Elias Riedmann
Othmar Motter – Meister der Extrabold
Ein Streifzug durch das Archiv der «Vorarlberger Graphik»
German, 352 pages, 18.4 x 27.5 cm, fully illustrated, hardcover
Book design: Elias Riedmann
Including 5 Motter fonts.
Euro (A) 55.– / Euro (D) 56.50
Available
ISBN
978-3-03863-033-3
→ I think that the publication Meister der Extrabold about designer Othmar Motter is absolutely indispensable.
Stefan Sagmeister
→ The first comprehensive biography on the life and oeuvre of the grand Austrian pioneer of graphic design
→ Including 5 digital Motter fonts
Tektura, Ombra, Corpus and Femina. While these fonts are world famous and widely popular, the man behind them, Othmar Motter (1927-2010), is only known to a few. By and large, his great international reputation – according to Anita Kern, “probably the Austrian graphic designer with the strongest international presence worldwide” – has been restricted to specialist circles, and even within those, his designs are better known than the graphic designer and person himself.
Motter was a graphic design pioneer from Vorarlberg, a passionate typeface designer and co-founder of the Vorarlberger Graphik studio in Hard, which can be regarded as a precursor of modern co-working space. His Motter Tektura would long define the brand design of Apple and Reebok. He also designed logos for Vorarlberg’s industry which are still present in the streetscape today. In the post-war years, important assignments came, above all, from the regional textile industry. His career as a typeface designer reached an all-time high when his Motter Corpus was issued by the International Typeface Corporation in New York.
Essentially, the teachings of Swiss typographer Adrian Frutiger and Günter Gerhard Lange were a major source of inspiration for Motter’s work. The latter once told Motter that it was a waste of creative time to draw all the letters himself … however, working by hand can rather be seen as a sign of quality. Being ever modest, Othmar Motter preferred to work at night when the hectic bustle of big business subsided.
About the author:
Born 1990 and raised in Lustenau (Vorarlberg), Elias Riedmann studied graphic design, graduating in 2016 from the University of Applied Arts Vienna. While at university, studies abroad at Krakow and Amsterdam; internships at De Designpolitie and Studio Laucke Siebein. Graphic designer for Sägenvier DesignKommunikation in Dornbirn since February 2016.
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