The Darkest Corners of The Whitest Cube at Kunsthaus Dresden
Contributed by Stephen Coles on Nov 9th, 2013. Artwork published in
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Source: lamm-kirch.com License: All Rights Reserved.
The simple addition of descending thorns turns the narrow display variant of Gill Sans into letters that reference Rubensesque type, a genre that we now associate with the dark and spooky.
4 Comments on “The Darkest Corners of The Whitest Cube at Kunsthaus Dresden”
A little customization goes a long way. I wish more graphic designers would consider an approach like this.
Hello,
This post isn’t specifically about this poster—although it was certainly even more powerful, created using “Gill Sans URW Bold Compressed.”
I have a set of this font, “Copyright 1994 by URW,” but there’s no other indication of its origin anywhere.
Without lowercase, but very complete by the standards prevailing before the end of the 1990s (without the Euro sign), with most of the accented and Eastern European signs. Well-drawn and professionally made, I doubt it was created to serve as a headline for a publication (journal, magazine), even though this narrow Gill was very popular in the 1980s.
Nothing about this “Bold Compressed” version, which is tauter and more compact than the clearly identified “Bold Extra Condensed.” Any leads?
PS. I don’t know how to post a screenshot to show it.
You are asking about this design, right?
I would assume it originated at URW, as an extension of their digitization of Gill Sans. Chances are it’s by Achaz Reuss – at least he takes credit for similar extensions, see for example Nimbus Roman Modern Compress – an extra condensed version of Times. There are more, see the profile pdf compiled for the Klingspor Museum. I’ll try to find out more.
All I know at the moment is that Gill Sans URW Bold Compressed also went under the name Klassik Sans No2/No3 Compress URW D Bold. Klassik Sans Nos 2 and 3 were the aliases used by URW for their digitizations.
Thank you, Florian, for this quick response.
My research for several years has focused on the existence of brands variously associated with “old” typefaces (some PS1s that I keep out of nostalgia and despite their varying design qualities), such as Brendel & Pabst, Image Club Graphics, SoftMaker, PhotoLettering, or Agfa and Compugraphic.
I believe I understand that the sharing of rights to large catalogs, such as URW’s, accompanied the emergence of numerous foundries following technological developments. New industrial and commercial entities entered into arrangements, with much confusion (from where I sit) and undoubtedly some dispersion as well, in the UK and Germany, mainly from the 1990s, “after the fall of the Berlin Wall”?
With a few exceptions, it’s safe to say that NTIC have since made it possible to transfer the distribution monopoly to North American companies, from the major catalog brands Helvetica and Garamond, as well as all the new developments developed since then, such as the FontShop catalog.
In this context, I find it interesting to examine the Great-History and relate it to the artisanal and manufacturing activity that typography represented in the past. This is one of the reasons why I’ve been consulting “Fonts in Use” for several years, and have recently posted there. The information on the origin and history of typefaces is fascinating, and the visual examples are a feast for the eyes! And I want to thank you here again for your response and clarifications.
I did recognize several unique designs in the Klingspor Museum compilation. But again, nothing about this Gill Compressed. Perhaps this particular origin explains its orphaned status, despite its high ancestry. This absence continues to surprise me.