This first week of June, things are feeling summery and full of changes at my studio. For one, I’ve temporarily moved to a studio collective in Mitte for the month, after the Multiverso studio collective closed its doors in May. This Monday, I celebrated my first day (Einstand) in the traditional German manner by bringing my colleagues something sweet — strawberries from one […]
I was sad to find this sign in the window of a little used bookstore on Berlin-Friedrichshain’s Niederbarnimstraße, where we used to look in regularly. We often found oddities, treasures and gifts there, in recent years priced by the kilo: a volume of Grzimek’s encyclopedia of animals that inspired us to buy the whole set; a beautiful hand-colored […]
Yesterday, on a Landpartie (countryside outing) to brainstorm some ideas for Schloss Wartin, I admired this sign, whose weird 70’s typeface clashed oddly with the surrounding village, which looked more like 18th or 19th century. ‘frische eier!’ means ‘fresh eggs!’
Tomorrow is Martina’s lettering workshop and I’ve been collecting more Berlin lettering to mentally prepare. Above, the window of an after-school activity center in a Neukölln storefront, painted paper letters proclaim “On Fridays, it’s really happening!
Berlin isn’t a bad place to go sign-peeping. Not just at the Museum of Letters, but also right on the city streets, there are signs from East, West, and pre-Wall Berlin, and some lovely new signs as well. I’m designing some script lettering right now, so I’ve been looking at the many script signs around […]
As you may recall, I took a workshop on hand-drawing lettering in December. The teacher, Martina Flor, started and ended the class by showing photographs of shop signage and other lettering on the street. I’ve also been looking out for great lettering on the street for many years, but haven’t been very organized about taking […]
The wondrous Buchstabenmuseum, nomadic thus far, is opening in a more permanent location. Opening party tomorrow. Come meet Berlin’s retired neon letters and other signage veterans.
In emphatic Berlinerisch, visitors to the little snack bar and beer garden on the Insel der Jugend in Treptower Park are told not to even ask about fries. But there’s Flammkuchen, steak grilled to order, and other specials like homemade ravioli and cake. And cold Staropramen on tap. So no problem. You can also rent a vintage […]
Little fluted paper trays play a major role in Berlin eating. They support slices of cake in waxed paper bags being transported from bakeries to offices every day, carefully balanced on the palm of the hand, to be eaten with afternoon coffee. Deeper versions hold Currywurst and Pommes rot-weiß.
Saw this sign in Berlin-Prenzlauer Berg, for a gallery. Pica pica is possibly my favorite scientific animal name, beating out mus musculus (house mouse) and Rattus rattus (black rat). As you can see from the sign, it’s the name of the European magpie. I have a magpie couple as neighbors in a treetop near my apartment windows. And […]
