Atelier Jérôme Knebusch
Mainzer Landstraße 105
60329 Frankfurt am Main
jk [at] jeromeknebusch.net
+49 69 15 61 60 23

Pedagogical materiality covers all media, tools, objects, toys and devices dedicated to the transmission of knowledge. In short, all the ‘things' which accompany educational activity, regardless of the place in which it occurs. Because this materiality is expressed in terms of properties perceptible through the senses, its uses are particularly popular throughout the pre-school period and in early-learning methods. Éloïsa Pérez's essay discusses examples from the early 19th century until today. It is structured in three parts: constructing (the letter), guiding (the movement through trajectory and tracing) and composing (the word). The pamphlet is accompanied by the edition of an exclusive capital lettering template and two postcards. Edited by Alice Savoie and Jérôme Knebusch in the Poem Pamphlet series. Translated into English by Nigel Briggs.

Title
The material discovery of the alphabet
Date
2021
Type
Editorial design
Client
Poem
Place
Frankfurt am Main
Material
Pamphlet
Publication
Poem

The material discovery of the alphabet, Éloïsa Pérez, Poem, Frankfurt am Main, 2021. Published by Poem.

Instant is an anachronic type family going from thin, quick handwritten letters to stable, black typographic shapes. Each of the five styles correspond to a singular design related to a specific stroke speed and weight: Vivid, Quick, Regular, Slow, Heavy. Hommage to the poet, painter and writer Henri Michaux (1899 – 1984), it questions fundamental differences between handwriting and typography, type family consistency and the relation and usage of roman, bold and cursive faces. Instant was designed by Jérôme Knebusch in 2005 as part of a personal research project at ANRT Nancy. First published in 2012 by BAT Foundry, it is today available at Poem. In 2020, Instant Variable was added to the collection.

Title
Instant Variable
Date
2020
Type
Type design, Research
Client
Poem
Place
Frankfurt am Main
Material
Retail typeface
Award
Typo­graphica 2012
Award
Best ten fonts of the year, Fontwerk 2012
Publication
Poem

Instant Variable, typeface, 2020. Published by Poem.

The conference explores a period in the history of typography that, relatively speaking, is not often studied: after Gutenberg and before the Jenson model was stabilized. The body of work study extends back to the first humanistic tendencies toward 'pure' romans, by way of many cases of uncertain designs, voluntary hybridizations, or archaic forms of roman. Undertaken between 2016 and 2020 at ANRT Nancy and coordinated by Jérôme Knebusch, this conference at ATypI Montréal in 2017 was the first public presentation of an ongoing research project. Its final outcome was an exhibition with symposium in 2019, and a book in 2021. Conference video link below.

Title
Halbgotische, Gotico-Antiqua, Fere-Humanistica: between blackletter and roman
Date
2017
Type
Research
Client
Association Typographique Internationale
Place
Montréal
Material
Conference
Video
ATypI Montréal, 2017

Halbgotische, Gotico-Antiqua, Fere-Humanistica: between blackletter and roman, conference, ATypI Montréal, 2017.

Editorial design of the Pangramme: learning type design catalogue, published by ESAL Metz, 2016. The catalogue showcases fifty unpublished student type designs, interviews held by the Design graphique & Typographie class at ESAL Metz with the jury members: Andrea Tinnes (Germany), Alejandro Lo Celso (Argentina), Matthieu Cortat (France), Hans-Jürg Hunziker (Switzerland) & Gerard Unger (Netherlands). The catalogue features also bibliography in images, essential books when learning type design, published between 1905 and 2016. Book entirely printed in single black, and distributed freely at the opening of the exhibition. 15x26 cm, 200 pages, soft-cover with dustjacket, limited to 300 copies. Free PDF download of the catalogue (link below). More information about the exhibition here.

Title
Pangramme: learning type design
Date
2016
Type
Education, Editorial design
Client
École Supérieure d'Art de Lorraine
Place
Metz
Material
Catalogue
Assistance
Francis Ramel, Rafael Ribas
Text typeface
Messine
Paper
Munken Lynx
Printing
Imbescheidt, Frankfurt am Main
Edition
École Supérieure d'Art de Lorraine

Pangramme: learning type design, ESAL Metz, 2016.

Rudolf Koch began drawing the Offenbach typeface in 1928, the first size was cut in 1931, and Koch made final corrections on his deathbed in 1934. The type was published from 6 to 60 pt posthumously by Gebr. Klingspor foundry in 1935. Stylistically, Offenbach is a hybrid, pairing wide roman capitals with narrow gothic minuscules, a mixture Koch had experienced in several of his typefaces like Jessen or Wallau. His student Hans Kühne had added to the Klingspor release the ‘German’ gothic capitals as alternative to the roman capitals. Offenbach is a faithful revival of Offenbach Mager, the initial thin weight, based on a one-week workshop in 2022 under the direction of Jérôme Knebusch. The students of the HfG Offenbach studied the archive material in the Klingspor Museum and lead type in the nearby printing workshop in the Bernardbau. The Offenbach typeface is freely usable by anyone, privately or professionally, under the Creative Commons CC BY-ND 4.0 license. This licence allows free use of the font, provided that the type and author are mentioned when using it (Offenbach by Rudolf Koch) and that no modification is made to its design.

Title
Offenbach
Date
2025
Type
Type design
Client
Hochschule für Gestaltung Offenbach, Klingspor Museum, Poem
Place
Offenbach
Material
Free typeface
Workshop
Yile Cho, Quirin Fürbeck, Simon Gerstner, Paula Janser, Emerson Martus, Ekaterina Sacharova, Ngoc Anh Tran, Chiara Wißler, Edvinas Žukauskas (Marc Schütz, HfG Offenbach)
Licence
Creative Commons CC BY-ND 4.0

Offenbach, free typeface, 2025. Published by Poem and Klingspor Type Archive / HfG Offenbach.

One week workshop with Bachelor students. Design of a digital alphabet where capitals and minuscules have a distinctive different drawing.

Title
Two types in one
Date
2019
Type
Education
Client
Hochschule Aachen
Place
Aachen
Material
Workshop

Two types in one, Hochschule Aachen, 2019.

Essay devoted to the study of typefaces created during the 15th century which are neither roman nor gothic. The main concern is to offer a description and nomenclature. The research had been undertaken within the framework of the programme at the Atelier National de Recherche Typographique (France). Written by Jérôme Knebusch. Published in Azimuts 48-49, St. Etienne, 2018.

Title
Drôles de types / Strange Types
Date
2018
Type
Research
Client
Azimuts
Place
St. Etienne
Material
Essay
Publisher
Azimuts / ESAD Saint-Etienne
Online republication
ANRT Articles

Drôles de types / Strange Types, Azimuts 48-49, St. Etienne, 2018.

One hour conference about four typeface projects: Instant, Almost, Triennale and Nouveau. Given at Fonts & Faces symposium #9 curated by Simon Renaud. Video recording link below.

Title
Instant Nouveau
Date
2022
Type
Research
Client
Campus Fonderie de l'Image
Place
Paris
Material
Conference
Identity design
Simon Renaud
Conference
Full video online

Instant Nouveau, conference, Fonts & Faces #9, symposium, Campus Fonderie de l'Image, Paris, 2022.

Rudolf Koch's and Fritz Kredel's remarkable Blumenbuch [the flower book] was published several times between 1929 and 1942, from pocket book editions to precious volumes and portfolios, involving many collaborators, printers and publishers like Mainzer Presse, Ernst-Ludwig-Presse in Darmstadt and Insel-Verlag, Leipzig. The essay by Jérôme Knebusch compiles a detailed chronology of the different editions and presents rare and unpublished material from the archives of the Klingspor Museum, Offenbach am Main. About the Blumenbuch is the first of the Poem Pamphlet series edited by Alice Savoie and Jérôme Knebusch.

Title
About the Blumenbuch
Date
2020
Type
Research, Editorial design
Client
Poem
Place
Frankfurt am Main
Material
Essay
Publisher
Poem

About the Blumenbuch, Poem, Frankfurt am Main, 2020.

Garden Party, Sébastien Gouju, Saarländische Galerie, Berlin, 2011.

Chercher sa recherche, Ministère de la culture, ENSAD Nancy, 2012. Published by Presses Universitaires Nancy.

Bilingual (French, German) supplement to Pangramme: learning type catalogue, published by ESAL Metz, published at the occasion of the traveling exhibition at Biennale de design graphique Chaumont and Museum für Druckkunst Leipzig in 2017 and 2018. Texts by Andrea Tinnes, Thomas Huot-Marchand, Sébastien Morlighem and Jérôme Knebusch. 15x26 cm, 16 pages pamphlet. Free PDF downloads (links below). More information about the exhibtion here.

Title
Pangramme: learning type design
Date
2017–2018
Type
Education, Editorial design, Research
Client
Biennale de design graphique Chaumont, Museum für Druckkunst Leipzig
Place
Chaumont, Leipzig
Material
Essays
German translation
Interpreters International, Strasbourg
Proofreading German
Christine Hartmann
Typeface
Messine
Paper
Munken Lynx
Printing
Imbescheidt, Frankfurt am Main & Pöge Druck, Leipzig
Download
French edition
Download
German edition

Pangramme: learning type design, ESAL Metz, Biennale de design graphique Chaumont, Museum für Druckkunst Leipzig, 2017-2018.

next page