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

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 week workshop and research trip with ANRT students at Biblioteca Santa Scolastica in Subiaco, 2018. Digital revival of the two types used (and probably also created) by Konrad Sweynheim & Arnold Pannartz in Subiaco and Rome. Part of the Gotico-Antiqua research program. Published as free OpenSource fonts at ANRT (link below).

Title
Sweynheim & Pannartz
Date
2018
Type
Education, Research
Client
Atelier National de Recherche Typographique
Place
Subiaco
Material
Workshop
Publication
Free OpenSource fonts

Sweynheim & Pannartz, w/ Thomas Huot-Marchand & Emilie Rigaud (ANRT), Biblioteca Santa Scolastica, Subiaco, 2018.

Zainer’s Gotico-Antiqua, Hochschule & Stadtbibliothek Aachen, 2017.

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.

Title
Messine
Date
2011–2019
Type
Education, Type design
Client
École Supérieure d'Art de Lorraine
Place
Metz
Material
Workshop programme, custom typeface
Interview
Graphisme en France
Conference
Mets, Messins, Messine, Let's Type symposium, Metz 2013
Conference
Baskerville in France symposium, Amiens 2018
Award
Fine Press Book Association 2013
Award
Ampersand Exhibition 2013

Messine, workshop programme, custom typeface, w/ PampaType, ESAL Metz, 2011-2019.

Alice Savoie and Jérôme Knebusch have edited between 2020 and 2025 ten essays by Jérôme Knebusch, Sébastien Morlighem, Riccardo Olocco, Dan Reynolds, Éloïsa Pérez, EESAB Type, Yoann De Roeck, François Chastanet, Julien Van Anholt in the Poem Pamphlets collection. The screenprinted box, white on black paper, assembles them.

Title
Poem Pamphlets 1-10
Date
2025
Type
Editorial design, Research
Client
Poem
Place
Frankfurt am Main
Material
Pamphlets, box
Screenprint
f+h Siebdruck, Maintal
Box
Gümblein Papierverarbeitung, Heusenstamm
Publisher
Poem

Poem Pamphlets 1-10, Poem, Frankfurt am Main, 2020-2025. Edited by Alice Savoie & Jérôme Knebusch.

Custom typeface in two styles, upright and italic, respectively entitled 1981 and 1996. While the first is a relecture of the first digital typefaces and their idiosyncratic approach, the second, more mature, comes closer to 1990s humanistic sans serifs. Used exlusively for the identity design of Brave New World Order – Triennale Jeune Création held at Rotondes and Casino Luxembourg. The young art triennale is a major event for emerging artists from Luxembourg and the Greater Region. The 2021 edition was devoted to the millennials generation. See here the typeface use within the overall design. See here the typeface use within the design of the catalogue. Here for on the signage project. And here for the website. A preliminary version was used here.

Title
Triennale 1981-1996
Date
2020
Type
Type design
Client
Rotondes, Casino Luxembourg
Place
Luxembourg City
Material
Custom typeface

Triennale 1981-1996, custom typeface, Triennale Jeune Création, Rotondes, Casino Luxembourg – Forum d'art contemporain, 2020.

Design of the exhibition signage panels and outdoor visuals of the Brave New World Order – Triennale Jeune Création held at Rotondes and Casino Luxembourg – Forum d'art contemporain in 2021. The young art triennale is a major event for emerging artists from Luxembourg and the Greater Region. Initiated during Luxembourg European Capital of Culture 2007, the Triennale was held for the fifth time in 2021. The identity integrated the custom design of a typefaces in two styles. See here for more information on the design of the catalogue. Here for more information on the general design. And here for the website.

Title
Triennale Jeune Création
Date
2021
Type
Visual identity
Client
Rotondes, Casino Luxembourg
Place
Luxembourg City
Material
Signage
Scenography
Morgan Fortems

Brave New World Order – Triennale Jeune Création, Rotondes, Casino Luxembourg – Forum d'art contemporain, 2021.

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.

Poster of the Hubba Bubba collage by Jérôme Knebusch (2010, from the Biography series) greatly enlarged and screenprinted by renowned printer Lézard Graphique, Brumath (F). At the occasion of the Aux petits bonheurs poster exhibition in Crest (F), 2020. Limited edition of 10 copies, signed and numbered. The unsigned copies were pasted in the streets of Crest.

Title
Hubba Bubba
Date
2020
Type
Artworks
Client
Centre d'Art de Crest
Place
Crest
Material
Poster, collage
Limited edition
Poem
Screenprint
Lézard Graphique, Brumath

Hubba Bubba, Centre d'Art de Crest, 2020. Published by Poem.

‘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.

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

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
Date
2005–2012
Type
Type design, Research
Client
Poem
Place
Frankfurt am Main
Material
Retail typeface
Article
Typografische Monatsblätter 2012
Interview
Azimuts 2013
Conference
IStype Mono 2013
Award
Typo­graphica 2012
Award
Best ten fonts of the year, Fontwerk 2012
Publication
Poem

Instant, typeface, 2005-2012. Research project at ANRT Nancy. Published by Poem.

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