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

Yona Friedman. La création, Centre d'art contemporain – La synagogue de Delme, 2009.

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

Rudolf Koch began drawing the Offenbach typeface in 1928, the first size was cut in 1931, and Koch made final corrections on his deathbed in 1934. The type was published from 6 to 60 pt posthumously by Gebr. Klingspor foundry in 1935. Stylistically, Offenbach is a hybrid, pairing wide roman capitals with narrow gothic minuscules, a mixture Koch had experienced in several of his typefaces like Jessen or Wallau. His student Hans Kühne had added to the Klingspor release the ‘German’ gothic capitals as alternative to the roman capitals. Offenbach is a faithful revival of Offenbach Mager, the initial thin weight, based on a one-week workshop in 2022 under the direction of Jérôme Knebusch. The students of the HfG Offenbach studied the archive material in the Klingspor Museum and lead type in the nearby printing workshop in the Bernardbau. The Offenbach typeface is freely usable by anyone, privately or professionally, under the Creative Commons CC BY-ND 4.0 license. This licence allows free use of the font, provided that the type and author are mentioned when using it (Offenbach by Rudolf Koch) and that no modification is made to its design.

Title
Offenbach
Date
2022
Type
Education
Client
Hochschule für Gestaltung Offenbach, Klingspor Museum
Place
Offenbach
Material
Workshop
Workshop
Yile Cho, Quirin Fürbeck, Simon Gerstner, Paula Janser, Emerson Martus, Ekaterina Sacharova, Ngoc Anh Tran, Chiara Wißler, Edvinas Žukauskas (Marc Schütz, HfG Offenbach)
Publication
Free OpenSource font

Offenbach in Offenbach. Koch's last typeface?, Klingspor Museum, Druckwerkstatt & HfG Offenbach, 2022.

Schriftgestaltung: zwischen Leserlichkeit und Ausdruck, Hochschule Darmstadt, 2016.

Visual identity and design 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. Under the curation of Kevin Muhlen, director of the Casino Luxembourg, the exhibition was highlightning a 'Brave New World Order' as seen and represented by millennials. Design of posters, booklets, ads, invitations, outdoor shops and more. 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 signage project. And here for the website.

Title
Triennale Jeune Création
Date
2021
Type
Visual identity
Client
Rotondes, Casino Luxembourg
Place
Luxembourg City
Material
Posters, booklet, invitation, animations, ads
Animations
Philippe Tytgat

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

‘La page projetée. Livres fictionnels au cinéma’ [The projected page. Fictionnal books in movies] is a pedagogical project led by the Institut Page at ESAL Metz, in collaboration with Léo Coquet, Elamine Maecha, and the institute's students. We analyzed existing films that feature fictional books – books that appear only on screen and were never actually edited or published. These books are often reduced to their physical appearance as cinematic props, typically limited to a cover. Yet they actively contribute to the narrative and, in some cases, even extend it. The research project was presented during The 2024 Biennale Exemplaires in Valence and a one-day symposium in Metz, featuring Agatha Masa, officeabc, Alice Planes, and Pierre Leguillon. This event was promoted via social media and a printed poster. A (filled) popcorn cup was handed out at the entrance of the symposium, with the program printed on it.

Title
La page projetée
Date
2024
Type
Research, Visual identity, Editorial design
Client
ESAL Metz
Place
Metz
Material
Poster portfolio, popcorn cup, ads
Publisher
ESAL Metz
Editors
Léo Coquet, Elamine Maecha, Jérôme Knebusch
Texts
Léo Coquet, Emilia Bernard, Corentin Ferry, Alix Hetreux, Yu-Chien Huang, Maddy Lepage, Théo Michaud, Gabin Nivard, Léa Pesant, Valentine Poulet, Erwan Wilhelm
Photography
Léo Coquet
Typeface
Bureau Grotesque
Printing
Édicolor, Bain-de-Bretagne, pok Büroartikel, Berlin, ESAL Metz
Copies
400
ISBN
979-10-90886-22-3

La page projetée. Livres (fictionnels) au cinéma, research symposium, ESAL Metz, 2023. Visual identity, w/ Institut Page

Pedagogical materiality covers all media, tools, objects, toys and devices dedicated to the transmission of knowledge. In short, all the ‘things' which accompany educational activity, regardless of the place in which it occurs. Because this materiality is expressed in terms of properties perceptible through the senses, its uses are particularly popular throughout the pre-school period and in early-learning methods. Éloïsa Pérez's essay discusses examples from the early 19th century until today. It is structured in three parts: constructing (the letter), guiding (the movement through trajectory and tracing) and composing (the word). The pamphlet is accompanied by the edition of an exclusive capital lettering template and two postcards. Edited by Alice Savoie and Jérôme Knebusch in the Poem Pamphlet series. Translated into English by Nigel Briggs.

Title
The material discovery of the alphabet
Date
2021
Type
Editorial design
Client
Poem
Place
Frankfurt am Main
Material
Pamphlet
Publication
Poem

The material discovery of the alphabet, Éloïsa Pérez, Poem, Frankfurt am Main, 2021. Published by Poem.

Biography, 2003-2018 [folded], Poem, Frankfurt am Main, 2019. Published by Poem Original artworks here

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.

Zaunkönig Appartements, Baden-Baden, 2019.

Almost is a typeface between gothic and roman. Based on in-depth research, it was designed by Jérôme Knebusch in 2012-2019 in five weights and two styles, Gothic and Roman, and completed in 2021 with respective italics. Almost Display was added to the collection in 2024, intended to headlines and shorter texts in bigger sizes. It carefully adapts its proportions to save horizontal space, and sharper terminals look more refined, especially in bolder weights. Almost Display otherwise mirrors the various expressive possibilities of Almost, and might be the preferred choice in point sizes above twenty. More information about Almost on Poem's website.

Title
Almost Display
Date
2024
Type
Type design, Research
Client
Poem
Place
Frankfurt am Main
Material
Retail typeface
Conference
Gotico-Antiqua symposium, Nancy 2019
Award
Type Directors Club 2020
Award
Typographica 2019
Publisher
Poem

Almost Display, typeface, 2024. Published by Poem.

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.

next page