Every two years, the City of Offenbach (Germany), on behalf of the Klingspor-Spemann Foundation, awards the Rudo Spemann Prize to students and trainees for a handwritten typographic work.

The 1st prize is endowed with 1500 Euro, the 2nd prize with 700 Euro and the 3rd prize with 300 Euro. These will be awarded at the Klingspor Museum on July 14, 2023. 10 additional works will also be selected for an exhibition at the museum.

With this prize, the city of Offenbach am Main commemorates the lettering artist Rudo Spemann, who died in 1947 as a prisoner of war, and whose artistic estate was donated to the Klingspor Museum by his family.

The competition is open to all those who can demonstrate that they are in a training program in the field of design and art.

The competition is intended to promote the handwriting that characterizes Rudo Spemann’s work in the highest quality.

T A S K
Filling empty book pages with handwriting serves many people, even in the digital age, to organize themselves and their lives. Notebooks, bullet journals or diaries are booming and are increasingly becoming the subject of design in handwriting. The Spemann Prize 2023 is therefore dedicated to handwriting in books and the question of strategies for coping with everyday life. A notebook, sketchbook, diary, pocketbook, etc., max. format A3 (297×420mm), which is processed with a typographic/calligraphic concept, can be submitted. The minimum size is the design of a double page. From a double page to a whole book project, etc. everything is possible.

So, we are looking for a book work, which highlights handwriting in a special way, though a selected double page is enough to submit. Additionally a concept paper concerning the use and form of the pictured handwriting should reflect life themes or strategies, which can be used in a diary or notebook. How do I organize myself, what occupies me, what do I need, how can I document or solve problems? Rudo Spemann has written perfectly formed long texts with enormous perseverance, but he has also created enchanting linear figures out of capital letters. On many of his sheets, thanks to his mastery of the pen stroke, irritating, always formally balanced compositions emerge. The handwritten/calligraphic realization supports the statements the writer wants to make.

S U B M I S S I O N   O F   T H E   O R I G I N A L   W O R K
Deadline for submission is postmarked May 15, 2023.
Submission to:
Klingspor Museum c/o Monika Jaeger
Herrnstr. 80
63065 Offenbach
Germany

When submitting the work in original, the exact and complete indication of all technical means (pen, brush, ink, tablet, etc.) and a short written explanation of the concept are expected. Please enclose in a separate envelope: Name, address, year of birth, proof of study. Please DO NOT include your name on the submitted work.

All elements of the work must be copyrighted by the submitter. The jury, which decides on the awarding of the Rudo Spemann Prize and whose decision is final, consists of the board of the Klingspor-Spemann Foundation and selected lettering artists. The jury reserves the right to split the prize.

The prize-winning works (1st, 2nd, 3rd place) become the property of the Klingspor Museum of the City of Offenbach am Main. However, they can be loaned out at any time for exhibitions by the artists themselves. The museum assumes no responsibility for works that have not been collected by August 30, 2023 as part of the application process. It is possible to return the works by post. The Klingspor Museum will bear the shipping costs.

We wish all participants a lot of fun and a good idea for the design.
Yours sincerely,
Dr. Dorothee Ader
Director Klingspor Museum