Formationen einer Grenze – (Un-)Sichtbarkeit in der Teilungsarchitektur der DDR is an exhibition shown from October 3, 2025 to January 30, 2026, at Gedenkstätte Deutsche Teilung Marienborn in cooperation with Burg Giebichenstein Kunsthochschule Halle.

The exhibition presents different approaches to examining border architecture on the inner-German border. The students at BURG do not only look at the structural architecture of the border. They also address complex questions of (in)visibility of architectural elements and their impact on society: What can still be made visible about the border today? The resulting texts are the outcome of an architectural history seminar with the German Division Memorial in Marienborn. All content was subsequently enriched with archive material from the memorial.

Hagel and Hagel Mono were used throughout the project, and Jost* was used for indexing, comments and numbers.

The exhibition Dear Future presents ten artistic positions by young graduates of Burg Giebichenstein University of Art and Design Halle. The joint presentation offers a critical perspective on the present and a vision of the future. Marlene Bonamy, Lynn Gerstmair, Leon Meschede, Jonas Mosbacher, Hanbyeol Mun, Todor Joe Musev, Keren Rothenberg, Anna Taradina, Ayaha Tokusa, and JiongJi Wang provide insight into their individual approaches to analyzing the present and future and translating them into artistic formats.

Dear Future was curated by Elisabeth Würzl.

The publication Der Prozess ist der Parcours – Wie Antworten über Fragen staunen oder wie Spiele Wissen infrage stellen (“The process is the course”) is a publication and documentation of my Master project made at Burg Giebichenstein Kunsthochschule Halle. It captures the process of the exhibition and the multimedia and participatory exploration of curiosity. It is about the potential, the downsides and the promotion of curiosity. It is an attempt to spatially represent this driving force, allowing for mishaps that enable moments of critical self-reflection and knowledge production, and methods that stimulate curiosity. In particular, it focuses on playing, questioning, establishing connections and moments of irritation.

The softcover publication has 128 pages and measures 125×185 mm. It comes with a silver scratch-off sticker and changing papers.

Typeset in EB Trainer Grotesk Regular by Antoine Elsensohn of Électro-bibliothèque,
Adelphe by Eugénie Bidaut of Bye Bye Binary, and HAL Timezone Mono by HAL Typefaces. Concept and design by Alexandra Vögtle.

Galgo Condensed is paired with stylized handwriting for the exhibition the moment you know, which presents nine artistic positions by young graduates of Burg Giebichenstein University of Art and Design Halle. It was shown from September 14 to 29, 2024, at Leipziger Baumwollspinnerei. From the venue’s website (translated):

Claire Ebendinger, Maya Fenderl, José Madrigal Despaigne, Axel Orozco Möhl, Naomi Pietros, Anne Pruy, Emika Sekine, Daniela Trabold and Veronika Weber provide insights into their individual approaches. Above all, they raise the question of the closed nature of the artistic process. The activation in the space, the reaction of the visitors or the idea that each form is only one possible variation of many refer to the countless possibilities of artistic practice and at the same time to the diverse paths of the graduates after their studies. The exhibition features painting, sculpture, ceramics, photography, sound and video installations. Their interplay conveys an impression of how diverse the content-related and technical approaches and starting points of artistic work are and in turn creates new connections in the presentation. The works from the 2023/24 graduating class of the BURG Art Department were selected by an internal university jury consisting of Prof. Tilo Baumgärtel, Prof. Natalie Häusler, Prof. Philipp Gaißer and Elisabeth Würzl.

Werkschau Mode 24 was the annual exhibition of student and graduation projects made in the Fashion program at Burg Giebichenstein Kunsthochschule Halle. It was shown in July 2024 at Volkspark Halle. The typeface used for the posters and tickets is Bastardo Grotesk, supported by the art school’s custom Burg Grotesk.

Research and design by Anna-Lena Schmitt and Josephine Schröder in the context of a workshop format with the same name. They describe the project as follows (translated by the contributor):

We researched anger in the context of female socialisation. The aim of our work is to make anger visible. FLINTA* who have changed the world are rarely described as angry, although anger was often their driving force. Due to gender-specific historiography, FLINTA* lack both anger role models and the opportunity to be seen as such themselves.

The publication Wuträume (spaces of / for anger) documents our exploration of the topic. It takes you through the workshops and guides you through the thoughts, statements and emotions of the participants. The publication is a workshop to take away.

Set in Bastardo Grotesk by Giulia Boggio, Bianzhidai by Xiaoyuan Gao and Nomo Mono by Lea Johanna Becker.

Poster design for a lecture by Philipp Neumann and Karen Laube of MZIN at Burg Giebichenstein Kunsthochschule Halle. Design by Markus Lange, using Marianne by Benoît Bodhuin.

Alex Vögtle and Lucas Kramer designed the scenography and brochure for the 2023 edition of the annual Burg Typo exhibition at Burg Giebichenstein Kunsthochschule Halle. From Burg Typo’s Instagram post:

We asked our fellow students to describe their projects in terms of verbs and their doings and gathered them in an alphabetical list, which is foil plotted on the entrance windows. The list not only welcomes visitors, but also serves as an index to the typographic activities of the class presented in the room. An accompanying brochure with various covers offers a deeper engagement with the individual design processes.

The featured typefaces are Rosart by Camelot Typefaces, KTF Rublena by Kyiv Type Foundry and Burg Grotesk Mono by Andrea Tinnes.

The publication Wie kann CMYK durch die Kraft der 4 Elemente erweitert oder gar ersetzt werden? / How can CMYK be enhanced or even be replaced by the power of the 4 elements? was the outcome of a semester project of the experimental, analog printing seminar “4 Elements Printing” (winter semester 2021/22) as part of the ongoing research module Loose Library of Print at the Burg Giebichenstein University of Art and Design Halle and was produced onsite at the university’s offset print shop. Marion Kliesch headed the course at the time.

The publication was created by the students Fanny Liebhardt, Greta Much, Hyelim Kim, Jasmin Zehe, Leonardo Alliata, Lioba Wachtel, Lore Elstermann, Louise Holtz, Luisa Kaiser, Melanie Hauffe and Nadine Härting, with support of the university’s printing press staff: Frank Just, Robert Marschall, Matthias Schwenke, Frank Robrecht and Philipp Hoffmann. It was set in HAL Timezone, published by HAL Typefaces. Printing ink was sponsored by Epple Druckfarben AG and Jänecke+Schneemann Druckfarben GmbH. Before printing, the printing plates were manipulated in different ways, for example, by exposure to water, fire, earth and sun; bathing exposed plates in a river for two weeks; or scratching the surface with screw drivers, rotary tools or sandpaper.

From the seminar’s instagram post:

FIRE, EARTH, WATER and LIGHT – comparable to an environmental disaster, the four elements break into the high standards of offset printing like forces of nature. This is because the machines and materials are all finely calibrated and calculated to ensure a uniform print image. Therefore, in offset printing, great care is usually taken to keep all environmental influences, such as temperature and humidity stable and to exclude the disturbing influence of light or foreign bodies like dust.

For our experiments, however, we virtually challenged the “catastrophe”: We deliberately used the power of the four elements. To do so, we initially started with analog experiments, with which we tried to narrow down the extent to which the modern printing process can withstand extreme conditions.

Identity and posters designed for the Mahnmal Keupstraße, an anti-racist learning and memorial site in Cologne, Germany.

In Cologne, there is a fight for a memorial. It’s intended to commemorate the two right-wing terrorist bombings by the National Socialist Underground (NSU) – one in 2001 in Probsteigasse and another in 2004 in Keupstraße. In 2016, artist Ulf Aminde's proposal for a memorial was selected. However, it has not been realized to this day. The affected individuals, the artist, and initiatives have been fighting for the learning and memorial site at Keupstraße for more than eight years.

Over the past one and a half years, Marie Teigler, Lena Würsching, and Volker Buchwald – members of the Studiengruppe Informationsdesign at Burg Giebichenstein Kunsthochschule Halle – developed a visual language for the memorial site and the website. This was done in collaboration with Ulf Aminde and in exchange with the initiative Herkesin Meydani – Platz für Alle,

On Sunday, June 9, 2024, marking the 20th anniversary of the attack in Keupstraße, the designers presented their work as part of the commemorative festival Birlikte, alongside Aminde (project management and conception) and headtrip immersive media GmbH (mobile UX design and augmented reality) on Keupstraße. The poem is by Aminde, the translation by Engincan Kumlalı.

In a one-week seminar led by Prof. Dr. Pablo Abend at the Burg Giebichenstein Kunsthochschule Halle, the course participants took an in-depth look at Marc Augé's theory of “non-places”. In addition to reading and discussing the texts together, the participants also went in search of “non-places” in the vicinity of the university, conducted on-site field studies, and formulated their own essays on these places, recording what makes them “non-places” according to Augé's definition. The results, photographs and source documents from the seminar, were then compiled into a publication for the annual exhibition by Marie Teigler and Jakob Nonnen and published by the Design Studies Department of Burg Giebichenstein Kunsthochschule Halle.

Baghira by Identity Letters in its Regular style was chosen for the titles and markups and Archive Grotesk by Scifipoetry for the main text.

G2 TGR in use for the visual archive Inventory Of – an ongoing project by Georg Stahlbock and Fanny Liebhardt. As part of the Typo Archiv project at the Burg Giebichenstein art school, the students created an edition of zines and posters, to play with their archive of images and show the potential of the collection. From the Typo Archiv website:

The composition of the images suggests associations between different worlds. The order and logic is not immediately apparent, because the network of images arises from connections that escape an analytical thought process. This creates a complex system of references that are related in form, color and meaning and refers to the prior knowledge of the viewer. In an interaction, the themes and features complement and manipulate each other.

Spotted in Halle (Saale), Germany: An unexpected and dynamic poster using the Regular and the Italic version of Salvaje Display.

This poster was designed by Mohd Fairuz Bin Sulaiman, who is Teaching Assistant at KISD. It’s part of an exhibition happening at the main design event Hurra Hurra – International Festival of Design Education for the 21st Century, taking place at Burg Giebichenstein University of Art and Design from 4–6 October 2019.

Second flyer and handout for a series of exhibitions at Burg Galerie im Volkspark, the art school’s gallery in Halle, Germany. Designed by Miriam Humm and Marcus Wachter, it features the recently released Tiny and the upcoming Eliza.

On July 13 and 14, the students of Burg Giebichenstein University of Art and Design will present their annual exhibition. Lisa Linz and Maja Redlin developed the visual identity. To announce the event, they designed a series of typographic posters.

Due to the current political climate in Germany we take a stand as an art institution with three distinct political statements:
“We protect the freedom, diversity and independence of art and design”, “We stand at the side of those who are pushed to the edge of society” and “We commit ourselves to a plural togetherness and individual, idiosyncratic ways”. — @burgtypo

Media Sans Bold is used for the statements, arranged in alternatingly left- and right-aligned lines. The information is shown below in caps from Fakt Condensed. The serif used for the smaller text blocks is Eliza. Produced in the school’s print shop, the posters and cards feature gradients in fluorescent Pantone spot colors, offset printed on RecyStar Polar stock.

Printed matter for the first part of a new series of exhibitions at Burg Gallery in the Volkspark.
Designed by Marcus Wachter and Miriam Humm using Pickle-Standard and SM Maxéville.

Burg Giebichenstein in Halle, in alphabetical order. Encyclopaedia of the Burg. Nº 26 in the series Burg Giebichenstein Kunsthochschule Halle. Published to celebrate the university’s centennial.

Edited by Matthias Noell with the assistance of Renate Luckner-Bien, Luzia Rux and Thomas Kümmel. Typography and typesetting by Ferdinand Ulrich, using FF Franziska by Jakob Runge and Burg Grotesk, a custom typeface designed by Andrea Tinnes, professor for typography at the Burg.

© 2015 Burg Giebichenstein University of Art and Design Halle and the authors
ISBN 978–3–935053–85–3

Jonathan Pierini (one half of the duo that created the Parmigiano Type System) designed this stellar booklet primarily typeset in Lexicon.

Jonathan Piernini:

Lebensformen, design for tomorrow is a joint project of the Burg Giebichenstein Kunsthochschule Halle and the Freie Universität Bozen. It looks at the design process not as a problem-oriented aid, but rather understands aging as an emotional condition of change that is of great relevance to society. Following their direct and personal contact with people of older generations, students have prepared a narrative concept.