Akzidenz Grotesk, which was designed, developed and produced in many weights and sizes at Berthold from the end of the 19th century onwards, is known worldwide. It has been called the mother of all modern sans serif type-faces. With the rise of the International Typographic styles, Akzidenz Grotesk (abbreviated as AG) became the most influential typeface in this trend, thus gaining widespread recognition.
1957 was a landmark year for type design, marking the birth of two highly influential typefaces: Helvetica and Univers. In the same year in Germany, Günter Gerhard Lange (GGL), Berthold’s artistic director, designed a new version: Akzidenz Grotesk Series 57. GGL had caught the spirit of the times and tidied up, smoothed out and simplified the youngest child of the AG family. Unfortunately, it was never made into a complete family of faces and it was somehow overlooked by later generations and thus never digitized. Until Erik Spiekermann unexpectedly discovered it in a mislabelled case. He brought Alexander Roth from neue Fonts on board, to digitize it and expand the design, thus now we have a new typeface “neue Serie57®” of our own, born in the digital world, but with a pedigree that goes back to the 19th century.
In this exhibition, in addition to presenting the origin, production process, and design details of “neue Serie57®”, historical materials, prints, and type specimens of “Akzidenz Grotesk” will also be exhibited, marking the first time in Asian history to have such a rich collection of Akzidenz Grotesk-related exhibits. As audiences delve deeper into the uniqueness of this typeface and the stories behind it, they will be taken on an inspiring cultural journey. This is not just an exhibition, but also a tribute to the spirit of innovation and cultural heritage. Welcome to join us to explore and appreciate this valuable piece of design history.
In addition to the exhibition itself, Alexander Roth, the designer of neue Serie57®, will come to Taiwan to share the design process of neue Serie57® through a lecture, and will also lead a typography workshop to experience the manual typesetting and printing with neue Serie57®.
The designer of neue Serie57®
◎ Alexander Roth
Alexander is a type designer who has worked across the leading type foundries throughout his career (FontFont, FontShop, Linotype and Monotype). He is also one of the designers of the Helvetica® Now, which was released in 2019. In 2020 he founded neue. A type design practice offering off-the-shelf and custom font solutions. His portfolio includes work for fashion companies, auto manufactures, cultural institutions and government institutions. He is honored with the German Design Award as well as accolades from the Type Directors Club, New York.
◎ Erik Spiekermann
Erik Spiekermann’s graphic identity and design work has been a distinctive part of the visual world since the 1970s. As the founder of MetaDesign and Edenspiekermann, he gave Berlin’s public transport, Deutsche Bahn, the Economist and brands such as Audi, Volkswagen and Bosch a distinctive appearance. Some of his typeface design – like ITC Officina and FF Meta – are considered classics. To this day he is a central figure in scene. He now runs the post-digital workshop Hacking Gutenberg in Berlin. Erik is still involved in designing way finding systems for public transit projects. He also occasionally writes books and designs type.
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neue Serie57® Event
① About the making of a very old, brand new typeface｜2024/06/02 14-16
Register Now https://www.accupass.com/go/NS01
② Poster design with prefabricated stamps and stencils｜2024/06/16 14-17
Register Now https://www.accupass.com/go/NS02
The very old, brand new – neue Serie57®
Exhibition Period｜2024.05.28 TUE. – 2024.06.16 SUN.
Opening Time｜10:00–18:00
Location｜Not Just Library
Ticket｜NTD50
Directed by｜Industrial Development Administration, MOEA
Hosted by｜neue, Eyeson Type
Executive Organized by｜Not Just Library
Co-organized by｜Hacking Gutenberg
Supported by｜Department of Cultural Affairs Taipei City Government, justfont, FUFU PRINT INC., Inter-States Paper, Plus1 creative marketing, braun.1955
Curated by｜Joe Chang, Alexander Roth
