Rosemarie Kloos-Rau is a calligrapher and typographer and was awarded in 1983 with the Rudo Spemann award.[1] Until the 1990s, she worked as an illustrator[2] and published together with Michael Rau the book Script Types in 1993.[3] 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.[4] In 1997, Alexei Chekulayev created a version with cyrillic characters, and in 1999 a bold font style was published. Also, Dingbats are available.[5][6]
In 2010, the graphical prototype of the typeface was incorporated into the Berlin Collection on Calligraphy in the archive of Academy of Arts, Berlin.[4][7] 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.[8]
Style
Following the German DIN standard16518, Wiesbaden Swing is considered a script typeface[9] or handwritten roman type.[10] The typeface is rounded,[11] but the characters are not connected.[12] The author states that the typeface allows for a "fresh and unconventional" handling of the typography.[13]
Usage
The typeface is used for headlines, slogans and mark designations, and as a celebration font,[14] for example on greeting cards. It is frequently used in the food sector,[15] examples are Maggi soup tureen, LiekenWeberli, Zentis jam, Alnatura tea und coffee, Duplo of Kinder Chocolate and Milka.[16][17] The typeface is advertised as one of the "famous Linotype fonts from the last decade".[18]
^Kate Clair, Cynthia Busic-Snyder: A Typographic Workbook: A Primer to History, Techniques, and Artistry. John Wiley & Sons, 2012. ISBN978-1-11-839988-0. Page 174.