Adobe Hidden Treasures: Bauhaus Dessau

For the 100th anniversary of the Bauhaus Dessau, Adobe has launched the beautiful project “Adobe Hidden Treasures—Bauhaus Dessau,” in which almost forgotten, unfinished font designs and letter sketches of legendary Bauhaus masters have been taken from the archives and now completed.

In collaboration with the Bauhaus Dessau Foundation and Erik Spiekermann, Adobe has realized the project and will now successively publish five new fonts based on legendary Bauhaus designs by Xanti Schawinsky, Joost Schmidt, Carl Marx (July 2018), Alfred Arndt (August 2018) and Reinhold Rossig (September 2018). In June Adobe already published the fonts Xants and Joschmi, which are available via Typekit.

Now the project is entering the next round: CarlMarx, based on the work of Bauhaus master Carl Marx, was designed by Hidetaka Yamasaki  (University of Reading, UK).

CarlMarx
This typeface is based on lettering by Carl Marx (1911–1991), designed during his first semester at the Bauhaus in Joost Schmidt’s class, in 1932. Although the letter proportions are based on Schmidt’s teachings, the forms are not constructed from compass and ruler, but drawn with brush and marker, lending the words a warm and lively touch. Hidetaka Yamasaki redrew the letters from scratch and added all missing characters for today’s needs. A set of hanging figures, alternates for some critical letterforms (such as f, r, and t) as well as several ligatures make CarlMarx especially suitable for use in body text. As suggested by Marx, Yamasaki captured two weights from the original drawing and perfectly adjusted light and bold to highlight words and create hierarchy in headlines—without losing or adding space. True to the original, Yamasaki captured the wobbly contour in CarlMarx, preserving warmth in the condensed geometric style of the early 1930s.

Design competition:

With the publication of the fonts, Adobe is also launching a five-part design competition in which all creative people are invited to design with the new fonts for the first time. There are exclusive prizes to be won, including a trip to the Bauhaus Dessau Foundation. More information on how to participate can be found here.

Coming soon:

Font 4: August 2018—Designed by Celine Hurka, based on the work of Bauhaus master Alfred Arndt
Font 5: September 2018—Designed by Elia Preuss, based on the work of Bauhaus master Reinhold Rossig

Background:

Although the Bauhaus was only active for 14 years after its opening, it is still considered today to be the best known modern school for architecture, design and art of the last 100 years. In 1932 the Dessau municipal council, dominated by the National Socialist Party, decides to dissolve the Bauhaus School in Dessau. The unfinished masterpieces of the designers Xanti Schawinsky, Joost Schmidt, Carl Marx, Alfred Arndt and Reinhold Rossig have therefore remained in the archives to this day.

“Hidden Treasures of Creativity is an ongoing project that aims to revive lost creative history to inspire current generations. Last year, Adobe worked with the Munch Museum and the world’s leading Photoshop brush expert, Kyle T. Webster, to recreate Edvard Munch’s brushes. Tens of thousands of people downloaded the brushes and were inspired by the old master. This year, Adobe recognizes the unbroken influence of the Bauhaus, whose goal was to rethink the future, unfold it in everyday creativity, to shape modernity in all its demands—including typography and design from the beginning, which has driven us to innovation to this day. We hope that by bringing these hidden treasures to the present day, we can inspire many creative people,” said Sabina Strasser, Head of Brand Marketing, EMEA at Adobe.