Decode Blockdock is a font which integrates a representative, uniformed glyph for each encoded Unicode block. Commissioned by Johannes Bergerhausen from Institut Designlabor Gutenberg/ Hochschule Mainz and used for the decodeunicode and worldswritingsystems websites (links below), and its iconic poster together with the missing scripts (ANRT research program).

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.

Brave New World Order catalogue, exhibition held 2021 at Rotondes, Casino Luxembourg – Forum d'art contemporain. The exhibition was entirely photographed so that the catalogue resembles a guided tour. Shorter, white info sheets come next to the photographs to identify the artworks. Three bookmarks permit multiple entries and reflect the black identity lines. The dust jacket once unfolded presents the exhibition poster. The books uses the custom design of a typefaces in two styles. More information on the project on its dedicated website, also designed (link below).

Nouveau Quellstift is the rounded variant of the Nouveau typeface. In theory, all sans serif types could have rounded versions. Here, it resonates particularly with the origins of Art Nouveau letters, which can be found in writing rather than in typography. The Quellstift, literally ‘source pen’, is a monolinear writing tool made of shaped cork. Rudolf von Larisch promoted its use through his artistic writing courses at the Kunstgewerbeschule in Vienna and his influential 1905 book ‘Unterricht in ornamentaler Schrift’. This modern interpretation designed by Jérôme Knebusch has 36 styles: six weights ranging from thin to bold, and five sub-families arranged from the most quiet to the most expressive forms named after some influential flowers of the Art Nouveau mouvement: Crocus, Dahlia, Gingko, Nenuphar, Rose, Thistle. The Nouveau typeface was initially designed as an all-caps custom typeface for the École de Nancy, the art museum in France, with Philippe Tytgat.

The remarkable edition of Das Blumenbuch [The Flower Book] was published several times between 1929 and 1942, from small 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. Rudolf Koch, explains in a letter that he ‘collected [flowers] at random and without any particular aim. I ketched only the ones which grew in and around Offenbach … This collection is intended to give people a taste of summer while it is winter.’ One member of Koch’s ‘Werkstatt’, the young Fritz Kredel, engraved most of the 250 drawings in pear wood. Online lecture given at ANRT Nancy. With rare and unpublished material from the Klingspor Archives. Courtesy Klingspor Museum, Offenbach am Main. Video recording link below.

Nouveau is a playful Jugendstil typeface based on a modernist design. Sometimes qualified in German speaking regions as Künstler-Grotesk – ‘Artist Sans Serif'– the typeface gathers different Art Nouveau forms found in architecture, furniture or art and transposes them into one harmonizing design. The typeface is characterized by wide capitals in many variants paired to slightly condensed minuscules with a generous x-height. Five weights range from hair strokes to a robust medium. The six styles (Crocus, Dahlia, Gingko, Nenuphar, Rose, Thistle) are arranged from the most quiet to the most expressive letter­forms. A variable font assembles all styles in one and makes them accessible through a weight and an exclusive flora axis. Nouveau was designed by Jérôme Knebusch and Philippe Tytgat and published in 2022 by Poem. It was initially created as an all-caps custom type for the École de Nancy, the Art Nouveau museum in France.

In 2011, students of ESAL Metz started within a workshop with Argentinian type designer Alejandro Lo Celso and their teacher Jérôme Knebusch a specific design for their school. Looking for a bookish typeface tending to modern forms, the students found interesting references in the work of Baskerville and Didot, precisely: exactly inbetween. The type grew during the following years, each time in intensive workshop sessions, to a complete type family named Messine, covering text, display, poster, italic, bold, sans and serif versions. Today, Messine is the official and exclusive typeface of the school, used all over its documents.

Koch Lichte Grotesk is the newest revival of Lichte Neuland by Rudolf Koch, designed by Edvinas Žukauskas and Jérôme Knebusch and published by Poem for Neuland’s centenary in 2023. Lichte Neuland appeared five years after Neuland in 1928, in the Gebr. Klingspor specimen dedicated to the American market by the Continental Typefounders Association. Koch Lichte Grotesk is an accurate revival of the 12 pt Cicero size, the smallest one. It is currently the only fully identified original size, as shown on the 1928 index card of the German Association of Typefounders. This association was founded at the beginning of the 20th century and most German type foundries were members. It served to represent their interests in economic, political and legal matters. A secondary source are the Lichte Neuland Cicero letters from the letterpress workshop P98A, Berlin. Koch Lichte Grotesk is available in four fonts: 12 Cicero, 12 Cicero Plain, 12 Cicero Inline and 12 Cicero Line. 10% of licence purchases are deposited each year as flowers on Koch's grave.