Design between yesterday and tomorrow – branding for the Museum Bezau.

A new chapter for an old building: the former Bezau Local History Museum has been completely redesigned, both architecturally and in terms of content. Past and present now meet in the historic Bregenzerwald farmhouse dating from 1555. A modern extension, designed by Innauer Matt Architects, complements the listed building with great sensitivity. A bridge to the present day has also been built in terms of communication.

Super BfG worked closely with the Bezau Museum Association to develop the new name, image and all communication materials for the museum. The new look is not a loud break with the past, but a quiet opening – respectful of history, but with a clear view to the future. The design picks up on the architectural language: sections, corners and curves of the new wooden façade become a graphic principle. The lettering remains functional and calm – carried by two typographic voices that combine history and modernity. GT Alpina adds narrative depth, while the neutral NN Nouvelle Grotesk lends clarity and simplicity to the overall picture.

A special shade of yellow is at the heart of the colour scheme – symbolising the dawn of a new era. Combined with natural tones such as wood, milk and honey, it creates a visual connection between built space and creative expression. The striking recess in the letter M becomes a recurring element: as a support, frame and point of orientation.

The branding has been consistently applied to a wide variety of media – from folders, postcards and envelopes to exhibition sliders, stickers and tea packaging. The new website rounds off the project digitally: it not only makes the stories of the Bregenzerwald visible, but also brings them to life.

How do you live? is Anja Pleyer’s interior architecture studio in Davos and Zurich. The dynamic logo reflects the question's creative potential, combining solid typography with architectural elements. Variable paper and colors allow a subtle brand flexibility.

The branding was created by Anuschka Fink.

Super Büro für Gestaltung has designed the website for Kaufmann B Baumanagement, a construction management company with offices in Reuthe and Dornbirn, Austria.

The typeface used is the Book weight of Store Norske Ja, from Skriftkompani.

Every once or twice a year, the literature association literatur:vorarlberg, located in Vorarlberg, the westernmost state of Austria, publishes its very own magazine titled V#. The publication provides a platform to present and support the work of regional authors. Each issue is dedicated to a particular theme or topic to which authors are invited to contribute their texts. In autumn 2022, the association published the special issue V#38 Täuschung for which young and upcoming authors were asked to explore the theme of illusion. A wide spectrum of texts was produced and presented alongside hand-drawn optical illusions. The publication was printed with the spot colours blue and orange to achieve a particularly intense colour contrast. This enhances the effect of the optical illusions and contributes to an overall playful appearance of the special issue.

Designers Nguyen Gobber used Loretta for the text, combined with Antarctica.

A2 poster for the city of Heidelberg for their online lecture series about a new law in Germany that makes conversion practices punishable. The text is set with NN Nouvelle Grotesk from the Swiss type foundry Nouvelle Noire.

Conversion practices are usually hidden and unconscious practices that aim to change other people’s sexual orientation in the direction of heterosexuality or a cisgender identity. The practices cause severe and long-lasting health consequences and assume the necessity to “cure” LGBTIQ+ individuals.

These consequences are conveyed in the poster: It is not about you, your identity, or your queer. It is about them. And as you read the headline, you unnoticeably turn your head and end up in an uncomfortable, displaced position.

The book Der erste Eindruck zählt! (“The first impression counts!”) by Sabrina Öttl is a practical guide for those who want to learn the art of typography in all its details.

Translated from the website of publisher Hermann Schmidt:

Sabrina Öttl introduces you to the effects of typography and how to use it in a competent and practical manner. It conveys know-how on legibility and readability, guides you through the jungle of typefaces, sensitizes you to fine differences and gives you selection criteria at hand.

Der erste Eindruck zählt! Das Handwerk der Typografie verstehen und anwenden
Pages: 160
Size: 17.2×24.5 cm

In addition to numerous logo designs, Othmar Motter also designed a number of heraldic devices. In 1991, he drew a stylized interpretation of the coat of arms of his home town, the Marktgemeinde Hard. It depicts a boat sailing on the waves of Lake Constance (German: Bodensee).

The emblem was subsequently produced in copper and mounted on the facade of the local school. For the lettering to go with it, Motter chose his Corpus, which offers similarly soft shapes.

The photos were kindly provided by Triest Verlag. Earlier this year, Triest has published the long-awaited Motter biography, edited and designed by Elias Riedmann and titled Othmar Motter – Meister der Extrabold (“Master of the Extrabold”).

Ink and whiteout on cardboard, with “Sport” pasted in, 57.6×42.1 cm

Looking back, Othmar Motter characterized his Motter Alustyle as “a flash in the pan. A purely fashionable typeface. Whereas, on principle, I otherwise didn’t really respond to fashionable or trendy faces”.*

This didn’t stop him from reactivating Alustyle for a logo design made in the early 1990s, two decades after he released it through Berthold Fototypes in 1972. Alex Giorgi was a sport equipment shop in Grödnertal, Italy. It’s not clear if the logo design was implemented.

*) In conversation with Christian Feuerstein and Manuel Tiziani in 2006, as cited in Elias Riedmann: Othmar Motter – Meister der Extrabold, Triest Verlag, 2019; my translation.
The image is reproduced from the book with kind permission of Triest Verlag.

Previously known as Gasthaus Zur Sonne, this building served as inn and as movie theater. In 1974, it was converted to a cultural center and event venue with a focus on youth care, first run by the Catholic parish and later by the municipality, and renamed to Seezentrum Hard. [Gemeindearchiv Hard]

The names painted in all-lowercase Motter Tektura (1974), a typeface by local designer Othmar Motter, were added sometime after 1975.

The photos were kindly provided by Triest Verlag. Earlier this year, Triest has published the long-awaited Motter biography, edited and designed by Elias Riedmann and titled Othmar Motter – Meister der Extrabold (“Master of the Extrabold”).

There seems to be a rule saying that Motter Tektura can’t be used without any customizations. By default, and unlike e or d, the u doesn’t have a gap.

This picture was taken sometime between 1975 and 1990.

Ink and whiteout on cardboard, 57×48 cm

Logotype for the tourist board of the Marktgemeinde Hard, Austria, the home town of Othmar Motter and his studio Vorarlberger Grafik. While this mechanical is obviously hand-drawn, using ink and whiteout, it appears to be based on a typeface. Not one of Motter’s many own designs, but a heavy display face designed by German graphic artist Peter Steiner sometime before 1973. Black Pepper was available for phototypesetting from Anton Herkner Graphisches Atelier Stuttgart. The wordmark was drawn in the late 1970s. It’s not clear if it ever was put to use.

The image is reproduced with kind permission of Triest Verlag. Earlier this year, Triest has published the long-awaited Motter biography, edited and designed by Elias Riedmann and titled Othmar Motter – Meister der Extrabold (“Master of the Extrabold”).

Optik David is an optician established in Hard, Austria in 1985. In 1993, local designer Othmar Motter was commissioned to design a logo for the family business.

Over his long career, Motter created countless logos, wordmarks and symbols, often from scratch, sometimes using his own typefaces, and occasionally relying on existing letterforms designed by others. The out-of-focus caps shown here were not rasterized by Motter. Instead, he took them directly from Process, a novelty face issued by Letraset as a winner in their International Typeface Competition in 1973. Designer John Reid from Australia mentions that his typeface “arose from the idea to intuitively interpret a complete fount as if it were photo processed.” It’s not clear if the logo ever was put to use. The currently used logo was again provided by Motter Design, now run by Othmar’s sons Peter and Siegmund.

The image is reproduced with kind permission of Triest Verlag. Earlier this year, Triest has published the long-awaited Motter biography, edited and designed by Elias Riedmann and titled Othmar Motter – Meister der Extrabold (“Master of the Extrabold”).

A Letragraphica sheet for dry-transfer lettering, with Process in 60pt.

Othmar Motter and his studio Vorarlberger Grafik have left a lasting mark upon the visual landscape of their home state of Vorarlberg, Austria (and far beyond). The identity of Pfeiffer GmbH & Co KG, a scaffolding company located in Lauterach (a neighboring town of Hard) and established in 1976, is no exception.

The logo is based on Motter Tektura. The P descender was elongated, and the e extended to connect to the following letter. In some applications, the double f gets a descender as well. Via this logo, Tektura even made it to the top of Hard’s church, among other places.

The photos were kindly provided by Triest Verlag. Earlier this year, Triest has published the long-awaited Motter biography, edited and designed by Elias Riedmann and titled Othmar Motter – Meister der Extrabold (“Master of the Extrabold”).

Motter Bregenz (also known as Motter Ornata) is one of the earliest typeface designs by Othmar Motter, drawn in 1970. To my knowledge, and unlike Tektura, Alustyle, Ombra, and Femina, it wasn’t released for phototypesetting or dry-transfer lettering. Motter used it in his own work, though.

One beautiful example is the sign for the music school in Hard. The school was established in 1971. It’s not clear how old the sign is, though. Hard is a town in the westernmost Austrian state of Vorarlberg. This is where Motter was born on this date in 1927, and where he set up his own studio in 1950, together with Sylvester Lička. They soon were joined by Hans Kaiser and made themselves a name as Vorarlberger Grafik.

Othmar Motter passed away in 2010. In the same year, his Motter Bregenz was released in digital form through Motter Fonts. The label is run by Othmar’s son Siegmund, who himself is an accomplished graphic designer and has tried his hands at typeface design, too.

Earlier this year, Triest Verlag has published the long-awaited Motter biography, edited and designed by Elias Riedmann and titled Othmar Motter – Meister der Extrabold (“Master of the Extrabold”). On 352 pages, the richly illustrated book presents a wealth of information about Motter’s life and career, his work with Vorarlberger Grafik, his numerous logo designs, and of course his typefaces. The images shown in this post were kindly provided by Triest Verlag – danke!

Othmar Motter in front of the building (undated), before the tree was planted that now obscures the sign.
Image courtesy of Triest Verlag.

Sign for a shop selling oriental rugs and mirrors, established in 1981 in Bregenz, the capital of the Austrian state Vorarlberg.

The typeface used for “Orientteppiche” is from 1981, too. And it’s a perfect example for local type: Motter Femina was designed by Othmar Motter of Vorarlberger Grafik, a design studio located in the neighboring city of Hard, about 5 km from Ramon’s shop.