Oracle (aujourd’hui est-il un autre jour ?)

The concept was to make a very legible and contrastful typeface. Because the project of artist Matthieu Saladin was installed at the top of a fortress, separated from the viewer by a profound and wide moat.

Only to be seen my minimum 35 m distance.

The task for me was to find a form to communicate a set of different phrases that appear dependent on an algorythm and the prediction of quality of air for the next day : An oracle.

The predictions read for example as: Today is better than yesterday and better than tomorrow. Or: Today is like yesterday and same as tomorrow. Or: Today is worse than yesterday, but better as tomorrow.

It is a work criticizing our dependency from predictions generated out of data.

These phrases were displayed on a set of LED Screens with a particular resolution. This resolution was the grid I designed the typeface on. The concept for me was to exagerate certain parts of the letterforms that they distinguish more from the letterform next to them. And not trying to harmonize every letterform under one particular language of design. And as it was seen from a wide distance to find a way to maximize the size of the letters in the prefinded grid and size of the LED Screens, even with the lowercase letters.

Together with the artist Matthieu Saladin and the technical team I developped a protocol for a color course, also influenced by the fact that the fortress shows the famous tapestries of the apocalypse from the 14th century.

Achim Reichert [France]

Curious about the word. About the form of the letter, the curve and the line. And why does it function ? And what about the context ? Why is it readable here ? And what is the interaction between content and form ?

Images are great. They show to you surrondings where you want to live, too. They show you people you want to meet.

And then there is that combination of text and image: two things that do not fit together in the first place. A flat twodimensional fog of representation put together with a irregular collection of lines and circles with a strange rhythm.

As a graphic designer I have to cope with that absurdity that these two elements are incompatible. And nonetheless developping stuff that people want to relate to. And their reaction to my work is that what interests me.

My professional path is : Studying Visual Communication in Offenbach, germany. 20 years ago I did cofound with Marco Fiedler the office of Vier5, starting to work in different disciplines from Paris, France. Several projects were developped like orientation systems for documenta 12 and documenta 14. Or influental poster designs for the CAC Brétigny.

Since 2020 and my abandon of Vier5 I am enriching my practice in work that needs less context to be valid. And trying to integrate these experiences in the contextualized projects. And since last year teaching and researching as associated professor in the arts & philosophy department of Paris 8 university.