Designer – Steve Mehallo
Website – mehallo.com/blog
Twitter – @mehallo


‘Kiss my ass! – or, Get stuffed!’ Rudolf Koch c. 1929

By the 14th Century, Blackletter had become the dominant lettering style throughout Europe. Its allure tied directly to the pens, it was far easier to write than the scripts of the old Roman Empire.

And if it wasn’t for printers Arnold Pannartz and Konrad Sweinheim – and later Johannes de Spira – in Italy – we’d probably still be using it today. In Germany, Blackletter stayed on as the predominant type until around World War II.


Fraktur script from Das ABC Büchlein, Rudolf Koch 1934

One of the finest Blackletter artists to grace the page was Rudolf Koch (1876-1934). Calligraphy and illustration was his thing – he wasn’t very good at much else.

In 1906, he was hired by The Klingspor Type Foundry in Offtenbach, Germany. He worked for them for the rest of his life, producing some of the most beautiful blackletter ever created.

I recently snagged a copy of Gerald Cinamon’s Rudolf Koch: Letterer, Type Designer, Teacher, one of the few books written in English about Koch. It details his early work, his Christian background, his pursuit of perfection in both work and teaching. In short, how every project he took on was carefully prepped and executed.

Wilhelm Klingspor Gotisch is his most famous blackletter typeface and its forms grace many font menus. Today I’d say it’s a must for bands or motorcycle clubs. It pops.

Kabel was his version of the popular geometric sans serifs of the day – such as Futura or Erbar. Only his take has far more calligraphic-based personality than others – Kabel often shows up in some unlikely places, and has become a logo standard. It translates well.

The most unusual type of Koch is Neuland. He cut it directly from metal – and he wasn’t very good at cutting it in metal – but this gives it its rustic form. Quite popular today, used anywhere primitive styles are needed. I once saw it animated with Carol Twombly’s Lithos – an interesting juxtaposition.

Neuland is also taught today as a style of calligraphy – by Memphis-based lettering artist Roann Mathias – going back to pen and brush gives it a fluid form.

I’m studying Koch’s work now to help complete a German-derived font I’ve been working on the for the past couple of years.

It’s always great to be able to research more about a type designer who tends to be anonymous – since his public showing, of course, is limited to uncredited logos and the simple names that show up on a font menu.


Detail: The Sermon on the Mount, Rudolf Koch 1922