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

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

La fin du monde [The end of the world] resembles a thistle or a holly branch. During his residency at the Ergastule studios in Nancy, France, Jérôme Knebusch created twelve in a limited edition. All look similar, but none are identical. They were vector drawn, laser cut in brass, manually folded and oxidized in vinegar steam. Six are exclusively available at Poem, six others at Ergastule. The thistle photograph by Emile Gallé is from the École de Nancy archives.

Title
La fin du monde
Date
2022
Type
Artworks
Client
Ergastule
Place
Nancy
Material
Brass, vinegar oxidized
Edition
Ergastule
Edition
Poem

La fin du monde (2209C47A to L), brass, vinegar oxidized, c. 30 × 5 × 5 cm, 2022. Édition Ergastule, 12 unique + 12 AP

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.

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

Durandus, Hochschule Mainz, Gutenberg Museum, 2016.

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.

Title
Nouveau Quellstift
Date
2024
Type
Type design, Research
Client
Poem
Place
Frankfurt am Main
Material
Retail typeface
Photography
David Axelbank
Award
Type Directors Club 2023
Publisher
Poem

Nouveau Quellstift, typeface, 2024. Published by Poem.

Visual identity and design of the Brave New World Order – Triennale Jeune Création website. The young art triennale is a major event for emerging artists from Luxembourg and the Greater Region. The website showcases 40 artists and a forum, initiated during the Covid pandemic which delayed the exhibition for one year. Each artist could login and update his profile. The starting page is randomly customized, displaying each time in another order the black and white identity drawings. The identity integrated the custom design of a typefaces in two styles.

Title
Triennale Jeune Création
Date
2020–2021
Type
Visual identity, Editorial design
Client
Rotondes, Casino Luxembourg
Place
Luxembourg City
Material
Website
Website
bravenewworldorder.lu
Co-design & development
Thomas Bouville

Brave New World Order – Triennale Jeune création, Rotondes, Casino Luxembourg – Forum d'art contemporain, 2020-2021, w/ Thomas Bouville.

Je t'aime, moi non plus, Ergastule & My Monkey, Nancy, 2013-2017.

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