentation of former state farm settlements.

Designed by Kuba Maria Mazurkiewicz, the identity combines RL Limo with the functional clarity of Tekio Grotesk, reflecting the tension between modernist planning ideals and their fragmented present-day remains.

The exhibition visuals are built around photographic works by Jakub Certowicz, Karolina Jonderko, Jędrzej Sokołowski, and videography of Jerzy Wypych, documenting the lived reality and spatial traces of these architectural experiments, where utopian ambitions persist as “hidden remnants” within the landscape.

Curatorial team: Agnieszka Obal, Alicja Prusińska, Barbara Szczepańska.

Most of the cover type is set in Erbar-Grotesk halbfett – with the exception of the year 1932 and the house numbers 11 and 12: these are added from Futura fett. Maybe the printer didn’t have numerals in these sizes at hand. The oldstyle roman is Tiemann-Mediäval.

This posts features selected pages from the guide published for the Mitteldeutsche Funk- und Phono-Schau that took place in Leipzig in the fall of 1932, including the front and back covers and a number of interior pages, with infographics and adverts.

We get to see a range of period typefaces, all released by German foundries in the first third of the 20th century. The oldest one among them is Aviso, which appears for the labels on page 23, listing commonly used electrical circuit symbols. Aviso was first cast by Berthold in 1903. The monolinear italic might have been chosen for its similarity to DIN 16, the standard letterforms used in technical drawings. See the captions for more notes on the type.

The printing – and probably also the design – was done by Leipziger Buchdruckerei AG, a local company with ties to the Social Democrats.

The “Central German Radio and Phono Show” was the third major radio exhibition by the Leipzig chapter of the Arbeiter-Radio-Bund Deutschlands (ARB, “Workers’ Radio Federation of Germany”). In the foreword, the organizers write (translated):

Despite the severe economic crisis, the ARB has taken it upon itself to organize this exhibition. Since the last major exhibition (ARA 1928), transmission and reception technology have seen an upward trend that shows no signs of slowing down. This exhibition is intended to be more than just a promotional and sales event. It aims to introduce the layperson to the wide-ranging and fascinating field of radio technology. The technical processes are explained to visitors in a simple manner, organized into educational groups, using models and practical demonstrations. For the ARB, the goal is to familiarize listeners with the technical processes involved in radio broadcasting. The dissemination of technical knowledge is a cultural endeavor that should not be underestimated and forms the foundation for the ARB’s cultural mission.

The inner cover advertises capacitors, transformers and other parts to DIYers who build their own radios. It uses the same typefaces, with a headline in Energos. The monolinear sript was first cast by Schriftguss in 1932, making it the youngest one used in this booklet.

The text typeface is Säculum. Note the use of tracking for emphasis at the beginning of the last paragraph. The heading uses Erbar-Grotesk with a ch ligature and the standard German quote marks.

The ad by Ludwig Fries relies on Erbar-Grotesk’s space-saving schmalhalbfett style.

The electrical symbols, labeled in Aviso

Tables with values for the electrical resistance of various types of wire and the weight of one meter of wire

Ohm’s law and a formula for calculating the power handling capacity of resistors

The ad for radio journal Die Mirag pairs Energos with two weights of Erbar-Grotesk. The copy is in the Zweite Garnitur that is distinguished by a shorter x-height.

More Energos with Erbar and Tiemann-Mediäval for an by Radio-Schnorr. The logo at the top has handdrawn letters.

Schaub’s ad introduces Kreß-Versalien. The arrow was composed from several sorts, see the small gaps between them.

The Telefunken ad on the back cover uses Futura together with Signal. This script typeface was first cast by Berthold in 1931, one year before Energos.

BlaBlaLab is a Brazilian Instagram page by Gas Oliveira and Gustavo Pompeu dedicated to posts about language, culture, design, and technology. Published primarily in video and static formats, the account explores topics related to communication and digital culture through short-form content.

Since December 2025, the page has used Pacaembu and Discórdia as the main typefaces across its Instagram posts. The two appear consistently in titles, captions, and graphic elements. Both typefaces are released by Naipe Foundry.

Black Kahawa Coffee was founded by Ohio native Douglas Buckley, in Columbus, Ohio, a coffee roaster for more than fifteen years, including eleven years in the East African country of Tanzania.

According to the website:

While living in Tanzania, he co-founded a small coffee roasting company focused on teaching women the craft of hand roasting coffee. Without the aid of motors, site windows, timers or computer monitored temperature controls, women are trained to use their five senses to hone their craft. The women of Wamama Kahawa continue to produce delicious coffee that people love in the beautiful coastal city of Dar es Salaam.

The identity was conceived by Jeremy Slagle of Slagle Design. Wonder Design Co. took care of the website design.

In Latin America, one in four girls regularly misses school due to a lack of period products and deep-rooted stigma. Somos Martina is challenging this inequity at its root by integrating period underwear into the mandatory Colombian school uniform. By adding period care to the required list of school items, it becomes the standard rather than an extra, allowing schools to communicate directly with parents and remove the burden of uncomfortable conversations from the girls.

The visual system for El Uniforme Menstrual (“The Period Uniform”) is based on the aesthetics of a teenage diary and deliberately avoids clinical or commercial cues. The design language features custom illustrations, hand-drawn typography, and data charts rendered as scribbles to maintain a relatable feel. This identity is applied across print, film, website, and school materials, supported by photography and a short film to make menstrual care accessible and scalable by design.

Because equal education starts with dignity. And dignity starts with care.

The campaign was conceived by Serviceplan Innovation. It involved film director Claudia Barral, illustrator Adriana Lozano, and photographer Violeta Zambrano. Daniel Kuhnlein took care of the website.

Protest Grotesk is the typeface used by Seasonal Fruit for Wir wollen baden! (“We want to go swimming!”), published by Neckarinsel Stuttgart in collaboration with Prima Publikationen. Additional display typefaces used in the book include Sometimes Times and Blocus.

From the publisher (translated):

This water guide is a handy companion for getting into cool waters on hot days. Even in the Stuttgart metropolitan area, temperatures are rising. At the same time, Stuttgart and the surrounding region aren’t exactly known for nearby lakes for swimming. That’s why we went searching for you—and we found them: from river swimming spots to hidden waterfalls and refreshing forest baths, here are the islands for cooling off.

On 14 tours through the region, we give you insights into the many ways to swim and cool down, sprinkled with information and facts about the waters, because water is much more than just fun in the pool: it’s our drinking water, wastewater, a habitat for flora and fauna, and even a means of transport. Easily accessible by public transport, the tours invite you to stroll, walk, hike, cycle, or paddle—alone or with friends and family.

And the best part: each tour comes with a postcard as a keepsake, to send, or to share, featuring scenes from your swimming adventure.

Shortlisted for the Most Beautiful German Books 2025.

Postcard with all-caps Blocus on the back

Spread featuring all-caps Sometimes Times, rotated and with overlapping glyphs

Western Birds. An Audubon Handbook by John Farrand Jr. helps readers identify “the over 460 species of birds regularly found east of the Rockies.” It is a lengthy yet compact softcover of 416 pages, 1,314 photographs, and 100,000 words. Published in 1988 by McGraw-Hill, Western Birds is one of several books Massimo Vignelli designed for the National Audubon Society.

The book’s page layouts are built upon a simple two column grid subdivided into ten modules. All text is flush left. Paragraphs are not indented nor are they separated by an empty line. This creates a sharp, mostly uniform line on the left edge of text columns. Their right edge, in contrast, is particularly ragged due to hyphenation being dispensed with all together. Although the lack of paragraph indents and spacing and of hyphenation is somewhat unusual for such a text-heavy book, it is a hallmark of books designed by Vignelli and many of his modernist peers.

The book was typeset by Dix Type in Century Expanded, one of Vignelli’s preferred typefaces. As Vignelli was wont to do, the italic is used liberally throughout. The title on the title page is kerned in Vignelli’s signature tight-not-touching style. Two subsequent section headings are kerned in the same way but the kerning (or, rather, lack thereof) of the rest of text leaves much to be desired. The spacing between the characters of the body text is much more open than the tight headings – just as one would hope and expect. The problem, however, is that for the rest of the book, in both the body and in headings, many letters have awkward gaps yawning between them.

The tightly kerned title with the author’s unkerned name below.

A rare case in Vignelli’s work where text appears to be evenly spaced between rules. Usually when using rules, Vignelli would set the text closer to the rule above than to the one below, creating the impression that text is hung from the rule above. In his Canon, he mentions this as a “small but important detail.” 

One of 168 black-and-white drawings

On pages where rules are separated by images or multiple lines of text, the text does look as if it is hung from the rule above.

No elements of the layouts for recto and verso pages are mirrored. Instead, each page is uniformly designed as if it was a verso page with the page number always placed on a page’s bottom left.

A quite obvious example of the book’s kerning issues

One of three headings where text is kerned in a manner one would expect from a Vignelli-designed book.

The first page of the Index is numbered but all subsequent pages are not.

Back cover with description in italic. The ISBN is added in OCR-A.

The book brings together the best annual projects of the Academy. Printed in six-colour offset with the addition of a metallic Pantone, and partially in Risograph (internal insert), it employs hand-crafted movable type for the titles, with manual typesetting combined with black-and-white photography, as well as artist illustrations produced through intaglio and engraving, printed in two colours.

The layout is conceived as a fluid composition: a hybrid system of techniques and visual overlays that positions the book somewhere between graphic design and the artist’s book. While flipping through the pages, readers can access additional audio content related to the various activities.

Some of the typefaces used belong to the Academy’s collection of movable type. This includes a version of Inserat-Grotesk – possibly Fondografica’s Piacenza – and Motor. The names and origins of others are uncertain or undocumented.

The E and P are from an Art Deco typeface that’s similar to Triennale.

Bandit Grand Prix (@banditgrandprix) is a running event within a F1 style racing series, hosted by Bandit Running. The first event took place in Brooklyn in July 2025.

From Jake Heyen:

But this thing was nothing like a normal road race. They built a technical, multi-lap circuit that winds through Brooklyn. With sharp turns, indoor sections, and spectators lining the course – cheering like it’s an F1 Pit Lane. Racers kicked things off with 5k qualifying heats, battling for spots in a 3k super final under the lights. If you didn’t want to run solo, they had a team relay option also. Plus a $12,000 prize pool was up for grabs across individual and team scoring. But it gets even better. The event didn’t end at the finish line. There was a full on afterparty with a DJ, food trucks, and drinks. The entire event experience was really one-of-a-kind. Mixing fitness, fun, and community – just bringing a real unique energy to the running world. Well done Bandit.

Well done, Bandit – and a special shout-out for using Yapari as the main typeface across the entire event identity.

Smaller text on the website is specified in FK Grotesk.

Cover pages (detail) of the Switzerland and Norway travel guides by Lonely Planet, set in Pangea SemiBold

The story of the travel publisher Lonely Planet begins in the summer of 1972. The newly married Australian-British couple Maureen and Tony Wheeler had just completed a trip to Asia that lasted several weeks. Black in Melbourne, their circle of friends kept pestering them with questions about their trip, so they decided to write a book about it and publish it themselves. The success of Across Asia on the Cheap laid the foundation for what was to become Lonely Planet.

Today, the Australian publisher claims to be the world’s largest provider of independent travel and language guides. They publish 650 titles with a total print run of around 55 million copies. The company employs over 400 people in its offices in Melbourne, Oakland, London and Paris and has a staff of around 150 authors.

In 2022, Lonely Planet commissioned the New York creative studio Garrett Elizabeth Office with a comprehensive redesign of the brand. The aim was to modernize the travel guides and website and make them more attractive to both long-time users and a new generation of travelers.

Following the relaunch of the brand, the internal design team set out to find a new corporate typeface. They came across Fontwerk’s multilingual Pangea Collection via an internet search and were fascinated by the story of an “adventurous” font that goes on a world tour with extensive language development. Ultimately the decisive factor in the decision was Pangea’s sustainable licensing model: 25 percent of Christoph Koeberlin’s designer royalties go towards rainforest conservation and large-scale reforestation projects.

Shortly afterwards, Lonely Planet began the complete redesign of all printed materials. For this purpose, the publisher licensed Pangea and Pangea Text Regular, Italic, SemiBold and Bold. In order not to delay the new editions of the travel guides, city maps and maps, the design team even received some Pangea Condensed weights before their official publication. The serif used for body copy is Matthew Carter’s Miller. The Lonely Planet website was also refreshed and – until recently – was set in six Pangea styles.

The Lonely Planet travel guides are aimed at individual travelers who want to get off the beaten track.

Lonely Planet’s updated city plans and maps have been using Pangea and Pangea Condensed for years.

Lonely Planet’s international website has also been converted to the Pangea font family.

The 2023–24 edition of the RUFA Annual Report, conceived as a collective performance, goes beyond documenting the year’s activities to become a shared design act focused on intention, process, and collaboration.

Inspired by Vilém Flusser’s idea that “everything depends on intention (design)”, the report was created through a 48-hour creative marathon involving 50 selected students alongside designers, visual artists, photographers, copywriters, and faculty members. Working together in an open laboratory, the teams produced content, images, data, and narratives that shaped the final publication.

The volume unfolds through ten keywords defining the Academy’s identity, a photographic selection of undergraduate and postgraduate theses, and an overview of the year’s activities, including events, workshops, talks, and international projects. Data Humanism–inspired infographics, based on interviews and questionnaires with students and faculty, complete the narrative.

A die-cut dust jacket revealing the names of the participants and a concluding photographic report underscore the collective nature of the project. The annual report thus stands as both a document and a method, reflecting the Academy’s growth through shared experience, research, and collaboration.

Four-colour printing plus white and fluorescent yellow Pantone on Favini paper.
Typographic composition in Milligram by Zetafonts.

Design by Guido Lombardo, Davide Luccini and Francesco Paolo Incantalupo at Intorno Design, with illustrations by Francesco Fidani. For a full list of credits, see the RUFA website.

The VIVE (Vittoriano e Palazzo Venezia) is a national museum institute in Rome, established in 2019 and active since 2020, under the Italian Ministry of Culture. It brings together two iconic landmarks in the heart of the city: the Vittoriano, also known as the Altare della Patria, and Palazzo Venezia, along with the Central Museum of the Risorgimento, the panoramic terrace, and the Library of Archaeology and Art History. Dedicated to preserving and showcasing architecture, artworks, and collections central to Italy’s history and identity, VIVE combines research, conservation, and public engagement through exhibitions and educational activities.

From its establishment, VIVE has adopted a clear visual identity developed by the Trieste-based studio TassinariVetta. The logo and overall visual language favor a minimalist approach that evokes modernity and a sort of architectural precision. These values are reflected in the consistent use of the Suisse font family, beginning with the logotype, which combines Suisse Int’l Bold and Suisse Neue Medium.

This typographic choice is extended across the monuments’ visual system. Suisse Int’l is used for signage, ephemera, and public-facing communication, both online and in the street. A notable example is the long-running lecture series “VIVE al Centro di Roma”, whose first posters and subway ads showcased the new identity throughout the city.

On the website, designed by the agency Vergani&Gasco, Suisse Int’l is paired with Suisse Works rather than Suisse Neue. While all three belong to the same family, the choice introduces a functional distinction: Suisse Neue remains tied to the identity mark, whereas Suisse Works serves as a dedicated text serif. The shift preserves typographic continuity while separating symbolic branding from editorial usability, allowing the digital content to prioritize clarity without altering the core visual language.

The visual identity is here seen applied to the monuments' entrance tickets. Same typesetting, five different color codes for each of the five museums making up VIVE.

Studio Ugly created the visual identity for the social campaigns Stadtrand-Buddies and KlingelZeit. These two projects were initiated by AWO Berlin Kreisverband Südost and Neuköllner Engagement Zentrum, and aim to help lonely senior citizens in Berlin-Neukölln by supporting sociable activities with neighbors and volunteers.

The campaigns included a postcard/flyer, a folded leaflet, a bookmark and social media assets. It was typeset in HAL Repost, published by HAL Typefaces. The printed ephemera was produced by Spreedruck.

The design studio Stroke and Marvel conceived and designed this cycling guide for the tourism board of the German region Seenland Oder-Spree.

Typeset in German and Polish, the booklet covers twenty cycling tours over 180 pages, complete with clear maps and lovely photos of the countryside.

Headlines and map labels are beautifully set my typeface Bild. The main body text is set in Loretta by Nova Type, with supporting text in Dia by Schick Toikka.