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Matter Of is focused on establishing trans-border visual practices. We work on both practical design and conceptual consulting for institutions and projects with a focus on Art and Creative Direction. In addition to commissioned work, we initiate our own projects and work in collaborations. We propose open negotiation processes instead of fixed solutions and boundaries.
Diagrams help us communicate concepts, ideas and approaches.
1 Matter Of Shop
Matterof.shop is a platform we founded to showcase and distribute self-initiated projects such as books, clothing, accessories and other objects. It also features collaborations with and works of fellow artists, authors and designers. Most of the products are produced in limited quantities.
Golf pencils inspired by the work of theorist Johanna Drucker.
Cappuccino cups with Matter Of Graffiti graphic.
Packaging for the cups.
Matter Of Honey from the fields on the Swabian Jura, the area where we grew up. It was harvested by the father of Matter Of’s co-founder Fabian, who has been a beekeeper for over 10 years.
Collaboration with local coffee roasters Schwarzmahler.
2 Footnotes by the Graphic Designer
“What would graphic designers write about if they, like editors, curators, and translators, had a space within which they could discuss their design?”
Footnotes by the Graphic Designer, fresh from the printer.
Footnotes by the Graphic Designer is a thought experiment with which we try to start a conversation to understand how our role as graphic designers is changing. Written by ourselves in dialogue with friends, the short essay explores the extent to which graphic designers are becoming more active, the extent to which they have a responsibility, and how design is never a smooth affair and involves struggles. We propose to look at graphic design from a standpoint of shared dependencies in which it matters. It is available for free in our Shop.
3 Collaborations
Next to commissioned work and own projects we also work in collaborations with colleagues, friends, other graphic designers and artists.
Intrusion was a close collaboration between artist Georg Lutz and us.
Fitness and training band we created together with Dinamo Typefaces for the release of their new variable font Gravity.
4 MO-P-Number
Each project and product of Matter Of has its own catalog number, starting with MO-P-XXX. As part of our ongoing research on how type and objects can correlate, for the Matter Of MO-P-158 Chain the number becomes the product itself.
The MO-P-Number in the imprint of Dawn of Europe.
The Matter Of MO-P-158 Chain.
5 Kunst im öffentlichen Raum in Stuttgart
On 528 pages the book Kunst im öffentlichen Raum in Stuttgart (Art in Public Space in Stuttgart) presents 435 works by 212 artists. As a catalog raisonné, it is the first adequately catalogued collection of the public artworks of Stuttgart. Using color illustrations, cartography, and an extensive index, together with a wide range of text contributions, it creates the opportunity for a new and critical approach to the works and their social context.
The book was conceived, compiled, photographed, designed and edited by us.
We visited and photographed every artwork.
The finished books arrive.
6 Reading Computer
Our mascot is a reading computer that underscores our holistic approach to graphic design, in which no medium or practice is preferred over another on principle. It also embodies simultaneously an ironic and a serious attitude, drawing links to Rodin’s The Thinker.
A keychain with the mascot.
The 3D model of the mascot was created by our friend Nam Hyunh.
7 Lectures & Workshops
We give lectures and hold workshops at art and design academies and other institutions.
Type-Embodiment course at HfG Karlsruhe.
Feldarbeit at Werkstatthaus Stuttgart (Talk), Typography II–The New New Typography at HfG Karlsruhe (Lecture), KOHL SWAT at HfG Karlsruhe (Talk), Typography I–Type-Embodiment at HfG Karlsruhe (Lecture), Open Innovation Lab at Burg Halle (Talk), Arch+ at Architecture Department HFT Stuttgart (Workshop), Archiving Public Art at CURRENT–Art and Urban Space (Talk), Art in Public Spaces at Stadtpalais Stuttgart (Talk), KD Lounge HFTW Konstanz (Talk), Après Aka at ABK Stuttgart (Talk), Inverting Design Practice” at ISBA Besançon (Workshop), Deleuze Series I at HFT Stuttgart (Lecture), Deleuze Series II at ABK Stuttgart (Lecture)
Results of the workshop at ISBA Besançon.
8 Studio
We pay attention to the culture in our studio, trying to establish a respectful and caring as well as a productive and fun environment.
Working on products for the shop.
Matter Of Rollwagen in action.
Temporary work place while we built new tables.
Joint project discussion.
Setting up a new bookshelf.
9 Press & Exhibitions
Our work has been featured in numerous printed and digital media as well as various exhibitions.
Galerie Kernweine, 100 Best Posters 2021, It’s Nice That, Page Magazine, Slanted Magazine, AIGA Eye on Design, Collide24, Monthly Design Magazine, INTL International, 100 Best Posters 2020, Best German Book Design 2020, Graphic Design Festival Scotland 2019, 100 Best Posters 2014
Article on It’s Nice That about Matter Of.
Bookrelease of Dawn of Europe at Book shop Walther König.
10 Awards & Grants
Over the years we have won various awards, prices and grants, including:
Best German Book Design 2021 (Shortlist), 100 Best Posters D/A/CH 2021, 100 Best Posters D/A/CH 2020, Best German Book Design 2020 (Shortlist), Publication funding MWK Baden-Württemberg 2018 & 2019, Graphic Design Festival Scotland 2019, Macau Design Award 2019 (Shortlist), 100 Best Posters 2014, Studio residency Künstlerhaus Stuttgart (2013–15), Chaumont Design Festival 2012, Book Institute Grant ABK Stuttgart 2012 & 2014, Academy Price Stuttgart 2014, open:output Award 2013
Our poster at the 100 Best Posters 2021 exhibition in Berlin.
11 Current & former team
Leon Reeb, Jade Rouanet, Léonie Montjarret, Luis Schneider, Nina Flaitz, Micha Niederhauser, Mathias Manner
Color and material research.
