One month after TYPO-Berlin 2004, several HfG Offenbach students and alumni met for a Typostammtisch, to keep the momentum going. This peculiar institution has continued to meet more or less every months since; we celebrated a fifth-year anniversary last night. Although most of the designers from the founding instance have moved on to other things, the event has maintained the same feeling.
The Offenbach Typostammtisch’s location has moved around quite a bit, too. In fact, most meetings during the first few years were in Frankfurt, not in Offenbach—although the true hub of typographic creativity along the Main has never been in doubt. From Balalaika in Sachsenhausen, the Typostammtisch moved to Coemedia Mundi along the river bank, the now-closed Künstlerkeller, the old Frankfurt Literaturhaus, the Klingspor Museum, both TYPOSITION. offices, as well as to Försters and the Weinstübe in Offenbach. We may have even inspired a parallel institution in Berlin, which is admittedly much larger.
The Typostammtisch would never have continued this long were it not for Peter Reichard and Tanja Huckenbeck. They always manage to bring in new faces and presentation topics. After I left Germany for Reading in September 2007, they took over the organization of the Typostammtisch, and still carry it off brilliantly. Here’s to five more years!
TYPOSITION. designed and ordered up custom beer coasters for the anniversary Typostammtisch.