James-Simon-Galerie – David Chipperfield Architects
https://www.museumsinsel-berlin.de/gebaeude/james-simon-galerie/
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P98a – A Visit to Erik Spiekermann’s Berlin Studio
Visit to Erik Spiekermann Studio P98a, on November 19th 2018
p98a.berlin – typographic workshop
Potsdamer Straße 98a
10785 Berlin
In my quest to find practitioners of typography and letterpress today, I am visiting Erik Spiekermann’s Berlin-based artist studio, p98a
Presses include an Original Heidelberger Tiegel, Korrex Frankfurt Kraft (1961), FAG Swiss Proof S 52 (1979) and FAG Standard AP 550 (1960)
Korrex Frankfurt Kraft (1961)
Original Heidelberger Tiegel
Archive of Wood Type letters of US and European origin
Wood blocks featuring common German word endings such as ‘heit’ and ‘keit’
Archive of Lead Type letters of US and European origin
Catalogues of Wood Type and Lead Type Letters
Exposed Polymer Plates – Used for print runs
Studio Working Spaces
Bauhaus Fonts – supported by Adobe California, presented at LA Adobe MAX in October 2018
Download via Typekit, Creative Cloud
https://fonts.adobe.com/fonts/hidden-treasures
Font designs discovered in the Bauhaus Archive Dessau
Modern designers to complete the five original alphabet designs by Joost Schmidt, Carl Marx, Xanti Schawinsky, Reinhold Rossig & Alfred Arndt
Experimentation with different materials used to print on letterpress
Alphabits – typeface FF Amoeba letters in 5mm acrylic
Typographic Library
Books and posters for sale, printed by P98A
YouTube Video By Jaroslaw Godlewski
Vogue – Berlin Cityscapes Series – 10/10/2018
Berlin Cityscapes Series featured on Vogue Italia website
Researching the City of Berlin – Typography – Actual Size Magazine
As part of my typographical field research, I wandered the city of Berlin to seek out any surviving commercial signs, particularly on the facades of buildings, that bear witness to earlier times. New Manchester-based print magazine Actual Size (https://www.actualsizemagazine.com) contacted me on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/heike_schneider_matzigkeit/) after …
Letterpress Lead Printing for my prototype
For my book cover prototype print, I choose a small lead font called 8pt Petit Post Versalien https://www.voltapress.com/typecatalog/ After choosing the font, I proceed to set up the 8 point size letters which takes a lot of concentration and care Then, I start to …
Bookbinding Workshop Reflection
During the bookbinding workshop I experimented with three different types of stitching and created a signature based book (chap book), a Japanese book block, and a coptic book.
Here is my final and favourite result, a coptic stitch book with black pages, white thread and a thick grey cover.
I love the look the inset stitches on the cover are creating: simple yet elegant.
The title sheet of the book is a print I set with the letterpress (see blog post Letterpress Lead Printing for my prototype), which fits the simple style and colour scheme.
For future book cover experimentation, I am interested in testing various materials, including unused 1970s wallpaper (perfect for glue), pieces of wood, natural materials such as dry rye etc.
The tools necessary for book binding which I used today are: Awl (Ahle in German), Book Punch (Locheisen), Bone Folder (Falzbein), Sowing Needle, Twine or thread (Buchbinderzwirn).
Bone Folder – Paper with the grain
Sowing Needle
Twine or thread – Number of holes or number of signatures: That many times the height of the book.
Bookbinding tools
My Coptic Stitch Book
Traditional Japanese book blocks
My Japanese book block
Boros Collection – Reichsbahnbunker Friedrichstrasse
There are two very different aspects to a visit to the Boros Collection, however, at the end of the visit it almost feels that they are converging into a new whole. One element is the obvious history of the location and venue, the other is …