Followers of the Flow

Posted on by Franzi Haeussner

Today we are presenting you the book Followers of the Flow by Jonas Wyssen, which deals with the flow experience as a creative tool and is now available at Slanted Shop!

Followers of the Flow is printed by Brandbook in Germany. It traces the evolution of the freestyle movement of the 1990s, a movement that does not just refer to sports but to a mindset which is currently enjoying a renaissance in modern society. What is the connection between freestyle and creativity? How can the flow experience–a denominator for all freestyle activities–be seen as a creative tool? Why is it essential to try and fail? The manual explores these questions in six beautifully illustrated chapters and photographs of Silvano Zeiter. Giving the reader a “recipe” in the form of a new and ingenious creative method: Freestyle Thinking.

Freestyle Thinking is a new creative method that allows you to practice activating your creative Flow and even train it like you would train a muscle. The more often you are in the creative Flow, the easier you will find it to develop creative solutions in the shortest possible time.

The method is explored with the help of three dimensions in a model: the trick, the flow and the swell. These are explained in subchapters and are each followed by a practical assignment for the reader.

About the author: Jonas Wyssen is a brand designer, UX specialist and leader of creative processes, whose designs unite emotional expression and precise functionality. His broad work experience combined with his longtime passion for snowboarding, skateboarding and especially surfing have inspired him to develop and write about a new ingenious creative method, Freestyle Thinking.

Followers of the Flow

Author and Design: Jonas Wyssen
Photographer: Silvano Zeiter
Publisher: Studio Wyssen
Format: 14.5 × 21 cm
Volume: 128 pages
Bookbinding: Thread stitching, Hardcover
Language: English
ISBN: 978-3-9525308-0-1
Price: € 39.–
BUY

Support “Be Water My Friend” on Kickstarter

Posted on by Clara Weinreich

Inspired by an interview with Bruce Lee, where he refers to an aspect of Taoist philosophy, that water can teach us “the way,” the graphic designer, creative activist, lecturer, author, and founder of the eponymous studio for branding communication Rafael Bernardo started to wonder whether he “was water” in his creative workflow. Now, five years later, he wrote and designed a book with 224 pages, which is divided 50/50 into the parts Roots and Wings. It is now time to bring this project to life: Support “Be Water My Friend” on Kickstarter!

Wings presents the graphic journey. Eleven of Bernardo’s favorite personal projects and collaborative works he did for example with Viva con Agua, the Forward Festival, or the porcelain factory Rosenthal. And then, there is a selection of eighty Be Water My Friend posters, created to practice and explore his visual voice. Clear compositions in black and white within a spectrum of typography, illustration, and infographics.

Part two, Roots, outlines the theoretic foundation of Rafael Bernardo’s experience. The introduction of the Be Water My Friend methodology. An analytic system that he developed after he found out, that water behaves like creativity works.

It describes the progress of development as a clockwork, divided into three levels. Context in the outside, motivation in the center, and process as the connecting part in-between. It is a tool to connect the way we think with the way we feel by examining how we shape and navigate our processes, projects, and routines.

Bernardo believes that everybody experiences creativity in a different way but that its structures and functionalities work similar for all of us. The first question is always whether you know what you want, if you love doing it, and if you are good at it. The second question is whether you know how to find the little hidden mistakes, that hold you back from getting better. This book wants to inspire creative performers to see mindset and intuition as team-players and shows how to connect and tune them to each other by reflecting on time, dreams, and potentials.

Since water runs in cycles and “nomen est omen,” the book will be printed on three different kinds of 100% recycled paper, used water-based colors, and chose a printer that compensates for its carbon-footprint. The format is 16 × 24 cm, the spot color is Pantone 032U, all fonts in the layout except from one that Bernardo made himself are designed by newglyph.

Be Water My Friend

Concept & Design: Rafael Bernardo
Publisher: Slanted Publishers
Format: 16 × 24 cm
Volume: 224 pages
Language: English
Colors: Black (water based) and spot color Pantone 032U
Cover: Triptychon soft-cover
Binding: Swiss brochure with an open spine, stitched with red thread
Printing: Stober 
Paper: 3 kinds of 100% recycled paper by IGEPA (cover: Kingdom XT-S Recy White; Roots: Circle Volume White; Wings: Circle Offset Premium White)
Typefaces: Antarctica Bold, Atacama Condensed, and Africa Rainfall by newglyph

Support “Be Water My Friend” on Kickstarter and preorder a copy or grab one of the rewards such as a tote bag, silkprint, or workshop with Rafael Bernardo.

 

 

NN Didot Modern

Posted on by Clara Weinreich

Didot Modern is the result of a collaboration between Arnaud Chemin and Nouvelle Noire that started in 2019. It is a hybrid typeface consisting of ten weights, combining upright and italic styles. The letters’ general proportions refer back to the Didones from the French printing tradition, and they are mixed with expressive features invoking geometry and minimalism. Their flat endings, sharp triangular serifs, and a multitude of stylistic features bring the historic Didot legacy into the new digital area where elegance and classicism meet technology and rationalism.

Didot Modern is a typeface for text composition of all kinds. With its delicate thin strokes and precise details, it reveals its beauty, especially in large sizes. Through its expressivity, the typeface is tailor-made to convey products with a sense of high aesthetic value, such as in luxury branding. It is also well designed to enhance corporate and advertising projects. It is distinct and unique enough to stand apart from other Didot-style typefaces such as Bodoni, Scotch Roman, Baskerville, or Walbaum. Its emphasis lies on the overall digital feeling the typeface conveys.

The typeface is a tribute to the Didot archetype. It blends original drawings from different historical sources. The design of the regular cuts is based on various examples: Nicolas Pierre Gando’s imitations of Didot, Ludwig & Mayer’s Didone and Jules Didot trois et demi. While the black styles were inspired by the normande style, like Figgins’s French gros canons.

However, Didot Modern is not just a melt of history. Arnaud Chemin explains: “By removing the mannerist aspects of some details, the letterforms gained in simplicity. Traditional flourishes such as the teardrop endings looked too baroque. They belong to the past and no longer reflect our contemporary environment. I followed the same path Imre Reiner took almost a hundred years ago to design the Corvinus typeface. It is an experiment on modernizing high contrast letterforms, giving them a more mechanical look.”

Last but not least, Didot Modern benefits from a broad stylistic set, which contains alternate characters (A R Q V W a f g j r t v w y) based on the aesthetic of Grotesk typefaces. Arnaud Chemin describes them, noting that “there was an interesting aspect in combining these different styles. The Grotesk construction is directly inherited from Clarendon, which itself is inherited from the Didot-style typefaces. There is a common ground which allows a good hybridization, and the result is great!”

Arnaud Chemin is a young emergent French type designer. Born in 1994, he started studying design in 2009, attending the applied Arts courses in Reims. In 2012 Arnaud moved to Paris, where he was formed as a print graphic designer. These initial studies led to a bachelor’s degree from the ÉSAD Amiens in 2018, where he delved into interactive media and typography. In 2019, he completed an MA in type design at ÉCAL in Lausanne. In 2020, he graduated from the Type and Media master’s degree program at the KABK in The Hague. While studying, Arnaud worked as an intern for Typofonderie under the guidance of Jean-François Porchez. He also worked for Black[Foundry], where he was involved in custom type design projects. To this date, he maintains an author’s practice by publishing retail projects such as Didot Modern. As an independent type designer, Arnaud is quite critical regarding his work and places quality over quantity, no matter the time required. Besides designing typefaces, Arnaud occasionally teaches calligraphy and layout design or gives lectures at type design conferences.

Didot Modern

Foundry: Nouvelle Noire Type Foundry
Designer: Arnaud Chemin
Release: November 2021
File Formats: otf, woff, woff2, (variable fonts) + trial fonts
Weights: Light, Light Italic, Regular, Italic, Medium, Medium Italic, Bold, Bold Italic, Black, Black Italic
Price: starting from 60.– CHF
Buy

4th Session TypeTechMeetUp

Posted on by Clara Weinreich

The final and 4th Session TypeTechMeetUp with the Type, Design, and Society theme will take place on November 19th, 2021, starting at 4:30 p.m. (CET) for about 2.5 hours followed by a relaxing online Chill & Chat. View teaser here.

For this final session we have the brilliant Fiona Ross together with renowned designer and researcher Alice Savoie, design educator Rafael Dietzsch, and Senior Lecturer Sumanthri Samarawickrama as main speakers, followed by two shorter presentations by design entrepreneur Liron Lavi Turkenich and assistant curator Shani Avni, and creative director Isabel Lea. Co-curator and president of GRANSHAN Boris Kochan will this time also join as speaker.

After this first part we’ll have a socializing/networking break with possibilities of private conversations or just hanging out in the virtual room with other participants and speakers.

In addition, participants will receive two cuts of Protipo plus icon font for free.

4th Session TypeTechMeetUp

When?
November 19th, 2021
starting at 4:30 p.m.

Where?
Online

Registration is open here

Junge Grafik N°1

Posted on by Junge Grafik

The board members of the Junge Grafik association invested more than two years of preparation for this moment. “It is great to see everything come together tonight. The winners of Junge Grafik N°1 will be celebrated and will be able to meet and network with important people from the graphic design industry here on site. We have been working towards this moment,” says Loana Boppart, who is responsible for the project.

Young Graphic Design From All Over Switzerland
The promotional award for young graphic talents in training is unique in Switzerland. The concept was developed in close cooperation with the training institutions and professional associations, which supported the project from the very beginning. Particularly pleasing: the call for entries was answered by students of all levels of training and all educational institutions in all language regions of Switzerland! Thus, Junge Grafik provides an insight into the future of Swiss Graphic Design. “Swiss graphic design is part of the world’s cultural heritage,” says Boppart, “so we are correspondingly pleased that this is being carried forward by young talent with just as much enthusiasm.”

Quantity and Quality
From the more than 300 entries from all parts of Switzerland, a nine-member jury of renowned Swiss graphic designers selected 30 winning entries at the end of August. The high standard did not make it easy for the jury members. Meret Fischli, in charge of the jury, is pleased with the high quality of the entries: “Outstanding works are produced at Swiss schools—this assumption was the reason for our award. The entries have confirmed the assumption and definitely exceeded our expectations!”

A total of 300 guests gathered at Lucerne’s Neubad last Saturday for the Award Night to celebrate the winning works—and the people behind them. Presenter Monika Schärer led through the evening in a relaxed manner and in four languages (!). In addition to a goodie bag with various professional articles from the numerous sponsors, the winners also received a small amount of money. In addition, their work is the focus of the first Junge Grafik publication, which was published at the Award Night and can now be purchased on the Junge Grafik website. At the following after party, people danced, and celebrated until the early hours of the morning.

The Winning Works Travel On
With the successful award ceremony, however, the first edition of Junge Grafik is far from being history. It was only the starting signal for a traveling exhibition: Until October 17th, the winning works have been on display at the Weltformat Graphic Design Festival in Lucerne, after which the exhibition will make stops at educational institutions in Zurich, Sierre, and Geneva.

Despite the touring exhibition, things are likely to be a little quieter for a while in the coming months. Nina Ruppen, responsible for media and exhibition at Junge Grafik: “Since the competition is held every two years, we have a short break. But I’m already looking forward to the second round in 2023—and the many new works and faces we’ll get to know through it!”

Get more information about the winners and the exhibitions here

Typodarium 2022

Posted on by Franzi Haeussner

The Typodarium 2022—a classic among type calendars brings type inspiration day by day. 248 type designers from 35 countries all over the world show fresh fonts and trendy typefaces. Fancy fonts, long-lasting reading fonts and noble ornamental fonts. There is something for every taste and every occasion! The robust box in which the Typodarium 2022 is packaged is a treasure chest for creatives who swear by the Power of Type.

Zoom, Teams, and Wonder.me: the screen has dominated our everyday lives. This makes the antithesis all the more valuable: Handmade is king! That’s why, on Sundays and holidays, the Typodarium 2022 will be showing typefaces that were created with scissors and pencils, with tape and stamps. On Sundays, it can be imperfect, a bit rough with edges and corners, strong in character and an eye-catcher.

Lars Harmsen and Raban Ruddigkeit not only have their ear close to the pulse of the typo scene, they are integral parts of it. Every year, they manage to track down the hippest new creations in type design and discover new type designers before they are on everyone’s lips and in everyone’s designs. Over the years, the two editors have developed an unerring sense for the grassroots movements of serifs—so Typodarium 2022 brings a breath of fresh air to agencies and production departments, to magazine and book design, to web and print, packaging and fashion. And on your desk.

Typodarium 2022

Editors: Lars Harmsen, Raban Ruddigkeit
Publisher: Verlag Hermann Schmidt
Design: Jonas Rose
Format: 8.5 × 12 cm
Volume: 384 pages in 12 colors, printed on both sides
Language: English
Specials: Packaged in a sturdy collecting box for archiving the type samples
EAN: 42 6017281 089 0
Price: € 19.80
Buy

Photos, except for the start image: © Verlag Hermann Schmidt

Wochenender

Posted on by Franzi Haeussner

The books of the Wochenender series are companions for trips and short getaways to great areas that are not far from the big cities. Shown are wonderful places, shops, stores, and places to stay. For a weekend or longer, at any time of the year.

The idea for the Wochenender was developed over many years in the mind of Elisabeth Frenz. She is a photojournalist in Hamburg and has been traveling to the North Sea with her family for a long time. And she thought it was time to share this passion.

Wochenender is the travel book to get away for self-confessed city folks who want to treat themselves to some time out in nature without a long trip. It presents large and small places of longing, special restaurants, hotels, and stores that stand out from mainstream tourism. Through the imagery and selection of locations, the style of the “Instagram generation” is incorporated and thus opens up new, young target groups for the region. Wochenender fits in any pocket, is taken everywhere, is allowed to lie in the sand and collect tracks, and is then put back on the bookshelf. It’s the perfect gift for anyone who loves beautiful places and enjoys discovering new ones. The nice thing is that Wochenender is timeless and relevant all year round.

The latest release in the Wochenender series is Brandenburg Südwesten. Just beyond Berlin city borders lies: Brandenburg. It is wild and lonely, but at the same time it is a land of arts. Around Potsdam, princes, kings, and emperors have created a unique world-heritage-landscape with numerous castles, manor houses, and gardens. Because it has always been greener, bluer, and simply more relaxed there than in Berlin. Further south, nature can be found in sheer endless forests, rolling hills, and wide meadows, blooming heaths and lots and lots of water. This is how the southwest of Brandenburg can also be explored from the water.

We now have some issues in our store. Have a look there!

WOCHENENDER—BRANDENBURG SÜDWESTEN
ISBN 978-3-9819748-9-8
Price: €18.–
Buy

WOCHENENDER—LIEBLINGSORTE FÜR FAMILIEN IN UND UM HAMBURG
ISBN 978-3-9822646-2-2
Price: € 18.–
Buy

WOCHENENDER—BRANDENBURG NORDOSTEN
ISBN 978-3-9822646-0-8
Price: € 18.–
Buy

WOCHENENDER—HOFLÄDEN UND MANUFAKTUREN UM HAMBURG
ISBN ISBN: 978-3-9819748-8-1
Price: € 18.–
Buy

WOCHENENDER—ST. PETER-ORDING & EIDERSTEDT
ISBN 978-3-9819748-7-4
Price: € 18.–
Buy

WOCHENENDER—NORDSEEKÜSTE
ISBN 978-3-9819748-6-7
Price: € 18.–
Buy

WOCHENENDER—SEEN UND WÄLDER UM HAMBURG
ISBN 978-3-9819748-5-0
Price: € 18.–
Buy

WOCHENENDER—DIE ELBE
ISBN 978-3-9819748-4-3
Price: € 18.–
Buy

WOCHENENDER—LÜNEBURGER HEIDE
ISBN 978-3-9819748-3-6
Price: € 18.–
Buy

 

Medienhaus Lectures 2021

Posted on by Henrike Uthe

Among other things, design is always performance. The Medienhaus Lectures 2021 take a look at performance in design beyond the moment of presentation. Type, color, materiality, etc. are design elements that have their own performativity. The same is true for the human body. So could the design process be considered a performance? How diverse are the bodies involved? How differentiated is the body image in the field of design? And, what are the performative effects on bodies of norms and rules derived from that? Performance! prompts the Medienhaus Lectures 2021 together with guests from design, art, and theory to bring the body into play.

Medienhaus Lectures 2021

Organization: Annika Haas (UdK, Institut für Geschichte und Theorie der Gestaltung), Henrike Uthe (UdK, Institut für Transmediale Gestaltung)
Contributors: Pasquale Virginie Rotter, Anna Jehle & Juliane Schickedanz (Kunsthalle Osnabrück), David Liebermann, Maximilian Kiepe & Jana Reddemann (Liebermann Kiepe Reddemann), Katharina Brenner, Ece Canlı, Hannah Witte, Katharina Ludwig, Claire Finch
Design: Jonas Gerber, Nour Al Safadi, Lea Verholen

When?
November 17th, 2021, 10 a.m. – 7:30 p.m.
November 18th, 2021, 2 p.m. – 7 p.m.

Where? 

Online:
Live-Stream: TBA

On-site:
Medienhaus, Aula
Universität der Künste
Grunewaldstraße 2 – 5 
10823 Berlin
U Kleistpark

Contributions in German and English. Please refer to the language of the respective title in the program.

More information here

Typeface of the Month: Everett Mono

Posted on by Clara Weinreich

With the month of November, we want to introduce you to our new Typeface of the Month: Everett Mono. The monospace version of the already very well developed Everett from the Swiss type foundry TYPE.WELTKERN®.

A monospace version of Everett has always been part of the project, since its very beginning in 2015. At this point, only the Mono Regular cut existed and grew over time alongside its normal, proportional siblings. The typographic program became then more ambitious: translating 20 styles of Everett—its wide proportions and distinctive cuts—into single fixed-size blocks proved to be really challenging. The design had to find creative ways to compress and carefully fine-tune the letterforms in order to keep a high level of legibility as well as the original Everett flavor.

All weights are designed to be used together; each glyph across the complete family shares the exact same width. A graphic peculiarity of Everett Mono is its ligatures, which occupies sometimes two, or even three blocks, resulting in a mechanical touch. Ultimately, Everett Mono is an independent subfamily on its own but at the same time also the perfect companion of Everett, which can be played together, like brothers and sisters.

Typeface of the Month: Everett Mono

Foundry: TYPE.WELTKERN®
Designer: Nolan Paparelli
Release: October 2021
File Formats: OTF, TTF, WOFF, WOFF2
Styles / widths / weights: 20 styles: 10 weights + 10 Italics
Base price: 99.– CHF / cut
Buy

Frankfurter Buchmesse 2021

Posted on by Franzi Haeussner

The Frankfurter Buchmesse 2021 is the world’s most important book fair, as well as an outstanding social and cultural event. This year it could finally take place again with an audience.

We visited the book fair to get an idea of the latest trends and publications from the world of design books. Among them were the award-winning publications of the Stiftung Buchkunst. There were many exceptional books to see, which we were able to browse through.

Among all the new publications, we also discovered our tear-off calendar Typodarium 2022, which was presented at the Frankfurter Buchmesse 2021 at the booth of the German publishing house Verlag Hermann Schmidt. At the stand of the FH-Dortmund we could find exciting works of students as well as the two publications 100 Poster Battle and Will Feel Eyes on.

Since 1976, the Frankfurt Book Fair has welcomed a different country or region as Guest of Honor each year. This year, the guest country Canada presented a purely digital installation under the motto Singular Plurality. Scattered letters floated on wave-like installations and you could meet authors digitally via a screen. In fact, there was not a single physical book to see in the pavilion, but instead a multimedia experience to be enjoyed.

Although the Frankfurter Buchmesse 2021 could be held again, it was a fair under very special conditions. There were much fewer exhibitors and “3G rule” (you had to be vaccinated, recovered, or tested.) In total, only 25,000 visitors were allowed to come to the fair every day instead of 300,000 and 1,500 exhibitors were presented instead of 7,000 as in previous years—and you could feel that. That led to the fact that one could take a better look at the individual publications, but the variety was unfortunately rather limited.

We hope you enjoy looking at our review pictures and hope to see you again next year at the Frankfurter Buchmesse.

Film Festival Cologne—Die Macht der Bilder

Posted on by Franzi Haeussner

For anyone for whom the digital Film Festival Cologne is not enough, the matching print magazine Film Festival Cologne—Die Macht der Bilder is now available in Slanted Shop!

Die Macht der Bilder (engl. The Power of Images) is the common thread running through the program of this year’s FILM FESTIVAL COLOGNE. The festival with its film screenings, the supporting program, and all the opportunities for personal exchange. The festival took place this year from October 21st to 28th. Once again, the festival presents the world’s most important trends and outstanding works of audiovisual storytelling.

FFCGN—FAST FORWARD is what moves everyone, a digital magazine for moving images and pop culture. And that’s not all: This moving content was kept moving and transferred into a printed form! Ready is the first print edition of FFCGN—FAST FORWARD.

Connections are important. The origin of the new idea is the FILM FESTIVAL COLOGNE. 30 years of experience with moving images. 30 years of exchange with the community. Of course, the FILM FESTIVAL COLOGNE is an integral part of the digital as well as the print magazine. Here as well as there you can find information about the program of the festival weeks, from which a lot of inspiration can be drawn in the future. But FFCGN—FAST FORWARD has more to offer than just the festival. For example, this magazine Film Festival Cologne—Die Macht der Bilder as part of the content platform that unites everything.

What touches us in everyday life? Social media is exploding. Memes, GIFs, reels, listicles. A poll or a quiz on Instagram. The world of images and signs has taken off violently due to such formats. FFCGN—FAST FORWARD is meant to pick up the momentum instead of merely being carried away by images. Where the surfaces seem most appealing, the magazine Film Festival Cologne—Die Macht der Bilder goes into the depths. First of all, this means holding up a mirror to our own fascination.

Film Festival Cologne—Die Macht der Bilder

Publisher: Slanted Publishers
Editor-in-Chief: Martina Richter
Head of Text: Wolfgang Frömberg
Art Director: Holger Risse
Managing Editor: Marie Lomberg
Editorial: Ivan Morales Jr., Emilia Stein, Johannes Hessen, Till Stein, Leonard Ulmen
Picture Editor: Viktoria Grünwald
Extractors: Naama Heiman, Kirsten Ross
Design: Lars Harmsen, Melville Brand Design
Release: October 2021
Printing: Stober
Volume: 176 pages
Format: 16 × 24 cm
Language: German
ISBN: 978-3-948440-34-3
Price: € 18.–
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Pleasure

Posted on by Franzi Haeussner

With great “pleasure” we would like to introduce you to the newly released typeface Pleasure by Pizza Typefaces.

The Pleasure font is almost a running grotesque font. However, its geometric shapes did not resist the urge to be led, for certain letters, to an extrapolation of the terminals by converting them into loops. A characteristic that gives the typeface an original taste and a certain irony in the rolling of the eyes.

Launched in March 2020 by Mothi Limbu of FlirtStudio, Pleasure is characterized by a particularly fresh and witty approach, but also by the ability to combine soft but well-balanced letterforms.

Within a year, Pizza Typefaces has made some corrections and developed the entire character set, supporting all Latin languages. Alternative shapes have been added, which can be find sorted by families in the corresponding style sets.

Pleasure offers a total of 20 styles in two different families: Standard and Inktrap. There are Light, Regular, Medium, Bold, and Black weights. All weights have a windy companion as Italics.

Pizza Typefaces is constantly striving to offer a variable font. That is why the typeface is also available in a flexible format where three axes can be adjusted. The customizable axes are weight, inktrap, and italic.

Also the typeface’s website is very entertaining—you can discover the typeface in an experimental way and it’s fun to click through.

Pleasure

Foundry: Pizza Typefaces
Designer: FlirtStudio (Mothi Limbu) and Borho Studio
Development: Borho Studio
Release: 2021
Styles: 20 styles in 2 families
Price: € 45.– per style, € 150.– Family, € 300.– for Pleasure Variable
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Slanted Magazine #38—COLOURS

Posted on by Julia Kahl

Joan Miro said: “I try to apply colors like words that shape poems, like notes that shape music.” Ultimately, Slanted Magazine #38—Colours is an ode to the joy and happiness of life with all its gradations of symbolism and meaningful implications. Color is more than just fashion. It is a statement for an entire era!

In the spring of 2021, Slanted Publishers launched a global call for submissions and showcases of color. From more than 1,300 submissions, the works of 300 designers, illustrators, photographers, writers, and artists from around the world were selected to be part of this issue. It celebrates happiness, joy of life, power, symbolism, and the meaning of color. Find the most colorful typography, gradients, fun, chaos, shock, and contrast and celebrate art, illustration, fashion, photography, and of course the most colorful and meaningful graphic design from all over the world! 

Beside the issue two very limited special editions have been published: A high quality sweater from Reell with a colorful design by Kris Andrew Small and a set of postcards printed with vivid colors by Herr & Frau Rio on a risograph.

We would like to take this opportunity to express our sincere thanks to all participants of the issue who made a significant contribution to the result. Many thanks also to all supporters and sponsors, without whom the magazine would not have been possible in these special times. Thank you very much!

Publisher: Slanted Publishers
Release: October 2021
Volume: 288 pages
Format: 16 × 24 × 2 cm
Language: English
Printing: 5 color offset printing, Stober
Cardboard Cover: Algro Design®, 330 g/sm by Inapa
Paper: galaxi®keramik, 130 g/sm, Pop’Set lime tonic, citrus yellow, sky blue, sunshine yellow 120 g/sm by Inapa
Bookbinding: Swiss brochure, thread stitching
ISSN: 1867-6510
Price: € 18.–

BUY the Issue

The Kinship Method

Posted on by SamBou

If you are interested in processes, artistic work, design, and its place within production this book is a perfect fit! Through experiments, “design therapy” and alternative methods, the book The Kinship Method tells the story about the experimental design project The Kinship Method, that took place 2018 to 2019.

It’s a story and example of how a practice based project can grow knowledge and contribute to change the designer role. As well as questioning the ideas of how design should be done and why we should make a “fun revolution.”

Five designers are challenged to break patterns in order to find new styles and methods.It starts individually with the designing of a chair each, only to be infiltrated by each other’s shapes in the following two stages. Each chair moves on to the next designer, who in turn must use 20–40% of the chair’s form elements for a new chair. Consequently, fragments, pieces, and artistic expressions are inherited from the previous generation. Everything is done under time pressure and with no insight into what the others are doing. There are now three generations with a total of fifteen chairs that are related to each other. Each generation of chairs is followed by a group discussion where they reflect on: What happens to the style and design? What happens within us? What can we learn? Does it create diversity, development, or conformity?

The purpose of the project is not to make the best chairs or the best design. After following the project one might assume that it is about processing any possible design traumas, challenging authorship, finding new ways to collaborate. But for the initiator Margot Barolo, those three are just ingredients, or means, for developing new ideas on alternative designer roles and design production. All that she will reveal in this book.

It can be seen as an instruction, as well as a debate post, or an inspiration. For all of you who are interested in processes, artistic work, design, and its place within production and goods this book are of interest.

The participating designers are Margot Barolo, Andreas Nobel, Erik Björk, Mia Cullin, and Fredrik Paulsen.

The Kinship Method

Publisher: Arvinius + Orfeus Publishing
Text: Margot Barolo, Salka Hallström Bornold, Andreas Nobel, Mia Cullin, Erik Björk, Fredrik Paulsen
Editors: Margot Barolo, Salka Hallström Bornold
Graphic Design: Samira Bouabana, John Bengtsson. Photo: Karin Björkquist
Language: English
Volume: 110 pages
Format: 191 × 254 mm
Workmanship: Swiss softcover
Release: February, 2021
ISBN: 978-91-89270-08-4
Price: € 25.–
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Frankfurt Airport, April 2020

Posted on by Franzi Haeussner

Frankfurt Airport, April 2020 is a book that captures the surreal time in the pandemic year 2020 and takes an unusual look at Frankfurt Airport in a state of exception.

At Frankfurt Airport, up to seven million people a month embarked on their journeys before Corona. Photographer Marc Krause documented the empty airport at the height of the lockdown in April 2020.

Where jetliners used to take off every few minutes, nearly everything has ground to a halt. The bright blue sky above the tarmac is serene, the contrails have disappeared, the endless corridors are eerily deserted. In April 2020, at the height of the first lockdown of the coronavirus pandemic, the photographer Marc Krause explored Frankfurt Airport with his analog camera to capture the strange calm of this “non-place.”

Without the hectic hustle and bustle of pre-pandemic times, he noticed things that are usually drowned out by the rushing crowds: the geometric lines of the constructivist architecture, the changing patterns of light and shade, the junk left behind by travelers in vast halls that would be teeming with thousands of people on a normal day. Offering a fascinating glimpse of a seemingly surreal world, this publication is an unsettling testimony to a historic moment in time and a powerful photo book that leaves viewers torn between melancholy and hopeful longing.

Frankfurt Airport, April 2020

Publisher: Verlag Kettler
Photographer: Marc Krause
Designer: Victor Balko
Author: Florian Siebeck
Volume: 80 pages
Release: October 2021
Format: 20 × 30 cm
ISBN: 978-3-86206-923-1
BUY

Brik

Posted on by hi1

Today we would like to share a new typeface with you. BurnType Studio and Foundry in collaboration with The Designers Foundry, proudly present the fully remastered Brik type family.

It is a zero bullshit type family available in five weights across regular, condensed, and oblique sub-families. Its blatant brick-like construction is honest, coarse, and unapologetic. The family features characteristic hard angles, chunky corners, and exaggerated ink traps that give it its distinct edge. These hardened features are met with subtle curves and strokes that add contrast and finesse to its purposefully rigid foundation.

Revisited throughout 2020, Brik is now whipped into prime fighting shape. The fat has been trimmed, sporting expanded glyph support, completely new kerning, and reconstructed letters. Brik looks great huge, but now works even better at scale. Especially with larger bodies of text.

Brik is sold cheap as individual slices, or can be bundled together in full variable glory. The type family is crafted with love and a New Yawk attitude by BurnType in 2020/21.

In keeping with the name of the font, a limited edition of 69 bricks with hand-pressed “BRIK” font in 185 pt Brik XL is available for purchase. If the brick is too heavy, A1 specimen posters are also for sale.

BurnType is a small studio specializing in creating bold fonts that balance function with expression. The studio is run by founder Michael Bagnardi in Brooklyn, New York.

Brik

Foundry: The Designers Foundry
Designer: BurnType
Release: June 2021
Styles: Five weights across Regular, Condensed, and Oblique sub-families
Price: $25.– per Style, $250.– for the full family
Buy

Kiss the Messenger

Posted on by Franzi Haeussner

We are happy to announce that Kiss the Messenger — Communication for Creatives is now available at Slanted Shop!  The publication is a German handbook for public relations and media work. It is tailored to the needs of architects, designers, photographers, graphic artists, artists, project managers, and start-ups—in short, to entrepreneurs who strive for more publicity for their content as a one-man show or in a team.

In Kiss the Messenger hands-on and practical, experienced PR expert Ana Berlin guides through first press campaigns in this handbook, reveals tricks, and writes entertainingly about the possibilities of contemporary public relations. The work provides insight into the channels available today, both online and offline, and covers PR topics in a condensed manner. From developing stories and preparing them for the media, to the right timing, to building up a press distribution list, to imagery and social media use–the guidelines described in Kiss the Messenger provide a basis for attracting media attention and being heard by the desired audience.

Ana Berlin is founder of the PR agency a b c works and based in Vienna. She is specialized in clients and projects in architecture, art, design, literature, and the creative industries.

Kiss the Messenger

Publisher: POOL Publishing
Author: Ana Berlin
Language: German
Format in cm: 16 × 21 cm
Volume: 180 pages
Release: February 2021
Workmanship: soft cover
ISBN: 978-3-9504596-8-5
Price: € 15.–
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magCulture Live 2021

Posted on by Clara Weinreich

After a year on hiatus, (physically at least — magCulture Live 2020 was held over Zoom à la lockdown) magCulture Live is back on Thursday, November 4th, 2021, in London. And for the first time, there are live streaming tickets available if you’re not able to make it to London. 

Created around the mantra, “we love magazines!” the all-day event will champion great magazine work across art direction, editorial design, photography, illustration, and typography. The day will also be a celebration—at last, an opportunity to come together again and celebrate the creativity at the heart of magazine culture!

“From eighties innovator Terry Jones (i-D) and creative director Alex Breuer (The Guardian) to today’s big indie successes (Kinfolk, MacGuffin) and the latest generation of new magazines, we’ll hear what powers the evergreen desire to create, publish, sell, and read printed magazines,” added magCulture founder, Jeremy Leslie. 

First speakers confirmed
Alex Breuer, Creative director, The Guardian
Terry Jones, Founder, i-D magazine (Commissioned film interview and live Q&A)
Kirsten Algera, editor-in-chief, MacGuffin
Dan Crowe, editor-in-chief, Port and new launch Inque
Osman Bari, founder, Chutney Magazine
Olu Michael Odukoya, creative director, Modern Matter
Harriet Fitch Little, editor, Kinfolk and editor-in-chief, Kindling
Georgeous Michael, founder, Louche
David McKendrick, creative director, Paperboy Magazine
Sachini Imbuldeniya, executive creative director, Studio Pi
Rhona Ezuma, editor-in-chief, Thiiird

Plus! There’ll be additional side events as well as the magCulture pop-up shop; a highly concentrated version of the bricks-and-mortar “terrazzo-floored former newsstand”—as The New York Times Magazine described the shop when they visited way back when.

magCulture Live 2021

When?
Thursday, November 4th, 2021
9 a.m. – 6 p.m.

Where?
magCulture Live
Conway Hall, 25 Red Lion Square
London, UK WC1R 4RL

Get your tickets here! Subscribe to the we love magazines newsletter to be the first to hear news as we update the schedule.

The Lost Writings of James Douglas Morrison

Posted on by Alessia Oertel

Broken into three volumes, The Lost Writings of James Douglas Morrison is a collection of poems, notebook entries, and recitals written by Jim Morrison over his lifetime. This project is an attempt to redesign his books that reflect the fragmentation of his thoughts and provide an insight into his inner conflicts that led to the creation of some of the most prominent lyrics in music history.

Volume 1: Wilderness, published in 1988
Volume 2: The American Night, published 1991
Volume 3: An American Prayer, 1970 (self-published by Jim Morrison)

James Morrisons personality helped define the visual language of the project. People remember him for his larger than life persona. But he always wanted to be recognized as a poet fighting for freedom.

The color palette is reduced to black to reflect the dark undertone of his writings. Black and white marbling patterns are present on the covers and hidden in between the pages. Marbling texture reflects on the lifestyle of Jim Morrison. It serves as a symbol for his rich, complex inner self and keen perception of details. Pages are left with additional white space to help poems unfold with ease.

The collection The Lost Writings of James Douglas Morrison uses a timeless classical font combination of Didone, Scotch Modern, and Scotch Micro. The character of the fonts reflects the sensitivity and strength of Jim Morrison.

The Lost Writings of James Douglas Morrison

The project was created as part of Alessia Oertel’s bachelor thesis at Muthesisus Kunsthochschule and is not for sale.

FORMAT #27 Wut

Posted on by leonbeu

FORMAT is the design magazine of the students of the HfG Schwäbisch Gmünd. It is written, designed, and published by the students on their own responsibility. One issue is published per semester, which deals with a general topic of social and design relevance. The current issue FORMAT #27 Wut is entirely devoted to the theme of Anger.

Anger initially appears as a very irrational, often unreasonable emotion. Images of Querdenken-demos, territorial and religious conflicts, violence and hatred run through the mind. But delving deeper into the topic, one also encounters anger more and more often as a driving force for positive change. Angry are racists and extremists. But angry are also the young activists of FFF or designers who implement projects for a better future out of anger.

For the FORMAT team, dealing with the topic of anger goes far beyond a mere, emotionally charged exchange of opinions. How did the National Socialists misuse runes and symbols of Buddhism for their messages of hate? How has the concept of anger been expressed in different artistic eras? And how does it feel to successfully sue the German government as a fifteen-year-old for its insufficient climate protection legislation? Nevertheless, many personal and subjective opinions and essays also find their place in the current FORMAT.

FORMAT #27 comes with a risograph poster. The front page is decorated with an illustration. On the back of the poster, anonymously submitted opinions and statements from the students of the HfG are printed without being filtered. FORMAT sees itself as the mouthpiece of the students. The cover of each copy is hand-sprayed, so each FORMAT of issue 27 is an individual one-off.

FORMAT #27 Wut

Designers: Mitra Asghari, Leon Beu, Hannes Bruß, Marlén Deusch, Benedict Dorndorf, Ksenia Gorokhova, Sarah Halbgewachs, Kiara Hassouna, André Hieber, Ina Kaller, Agnes Kloos, Friederike Kohler, Chiara Larosa, Tim Reimann, Amelie Ruess, Sarah Schlecht, Anna Schneider, Sarah Traub, Hannah Wels, Linn Zahn, Mary Wang
Authors: Leon Beu, Hannes Bruß, Julian Graeve, Kiara Hassouna, Kirsten Humpfer, Ina Kaller, Agnes Kloos, Chiara Larosa, Freya Michl, Tim Reimann, Amelie Ruess, Tabea Schäffer, Sarah Schlecht, Anna Schneider, Hannah Wels, Linn Zahn
Editor: HfG Schwäbisch Gmünd
Release date: August 2021
Volume: 112 pages
Format: 21 × 28 cm
Language: German
Production: Katalogdruck Berlin
Retail price: € 8.–
Buy

Druck und Design Konferenz

Posted on by Julia Kahl

Last Thursday, after a 2-year break, the Druck und Design Konferenz (Print and Design Conference) took place at the Literaturhaus in Munich. The conference is considered the “little sister” of the Creative Paper Conference, which takes place in alternation and about which we have already reported many times.

Right from the start: The conference and trade show, which is organized by Grafikmagazin together with the Verband Druck und Medien Bayern (Bavarian Print and Media Association), was the first industry meeting in physical form in a long time, and so all participants, exhibitors and organizers were overjoyed to be able to see each other and exchange ideas again. Nevertheless, due to the limited number of participants, the conference was also streamed digitally.

In addition to a total of four keynote speeches by Hansgeorg Derks (founder and owner of Derks Brand Management Consultants), Annika Kaltenthaler (Creative Director Zeichen & Wunder), Magnus Gebauer (MedienNetzwerk Bayern) and Florian Kohler (owner and managing director of Gmund Papier), there were various work panels with a practical focus on knowledge transfer. These were led by journalist and copywriter Bettina Schulz, producer and author Marko Hanecke, Vit Steinberger (Creative Partner klee.steinberger) and Benedikt Wild (Managing Director F&W Druck- und Mediencenter GmbH).

The day should have been much longer to be able to pay sufficient attention to all these exciting formats and, in addition, despite numerous breaks, to visit the exhibitors’ booths and browse the latest trends in the paper, finishing and printing industry.

Once again, a very successful event that I look forward to again in 2023.

Basics Blog Post #03

Posted on by Henrike Uthe

We are happy to share with you that the editorial team of last year’s basics course at the Berlin University of the Arts offers printed matter in the form of postcards on the Basics Blog: Basics Blog Post #03

The Basics Blog postcard set is appearing for the third time: a curated selection of works by the Basics Blog editorial team of last year’s basics students of Visual Communication at the University of the Arts is being published by UdK Verlag. The high-quality postcard set includes ten selected artworks that were created in an exploration of design principles. The accompanying banderole was also designed by students of the basics class.

The basics course is the introductory course of design in Visual Communication at the UdK Berlin, the entry point to the four-year BA program in Visual Communication. In the 1st and 2nd semesters, students explore elementary questions and possibilities of design. The focus is on getting to know the different media and experimenting with their design languages using digital and analog tools. The fields of observation are image, moving image, space, and interaction. In the semester projects, students go through all of the phases of the design process in an exemplary manner—from research and concept to the creation of variants and production. The tasks are formulated anew for each year. The intention is to enable the students to handle the tools and design methods independently. They learn to reflect, discuss, and present their own work; they experience what it means to assume authorship for designed content. The foundation study program aims to provide space for the development of one’s own design attitude and thus enable participation in current professional discourses.

The project was initiated and implemented by the Basics Blog editorial team.

Basics Blog Post #03

Publisher: Basics, Visual Communication, Berlin University of the Art
Editors: Henrike Uthe, Stefanie Messner, Jean-Noël Teschauer, Nick Alker, Annelie Dormann, Pauline Pyras, Yael Rathjens, Sina Schlerf, Jakob Erek Sen, Tim Stürze
With works from: Nick Alker, Jonas Gerber, Christian Pasqual, Pauline Pyras, Sina Schlerf, Moana Marie Filipa Schorlemer Filipe, Aisha Ramm, Charlotte Riemann, Lea Verholen Schmitt, Tim Stürze
Photographers: Pauline Pyras, Sina Schlerf, Tim Stürze
Design: Valeria Alejandra Alvarez Balcazar, Taro Usami
Volume: 10 postcards
Format: 10.5 × 14.8 cm
ISBN Druck: 978-3-89462-367-8
ISBN PDF: 978-3-89462-368-5
Price: 5.– Euro
Buy

Visit the Basics Blog or the UdK Verlag

New Ucity Pro

Posted on by Federico Paviani

We would like to present you the new Ucity Pro by Fatype, a digital type foundry established in 2012 by Yassin Baggar and Anton Koovit.

With U8 and UCity, Anton Koovit explores modernity and geometric typeface design through the prism of different epochs. Where U8 exemplifies the positivity of roaring 1920s Berlin, its new sibling UCity is inspired by the desire to design a typeface for today’s cities and the challenges they face. The warmth and innocence of early modernist geometry are replaced by a colder, futuristic character with modern proportions, selected breaks in curves, and an undogmatic approach of geometry.

Looking to revisit his U8 typeface in a contemporary counterpart, Anton Koovit, son of a car racer, stumbled upon old photographs of the Lancia Stratos Zero. This extremely futuristic concept car, presented at the 1970 Turin Motor Show, was conceived by Marcello Gandini, head designer at Gruppo Bertone. The same year, Herb Lubalin, and Tom Carnase released their ITC Avant Garde. The tightly spaced geometric sans, based on the logo of the eponymous magazine that Lubalin art-directed, was an instant favorite among graphic designers. It is no coincidence that UCity is partly inspired by design from the early 1970s, a period with striking parallels with today’s problems.

Ucity Pro’s efficiency goes beyond formal qualities in its technical implementation: the entire family with Cyrillic support and OpenType features is available as a single variable font file, combining minimal data storage with maximum control of weight and italic angle. The challenges of today’s society leave little room for waste of energy.

New Ucity Pro

Foundry: Fatype
Designer: Anton Koovit
Styles and Weights: Ten styles, from Light to Black with matching Italics and variable fonts
Formats: OTF, TTF (upon request), WOFF, WOFF2
Price Single Style: € 80.–
Price full Family: € 390.–
Buy

Némo—International Biennial of Digital Arts

Posted on by jvloon

We would like to invite you to Némo–International Biennial of Digital Arts of the Ile-de-France Region taking place from October 9th, 2021, to January 9th, 2022.

Dedicated to digital arts, audiovisual performances, live shows in connection with new technologies, and the relationship between arts and sciences, Némo presents exhibitions, shows, performances, concerts and lectures in venues spanning the Ile-de-France region for three months. For this 4th edition, the Biennale Némo explores a new theme: Beyond reality? Revealing the invisible through digital arts, sciences and technology.

Némo will present nearly 80 events bringing together artists in more than 30 partner venues, irrigating the whole Ile-de-France region with concerts, exhibitions, shows, performances, meetings, and conferences, for all audiences.

In October (October 9th to November 8th), a series dedicated to the visual arts begins with the opening of the Biennial’s central exhibition at the Centquatre-Paris Beyond reality? which is a precipitate of its main focus: revealing the invisible through digital arts, science and technology. Paired with the opening of its main exhibition is an explosive evening event featuring a stunning cast of characters, from a ballet of machines at the pinnacle of audiovisual performance to artists such as Ryoichi Kurokawa and Max Cooper. The 9th of November marks the large-scale launch of Exploring the Invisible (November 9th to December 2nd), the momentous arts and sciences series at Némo 2021, featuring music theatre, installations, an exhibition, a debate, and a trail of artworks. The performing arts series (December 3rd to January 9th) kicks off with an edition of Le Grand Soir Numérique, a momentous evening of multidisciplinary performances. This year, Franck Vigroux, Kurt d’Haeseleer and the Italian group SCHNITT have new sounds and images in store, and will even use audience interaction as an audiovisual instrument!

Némo–International Biennial of Digital Arts

Where?
16 different towns in the Île-de-France region

When?
October 9th, 2021, to January 9th, 2022

Find out more about the event here, get information about the program here.


Permanent Data by Jeroen van Loon

One work that will be shown during the Biennial in Paris is the work Permanent Data (2020) by Dutch artist Jeroen van Loon from October 10th, 2021, to January 2nd, 2022. It is an installation showing a single twelve kilometers long fibre optic cable on which the entire Gutenberg Bible is printed, combined with scrapped YouTube comments on topics such as bitrot and data loss.

Both text sources come from a medium that, in their time, revolutionized the way information was accessed, shared and used. Now they’re connected through the question of how information survives. Physical paper is deemed a long lasting source of information, if stored in the right way. Digital storage, through cloud systems and hard drives, is thought of as future prove but at the same time extremely fleeting. What of YouTube is accessible in 500 years?

Normally a fibre optic cable is only used as infrastructure to transmit data. However, the physical cable itself might very well outlast the data it transmits. Permanent Data therefore becomes an artefact combining the ephemeral nature of digital data and the durability of physical information and perhaps offers a solution on how to prevent a digital dark age.

Permanent Data

Artist: Jeroen van Loon
Printing: De Koningh
Photos: Gert Jan van Roij
Cable manufactured by Twentsche Kabelfabriek
The work was made possible with the support of Utrecht Down Under, Mondriaanfonds, and Fonds21.