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

Un mot, un matériau, École Française de Saarbruck et Dilling, 2008.

Of all the title fonts from the Klingspor type foundry, Neuland was probably the most frequently used abroad. But how was it produced? A letter Koch sent to Ernst Kellner in 1922 raises more questions than it answers, and designers have speculated for nearly half a century about whether Koch really cut the hallmarks without any preparation. Dan Reynolds has examined the various sources; Edvinas Žukauskas and Jérôme Knebusch have digitised the different sizes for the first time. The essay Making Neuland and the typeface Koch Grotesk were published by Poem for Neuland’s centenary in 2023. Conference held at ENSAD Nancy, 28 November 2023. It was recorded, link below.

Title
Making/Remaking Neuland
Date
2023
Type
Research
Client
École nationale supérieure d'art et design Nancy
Place
Nancy
Material
Conference
Video
ENSAD Nancy 2023

Making/Remaking Neuland, conference, ENSAD Nancy, w/ Dan Reynolds & Edvinas Žukauskas, 2023.

Philly Hands is a concise but in-depth survey description of Philadelphian street penmanship, written and photographed by François Chastanet. It explores the Philly writers’ lexicon of ‘hands’, ranging from the original Gangster Prints to the Tall Hands, Wickeds, Stiff Hands, Punchlines, and more. It also provides a rare glimpse into the preparatory work done on paper before performing in the street. Through ductus diagrams, the inner tracing logic of landmark letters is revealed, offering insights into the unique calligraphic tradition of Philadelphia – nicknamed ‘Whip City’ and celebrated as the land of extreme cursivity. With a legacy spanning more than fifty years, the city has much to offer to lettering enthusiasts. Some cities are able to develop their own scriptural ‘texture’, going beyond individual experiments with the image of the name. Edited by Alice Savoie and Jérôme Knebusch in the Poem Pamphlet series.

Title
Philly Hands
Date
2024
Type
Editorial design
Client
Poem
Place
Frankfurt am Main
Material
Pamphlet
Publisher
Poem

Philly Hands, François Chastanet, Poem, Frankfurt am Main, 2024.

Accent sur Est, École Supérieure d’Art, Metz, 2008.

The book brings together researchers from the fields of typography, palaeography and incunabula studies, with a particular focus on type and letterforms. The relatively understudied period – after Gutenberg and before the consolidation of Jenson’s model – extends from the earliest traces of ‘humanistic’ tendencies to ‘pure’ roman type, including many cases of uncertain or experimental design, voluntary hybridisation and proto- or archaic roman. In 1459 in Mainz, Johann Fust and Peter Schöffer printed the Rationale Divinorum Officiorum by Guillaume Durand, using a typeface (now known as ‘Durandus’) that looked like no other before. From that point, we can follow a wide variety of developments, partly related to the travels of early printers from the Rhine area to Italy and France. By extension, the private press movement initiated by William Morris and Emery Walker at the end of the nineteenth century in England, revived some of those typefaces before they were once more largely forgotten.

Title
Gotico-Antiqua, proto-roman, hybrid. 15th-century types between gothic and roman
Date
2021
Type
Editorial design, Research
Client
Poem, Atelier National de Recherche Typographique
Place
Nancy
Material
Book
Editorial direction
Jérôme Knebusch
Translation
Nigel Briggs, Jean-François Caro
Photography
Nabila Halim
Format
16×23,6 cm
Paper
Fedrigoni Sirio, Arena White Rough
Pages
496
Printing
Imprimerie Moderne, Pont-à-Mousson
Binding
Cloth hardcover, sewn, hot foil embossing, 2 colour screenprint on edges, 2 bookmarks
Publisher
Poem, ANRT/ENSAD, les presses du réel
Award
Fedrigoni Top Award 2022
Award
Most Beautiful German Books Shortlist 2021
ISBN
978-2-37896-226-5

Gotico-Antiqua, proto-roman, hybrid. 15th-century types between gothic and roman, Jérôme Knebusch (ed.), Poem & ANRT/ENSAD, Frankfurt am Main & Nancy, 2021.

Three lingual, 16 pages article about the genesis of the Instant typeface. Published in Typografische Monatsblätter / Revue Suisse de l'imprimerie / Swiss Typographic Magazine, N°6, 2012. Written by Jérôme Knebusch. Free PDF download on link below.

Title
Instant: from handwriting to type design
Date
2012
Type
Research, Editorial design
Client
Typografische Monatsblätter / Revue Suisse de l'imprimerie / Swiss Typographic Magazine
Place
Bern
Material
Essay
Download
Article

Instant: from handwriting to type design, Typografische Monatsblätter / Revue Suisse de l'imprimerie / Swiss Typographic Magazine, N°6, 2012.

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.

Rudolf Koch and Fritz Kredel's remarkable Blumenbuch [Book of Flowers] was published between 1929 and 1942, from precious volumes and portfolios to pocket editions, involving numerous collaborators, printers and publishers such as Mainzer Presse in Mainz, Ernst-Ludwig-Presse in Darmstadt and Insel-Verlag, Leipzig. The Insel paperback edition continued to be printed throughout the 20th century. Koch began drawing wild flowers in 1922. He explains that he 'collected [the flowers] at random and without any particular purpose. I only drew those that grew in Offenbach and the surrounding area...'. A member of Koch's Werkstatt, the young Kredel, engraved most of the 250 drawings. The flowers were engraved on wood and coloured entirely by hand. The entire project - the various editions, sketchbooks, printing tests and original woodcuts - constitutes an exceptional archive that was exhibited for the first time in France, at the Modulab gallery in Metz The exhibition curated by Jérôme Knebusch is a joint venture between the Klingspor Museum, Poem, Modulab and the École nationale d'art et de design de Nancy.

Title
Das Blumenbuch
Date
2023
Type
Research
Client
Modulab
Place
Metz
Material
Exhibition
Curator
Jérôme Knebusch
Archive
Klingspor Museum
Conference
ANRT 2020
Photography
Benjamin Roi

Das Blumenbuch, Modulab, Metz, 4.5 – 17.6.2023. Klingspor Museum Archive.

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.

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.

‘What if' is a typical question for an alternate history scenario, also called Uchronia: choose a starting point in history and imagine a different outcome. Based on Futura Fett, released by the Bauer Foundry in Frankfurt in 1928, the type was pushed to extreme blackness without loosing its historical reference nor becoming a caricature. Decisions Paul Renner took to achieve maximum boldness like opening the counters of some letters were taken even further. The typeface, designed by Constantin Pfeiffer & Jérôme Knebusch and released in 2020, was initially created during a workshop at the Gutenberg Museum Mainz at the occasion of the 'Futura. Die Schrift' exhibition in 2017. It has a single weight (among the blackest one can find), five widths and respective oblique versions. The glyphset is extended with Futura's iconic historical alternates, ‘Schmuck-Elemente' (decorative geometric forms) and a complete range of thin punctuation marks and diacritics.

Title
If
Date
2017–2020
Type
Type design
Client
Poem
Place
Frankfurt am Main
Material
Retail typeface
Publication
Poem
Free licences
For environmental & socially engaged projects!

If, typeface, w/ Constantin Pfeiffer, 2007-2020. Published by Poem.

Louis Hoell cut the punches for the only published typeface Otto Eckmann ever designed. The story of the Eckmannschrift’s creation has often been told. In retrospect, it was the release that made Karl Klingspor’s reputation as a typefoundry director of note. Yet instead of looking at the Eckmannschrift from Klingspor or Eckmann’s point of view, Dan Reynolds's essay directs its focus to what Hoell’s design contributions to the project might have been. With rare and unpublished material from the Klingspor archives in Offenbach am Main. Edited by Alice Savoie and Jérôme Knebusch in the Poem Pamphlet series.

Title
Louis Hoell and the making of the Eckmannschrift
Date
2020
Type
Editorial design
Client
Poem
Place
Frankfurt am Main
Material
Pamphlet
Publisher
Poem

Louis Hoell and the making of the Eckmannschrift, Dan Reynolds, Poem, Frankfurt am Main, 2020.

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