GROTESQUE

Design between serial product & unique product

The industrial design students of the first semester of the University of Applied Sciences Munich modified the mostly used chair in the world, the "Monobloc Chair“. The anonymous product was transformed into a unique design object with a grotesque character.

The term "grotesque“ goes back to the French word "grotesque“ of the 17th century and was originally used in the fine arts for the unnatural combination of human, animal and plant motifs. As a typographic term the word was first used in 1832 as a designation for the first sans serif font in lower and upper case letters. Used to a lot of decor and serifs this typeface, developed by William Thorowgood, was initially met with suspicion by contemporaries, which earned this new type of typeface design the name "grotesque“. Nowadays, sans serif fonts are unmistakeable and can be found in all areas of design.

The aesthetic characteristics of the chair were typographically translated by each student under the direction of lecturer Johannes von Gross. Fitting the title of the exhibition the names of the chairs are set in the sans serif typeface „Helvetica Neue“ which is the most widely used worldwide. The design of the specially developed names reflects the character traits and basic ideas of the designs. The project aims to demonstrate that typography is a decisive factor in the presentation of products and for the creation of a visual identity.

Time period: 11.2o19 - 02.2o20