Heinrich Jost (13 October 1889 – 27 September 1948) was a German

typographer Typography is the art and technique of arranging type to make written language legible, readable and appealing when displayed. The arrangement of type involves selecting typefaces, point sizes, line lengths, line-spacing ( leading), an ...

and graphic designer. He was the art director of the Bauer Type Foundry from 1923 until 1948.

Biography

Jost was born in 1889 to a bookbinder father in

Magdeburg Magdeburg (; nds, label=Low Saxon, Meideborg ) is the capital and second-largest city of the German state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is situated at the Elbe river. Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archdiocese of Magdebu ...

, where he attended the Kunstgewerbe- und Handwerkerschule Magdeburg and trained as a bookseller. In 1908 he moved to

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

and began studying book production at the in 1911 under the tutelage of

Paul Renner Paul Friedrich August Renner (9 August 1878 – 25 April 1956) was a German typeface designer, author, and founder of the Master School for Germany's Printers in Munich. In 1927, he designed the Futura typeface, which became one of the most ...

and

Emil Preetorius Emil Preetorius (15 March 1827 – 19 November 1905) was a 19th-century journalist from St. Louis. He was a leader of the German American community as part owner and editor of the ''Westliche Post'', one of the most notable and well-circulated ...

. He worked as a freelance

type designer Type design is the art and process of designing typefaces. This involves drawing each letterform using a consistent style. The basic concepts and design variables are described below. A typeface differs from other modes of graphic production su ...

from 1914 onwards; his clients included the newspaper ''

Münchner Neueste Nachrichten ''Münchner Neueste Nachrichten'' (Munich's Latest News) was a German daily newspaper published in Munich between 1848 and 1945. The paper was first published on 9 April 1848 as a cheap way to inform the masses. After its purchase by , the newsp ...

'' and other publications. In 1923 Jost was invited by Georg Hartmann to become the art director of the Bauer Type Foundry in

Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

. He directed Bauer during its most successful period, until 1948. At Bauer, he oversaw the work of designers such as Paul Renner,

Lucian Bernhard Lucian Bernhard (March 15, 1883 – May 29, 1972) was a German graphic designer, type designer, professor, interior designer, and artist during the first half of the twentieth century. Career He was influential in helping create the design ...

and . Jost personally designed several typefaces for Bauer: Atrax (1926), Bauer

Bodoni Bodoni is the name given to the serif typefaces first designed by Giambattista Bodoni (1740–1813) in the late eighteenth century and frequently revived since. Bodoni's typefaces are classified as Didone or modern. Bodoni followed the ideas o ...

(1926), and Beton (c. 1931–1936). He also designed Jost Mediaeval for

Ludwig & Mayer Ludwig & Mayer was a German type foundry in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. Many important designers worked for the Ludwig and Mayer type foundry, including Heinrich Jost, Karlgeorg Hoefer, Helmut Matheis, and most notably Jakob Erbar, whose '' Erba ...

(1927–1929) and a revival of

Fraktur Fraktur () is a calligraphic hand of the Latin alphabet and any of several blackletter typefaces derived from this hand. The blackletter lines are broken up; that is, their forms contain many angles when compared to the curves of the Antiqu ...

for

Monotype Monotyping is a type of printmaking made by drawing or painting on a smooth, non-absorbent surface. The surface, or matrix, was historically a copper etching plate, but in contemporary work it can vary from zinc or glass to acrylic glass. The ...

(1938). Beton was popular among advertisers, while Bauer Bodoni, which was created as a rival to

Morris Fuller Benton Morris Fuller Benton (November 30, 1872 – June 30, 1948) was an American typeface designer who headed the design department of the American Type Founders (ATF), for which he was the chief type designer from 1900 to 1937. Many of Benton's ...

's ATF Bodoni, is generally regarded by typographers as the most faithful revival of

Giambattista Bodoni Giambattista Bodoni (, ; 16 February 1740 – 30 November 1813) was an Italian typographer, type-designer, compositor, printer, and publisher in Parma. He first took the type-designs of Pierre Simon Fournier as his exemplars, but afterwards be ...

's original typeface. His other designs include Aeterna (1927) and Georg Hartmann Antiqua (1948). Jost died in 1948 in Frankfurt am Main. A collection of his work has since been displayed at

Klingspor Museum The Klingspor-Museum is a museum in Offenbach, Germany, specializing in the art of modern book production, typography and type. It includes a collection of fine art books from Karl Klingspor, one of the owners of Klingspor Type Foundry in Offe ...

in Offenbach am Main.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jost, Heinrich 1889 births 1948 deaths German typographers and type designers German graphic designers German art directors Artists from Magdeburg