Buntes Grau

The exhibition Colorful Grey (Farebná šeď – Buntes Grau) presented the product design created in the 1960s and 1970s in two already non-existing countries: ČSSR (Czechoslovakia) and DDR (German Democratic Republic). Organised by the Slovak Design Center, and Museum Europäischer Kulturen and Werkbundarchiv – Museum der Dinge, the exhibition highlights a living room and a kitchen with authentic home tools and furniture used in period. The exhibition uses Uni Grotesk, a adaptation of Universal Grotesk distributed by Grafotechna, a conglomerate Czechoslovak type foundry established in 1951 that was ubiquitous in former Czechoslovakia, but has German roots based on matrices by Wagner & Schmidt, Leipzig, cast and sold by Norddeutsche Schriftgießerei, Berlin as Kristall-Grotesk. Typotheque has published an article on the history of Universal Grotesk.

The accompanying catalogue designed by Ondrej Jób, uses also Uni Grotesk throughout the publication for headlines and the body text.