Topic:

The Art of Visual Balance

Brief description:

In the introductory exercise, the focus is on the conscious and design-driven handling of the spacing between objects, shapes, and letters. Using the letters of the phrase DAS AUSGLEICHEN VON BUCHSTABEN (THE ADJUSTMENT OF LETTERS), differences in spacing and their effects on the overall design are addressed. In the following days, further differences will be explored and discussed collectively. This will be done with both a technical focus, including letter style, classification, spacing, serifs, uppercase, lowercase, mixed case, etc., as well as a content-related focus: typography and type, logos and images, etc. Additionally, using examples from the development of Latin script, attention will be drawn to the history and evolution of visual communication in applied arts. In the subsequent exercises, the focus will be on the design-driven handling of graphic shapes, letters, words, and wordmarks. This will be done using Latin and Chinese terms, with an emphasis on the areas of concept, design, presentation, and documentation.

Biography:

Bernard Stein studied applied art under Professor Helmut Lortz at the University of the Arts in Berlin, where he was a master student. He is currently based in Berlin. In 1978 he and Nicolaus Ott founded the Ott+Stein Studio in Berlin — producing design primarily for cultural institutions, artists, architects and publishing houses in Berlin. Since 1980 the work of Ott+Stein has been shown at numerous national and international museums and galleries. Two books have been written about their work: “Vom Wort zum Bild und zurück” (“From Word to Image and Back”) by Ernst & Sohn publishers in 1992, and “Nicolaus Ott + Bernard Stein, Grafikdesign”, published in 2008 on the occasion of an exhibition of the same title in the Berlin Art Library, SMB. Bernard Stein is a member of AGI and the editor of a typography encyclopedia published by Könemann in 1998: “TYPO – Wann? Wer? Wie?” (“TYPO – When? Who? How?”), which he co-authored with Friedrich Friedl and Nicolaus Ott. In 2008 he founded the Archiv für Historische Abbildungspraxis (Archive for Historically Informed Reproduction), which is dedicated to issues of artisanship and design-history as well as the issue of the original in the field of the digitalization in visual communication.

Bernard Stein was the curator for MetaHaus events and a design consultant for MetaDesign from 2002-2009 and a member of the management board. Stein also taught Visual Communications at the Kunsthochschule Kassel (Kassel University of the Arts) in Germany, where he focused on Poster Design and visual communication for public and cultural institutions. Besides that, Stein has been a member in the art advisory board for postage stamps for the German Federal Finance Ministry, and a jury member for the corporate design and posters for the Kieler Woche, northern Europe’s biggest summer festival.