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.

The Musée d'Orsay is dedicated to artistic expression from the period 1848–1914. With an annual attendance of 3.5 million visitors, it stands as one of the world’s most prestigious cultural institutions. Its complete visual identity overhaul, undertaken by the Paris-based graphic design studio Zoo, offers a contemporary interpretation of the museum’s artistic legacy by establishing a clear, readable, and engaging visual language. As part of this redesign, an exclusive typeface was created in two styles. This typeface is a modern reinterpretation of the typographic developments of La Belle Époque, channeling the vitality of the era to which the Musée d'Orsay is devoted. The roman style presents a distilled interpretation of the 19th-century French Elzévir genre, while the italic revives the Coulée Italique Elzévirienne, originally cast by the Parisian foundry Beaudoire & Fils. The italic also features a set of swash capitals. Both styles were drawn by Rafael Ribas, with advisory, mastering, and production by Jérôme Knebusch. Some images are excerpted from the 2023/2024 program, where the typeface is paired with Antique Legacy.

Title
Orsay Elzévir
Date
2023
Type
Type design
Client
Musée d'Orsay
Place
Paris
Material
Custom typeface
Type design
Rafael Ribas
Art direction, graphic design
Zoo designer graphiques, Paris
Advisory, production
Jérôme Knebusch
Photography
Victor & Arthur Brun

Orsay Elzévir, custom typeface, Musée d'Orsay, Paris, 2023. Advisory & production for zoo, designers graphiques / Rafael Ribas.

klaatu barada nikto: histoires de science-fiction, ESAL Metz, 2013.

Zaunkönig Appartements, Baden-Baden, 2019.

One week workshop at Hochschule Mainz with Bachelor students. Design of a full digital alphabet with predefined geometric modules.

Title
Learning from Albers
Date
2017
Type
Education
Client
Hochschule Mainz
Place
Mainz
Material
Workshop

Learning from Albers, Hochschule Mainz, 2017.

Invitation and program designed for Kunst Archiv Darmstadt. The archive collects works from artists related to the city of Darmstadt. The vertical alignment of the letters reminds book spines, as well as the monumental historical lettering on the building. Typeset in Gudrun Zapf-von Hesse's Hesse Antiqua, who lived with her husband in Darmstadt. Letters revived by Ferdinand P. Ulrich. The smaller texts are composed with Martin Majoor's Comma Sans.

Title
Kunst Archiv Darmstadt
Date
2025
Type
Visual identity
Client
Kunst Archiv Darmstadt
Place
Darmstadt
Material
Invitations, programme
Typefaces
Hesse Antiqua, Comma Sans

Kunst Archiv Darmstadt, invitation and program, 2025.

Custom all-caps typeface in medium weight, used throughout the museum's documents and announcements. The nearby, recently restored Villa Majorelle uses the typeface as well for its signage. The typeface gathers different Art Nouveau forms found in architecture, furniture or art and transposes them into one harmonizing design. It is further is characterized by wide capitals in many variants. The six styles (Crocus, Dahlia, Gingko, Nenuphar, Rose, Thistle) are arranged from the most quiet to the most expressive letter­forms. Designed with Philippe Tytgat. Graphic design by Lab.Leblond.Tytgtat, Nancy. The typeface was later extended to minuscules in diverse weights, and published by Poem as a full retail type family in 2022.

Title
Nouveau
Date
2018–2020
Type
Type design
Client
Musée de l’Ecole de Nancy
Place
Nancy
Material
Custom typeface
Award
Type Directors Club 2023
Publication
Poem

Nouveau, custom typeface, Musée de l’Ecole de Nancy, w/ Philippe Tytgtat, Nancy, 2018-2020. Graphic design Lab.Leblond.Tytgtat.

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

Triennals, prefiguration event of the Luxembourg young contemporary art triennale, with former triennale participants. Custom single-typeface and 'ongoing' visual identity which will evolve in the Brave New World Order identity of the triennale held one year later. See this website for more.

Title
Triennials
Date
2020
Type
Visual identity, Editorial design
Client
Rotondes, Casino Luxembourg
Place
Luxembourg City
Material
Pamphlet, animations

Triennials, visual identity & custom typeface, Rotondes, Cercle Cité, Casino Luxembourg, 2020.

Une brève histoire des lignes, Centre Pompidou-Metz, 2013.

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.

Ergastule, Nancy, 2008-2014.

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