turbo type
turbo type

KLINGSPOR TYPE ARCHIVE

In the archive materials of the former foundry Gebr. Klingspor, which lie dormant in the archive of the museum of the same name, unique type samples, original sketches, proofs and letters provide a rare insight into the working methods of the type designers of the time. It is therefore hardly surprising that type lovers and type designers from all over the world travel to Offenbach to visit and research the collection.
However, the collection is nowhere near as well catalogued and accessible as it could be. To date, there has not even been a digital directory to obtain information in advance, nor has the archive content been fully inventoried. So how can you use a publicly accessible collection when access is so hidden?

From this starting point, we launched the »Klingspor Type Archive« on our own initiative (originally as part of our joint diploma), a comprehensive digitisation project with its own website. The aim is to digitally preserve the collection and make it accessible and tangible using various tools (intuitive search functions, different viewing and sorting modes, »touchable« objects that can be moved around digitally, additional information about each object and much more). Browsing and random findings included! In addition, each historical object can be linked to design and research projects that have their origins in the historical material from Offenbach. The archive is therefore not a dead, purely retrospective place, but a link between history and the present and a platform for contemporary design and research projects.

The website went online at the end of 2022 and since then the database has been continuously updated. In 2023, we won the Certificate of Typographic Excellence from the tdc (Type Directors Club) with the project.

Click here for the 0Klingspor Type Archive.

Collaboration: Offenbach University of Art and Design (HfG), Klingspor Museum
Year: 2024

turbo type
turbo type
turbo type
turbo type
turbo type

KLINGSPOR TYPE ARCHIVE

In the archive materials of the former foundry Gebr. Klingspor, which lie dormant in the archive of the museum of the same name, unique type samples, original sketches, proofs and letters provide a rare insight into the working methods of the type designers of the time. It is therefore hardly surprising that type lovers and type designers from all over the world travel to Offenbach to visit and research the collection.
However, the collection is nowhere near as well catalogued and accessible as it could be. To date, there has not even been a digital directory to obtain information in advance, nor has the archive content been fully inventoried. So how can you use a publicly accessible collection when access is so hidden?

From this starting point, we launched the »Klingspor Type Archive« on our own initiative (originally as part of our joint diploma), a comprehensive digitisation project with its own website. The aim is to digitally preserve the collection and make it accessible and tangible using various tools (intuitive search functions, different viewing and sorting modes, »touchable« objects that can be moved around digitally, additional information about each object and much more). Browsing and random findings included! In addition, each historical object can be linked to design and research projects that have their origins in the historical material from Offenbach. The archive is therefore not a dead, purely retrospective place, but a link between history and the present and a platform for contemporary design and research projects.

The website went online at the end of 2022 and since then the database has been continuously updated. In 2023, we won the Certificate of Typographic Excellence from the tdc (Type Directors Club) with the project.

Click here for the 0Klingspor Type Archive.

Collaboration: Offenbach University of Art and Design (HfG), Klingspor Museum
Year: 2024

turbo type
turbo type
turbo type
turbo type
turbo type