Gestalten is an independent publishing house based in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

History

Gestalten was established by three friends: Robert Klanten, Markus Hollmann-Loges and Andreas Peyerl, who all moved to Berlin in the early 1990s.JULIA LÖHR, They rapidly came into contact with the Berlin techno and rave scene, initially designing

flyers Flyer or flier may refer to: *An aviator, a person who flies an aircraft *Flyer (pamphlet), a single-page leaflet Music * ''Flyer'' (album), by Nanci Griffith * Flyer (band), a Croatian pop band Sports *Flyer, a position in cheerleading stunt ...

, posters and record covers for music labels and events such as the

Love Parade The Love Parade (german: Loveparade) was a popular electronic dance music festival and technoparade that originated in 1989 in West Berlin, Germany. It was held annually in Berlin from 1989 to 2003 and in 2006, then from 2007 to 2010 in the Ruh ...

. In 1994, they conceived a book about techno-art, documenting the visual aspects of technoculture. In order to gauge the market interest, they started to produce order cards, to be distributed through techno

magazines A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combination ...

. They received over 1000 orders, through which they were able to obtain a loan, which facilitated the production and release of their first book, The Localizer 1.0. This led to the foundation of Die Gestalten publishing house in 1995. The name was later changed to ''gestalten''. The word means to shape, or to create in German. Gestalten has been led solely by Robert Klanten since the departure of his co-founders Markus Hollmann-Loges and Andreas Peyerl in 2008. The company remains independent, with investor MairDumont and Klanten holding 50% of the shares each.

Publishing

Gestalten's focus shifted away from music towards books showcasing

graphic design Graphic design is a profession, academic discipline and applied art whose activity consists in projecting visual communications intended to transmit specific messages to social groups, with specific objectives. Graphic design is an interdiscip ...

in 1998. The following years continued this trend, with the majority of books covering design and art themes as well as publishing books about

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing buildings ...

, food culture,

travel Travel is the movement of people between distant geographical locations. Travel can be done by foot, bicycle, automobile, train, boat, bus, airplane, ship or other means, with or without luggage, and can be one way or round trip. Travel c ...

motorbikes A motorcycle (motorbike, bike, or trike (if three-wheeled)) is a two or three-wheeled motor vehicle steered by a handlebar. Motorcycle design varies greatly to suit a range of different purposes: long-distance travel, commuting, cruising ...

and

bicycles A bicycle, also called a pedal cycle, bike or cycle, is a human-powered or motor-powered assisted, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A is called a cyclist, or bicyclist. Bi ...

. Since its conception, the publishing house has focused on the international market, publishing in English for a global audience.

Collaborations

Gestalten has partnered with niche organizations such as outdoor brand Parks Project, architecture website

ArchDaily ArchDaily is a weblog covering architectural news, projects, products, events, interviews and competitions, opinion pieces, among others, catering to architects, designers and other interested parties. Description ArchDaily is one of the mo ...

, and lifestyle magazine Kinfolk. The company has also collaborated with global brands including Marvel and

Monocle A monocle is a type of corrective lens used to correct or enhance the visual perception in only one eye. It consists of a circular lens, generally with a wire ring around the circumference that can be attached to a string or wire. The other ...

, as well as leading creatives such as

Dieter Rams Dieter Rams (born 20 May 1932) is a German industrial designer and retired academic who is closely associated with the consumer products company Braun, the furniture company Vitsœ, and the functionalist school of industrial design. His unobtru ...

References

{{reflist

External links

Official website
German companies established in 1995 Companies based in Berlin Publishing companies of Germany Book publishing companies of Germany