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

From metal type to phototypesetting, from the typewriter to the Minitel, and from engraving to dry-transfer lettering, the typographical work of Ange Degheest (1928-2009) testifies of the numerous technical changes the printing and telecommunication sectors went through during the second half of the twentieth century. Ange Degheest’s story is remarkable and a perfect illustration of the technical odyssey that took place throughout the twentieth century. Yet it is astonishing and disturbing to realise that, in spite of the quality and diversity of her lettering and type design work, her name has been forgotten amongst the list of those who have shaped the history of typography to this day. Reviving Ange Degheest was collectively written in Benjamin Gomez's type design class at EESAB Rennes by Eugénie Bidaut, Oriane Charvieux, Anaïs Déal, Luna Delabre, Camille Depalle, Mandy Elbé, Justine Herbel and May Jolivet. Afterword 'Ange Degheest, a female ghost of France’s type history' by Alice Savoie. Edited by Alice Savoie and Jérôme Knebusch in the Poem Pamphlet series.

Title
Ange Degheest
Date
2022
Type
Editorial design
Client
Poem
Place
Frankfurt am Main
Material
Pamphlet
Publisher
Poem

Reviving Ange Degheest, type class EESAB Rennes, Poem, Frankfurt am Main, 2022.

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.

Prix d'art / Kunstpreis Robert Schuman, École supérieure d'art, Église des Trinitaires, Centre d'art contemporain Faux Mouvement, Église Saint-Pièrre-aux-Nonnains, Metz, 2009.

Nouveau is a playful Jugendstil typeface based on a modernist design. Sometimes qualified in German speaking regions as Künstler-Grotesk – ‘Artist Sans Serif'– the typeface gathers different Art Nouveau forms found in architecture, furniture or art and transposes them into one harmonizing design. The typeface is characterized by wide capitals in many variants paired to slightly condensed minuscules with a generous x-height. Five weights range from hair strokes to a robust medium. The six styles (Crocus, Dahlia, Gingko, Nenuphar, Rose, Thistle) are arranged from the most quiet to the most expressive letter­forms. A variable font assembles all styles in one and makes them accessible through a weight and an exclusive flora axis. Nouveau was designed by Jérôme Knebusch and Philippe Tytgat and published in 2022 by Poem. It was initially created as an all-caps custom type for the École de Nancy, the Art Nouveau museum in France.

Title
Nouveau
Date
2018–2022
Type
Type design, Research
Client
Poem
Place
Frankfurt am Main
Material
Retail typeface
Photography
David Axelbank
Award
Type Directors Club 2023
Publication
Poem

Nouveau, typeface, 2018-2022, w/ Philippe Tytgat. Published by Poem.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

Zaunkönig Appartements, Baden-Baden, 2019.

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

Koch Grotesk is the newest revival of Neuland by Rudolf Koch, designed by Edvinas Žukauskas and Jérôme Knebusch and published by Poem for Neuland’s centenary in 2023. It is the most faithful to Gebr. Klingspor’s products and includes one separate font for each of the nine original sizes. The appearance is rough, especially when comparing multiple sizes. One notices that the characters in each size are not enlarged or reduced versions of the same master. Koch wrote, ‘the inventor of the form and the maker of the punches were united in one person. The typeface was created without a previous draft on paper, from the mass of metal and the [punchcutter’s] tool, as a sculptural task.' Koch Grotesk also includes a tenth font with lowercase letters. For the first time, this tenth font gives designers access to Gebr. Klingspor’s never-released Neuland lowercase and their matching uppercase. Koch Grotesk was accurately redrawn based on the archives at Klingspor Museum Offenbach and Hessisches Landesmuseum Darmstadt. Only few, necessary glyphs have been added, and the font names correspond to the point sizes and original German terms. 10% of licence purchases are deposited each year as flowers on Koch's grave.

Title
Koch Grotesk
Date
2019–2023
Type
Type design, Research
Client
Poem
Place
Frankfurt am Main
Material
Retail typeface
Conference
ENSAD Nancy 2023
Publisher
Poem

Koch Grotesk, typeface, 2019-2023, w/ Edvinas Žukauskas. Published by Poem.

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