Wiesbaden Swing is a script typeface, created by the German communication designer Rosemarie Kloos-Rau. Since the 1992 release by Linotype, several character sets have been published, including dingbats.
History
Rosemarie Kloos-Rau is a calligrapher and typographer and was awarded in 1983 with the Rudo Spemann award.Rudo-Spemann-Preis, pages of the city of Offenbach am Main. Accessed February 1, 2015. Until the 1990s, she worked as an illustratorExamples: Mein kunterbuntes Pianobuch or Mein kunterbuntes Liederbuch, both written by Margret Birkenfeld. and published together with Michael Rau the book Script Types in 1993. In 1992, she published the typeface Wiesbaden Swing for Linotype, named after Wiesbaden, the German regional capital of Hesse, where Kloos-Rau lives in the suburb of Biebrich. In 1997, Alexei Chekulayev created a version with cyrillic characters, and in 1999 a bold font style was published. Also, Dingbats are available.Wiesbaden Swing Dingbats, linotype.com, accessed February 1, 2015.
In 2010, the graphical prototype of the typeface was incorporated into the Berlin Collection on Calligraphy in the archive of Academy of Arts, Berlin.Wiesbaden Swing. In: Wiesbadener Tagblatt, April 24, 2010, accessed February 1, 2015.Rosemarie Kloos-Rau, Berliner Sammlung Kalligraphie, accessed February 1, 2015. To mark the 30th anniversary, in January 2022 the exhibition "Wiesbaden Swing: A Typeface Dances Around the World" was shown at the New Town Hall in Wiesbaden.Volker Milch: „Ich wollte eine Hommage an die Stadt“. Wiesbadener Kurier, January 5, 2022, p. 14. Online as Wiesbaden Swing: „Eine Schrift tanzt um die Welt“.
Style
Following the German DIN standard 16518, Wiesbaden Swing is considered a script typefaceScript Fonts, linotype.com, accessed February 1, 2015. or handwritten roman type.Tonwert-Atlas digital (PDF; 4,7 MB), page 31. The typeface is rounded,Fonts in Focus No. 9, page 11, accessed at issuu.com, February 1, 2015. but the characters are not connected.Kate Clair, Cynthia Busic-Snyder: A Typographic Workbook: A Primer to History, Techniques, and Artistry. John Wiley & Sons, 2012. . Page 174. The author states that the typeface allows for a "fresh and unconventional" handling of the typography.Rosemarie Kloos-Rau , designers.linotype.com, accessed February 1, 2015.
Usage
The typeface is used for headlines, slogans and mark designations, and as a celebration font,Celebration Fonts, linotype.com, accessed February 1, 2015. for example on greeting cards. It is frequently used in the food sector,Tomate und Schrift vereint. In: Wiesbadener Tagblatt, December 9, 2010, accessed February 1, 2015. examples are Maggi soup tureen, Lieken Weberli, Zentis jam, Alnatura tea und coffee, Duplo of Kinder Chocolate and Milka.Verpackung/Bedruckung, accessed February 1, 2015.Type-Design and Examples, rau-design.de, accessed February 1, 2015. The typeface is advertised as one of the "famous Linotype fonts from the last decade".Famous Linotype fonts from the last decade, accessed February 1, 2015.
References