An independent archive of typography.
Topics
Formats
Typefaces

“Arbeits-Tarif” T-shirt

Contributed by Florian Hardwig on Feb 13th, 2023. Artwork published in
circa 2015
.
“Arbeits-Tarif” T-shirt 1
Source: www.pinterest.de Heinz Spinnler. License: All Rights Reserved.

A variation of the well-known workspace joke, in a vintage 1910s/1920s style:

Working tariff ☚
Cost for 1 working hour: 78.00
If you watch: 83.00
If you talk to the worker: 90.00
If you help: 113.90

From a T-shirt printed on a proofing press at Druckwerkstatt Tecknau, Switzerland.

The typography combines two styles from the greater Block series. The headline in red looks like an apocryphal version of Schwere Block, with flatter strokes in e s a and also a t with a different top than in Berthold’s original. It’s not Hermes-Grotesk either. Could it be a copy by a local manufacturer, and/or a wood type rendition? There were several of those, like this unidentified one shown by Jens Jørgen Hansen.

The lines in black are set in Hochblock. This variant combines caps from the condensed Schmale Block with the lowercase of the schwer, but with enlongated ascenders and i dots. It’s here used with two forms for S, the regular one and a narrow alternate. Oliver Weiss digitized this peculiar family member in 2017, as Hochdruck.

 and , another lesser known style from the Block series, in Berthold’s Probe Nr. 275 from around 1932
Source: berlin.museum-digital.de Stiftung Deutsches Technikmuseum Berlin (CC0). License: Public Domain.

Hochblock and Graublock, another lesser known style from the Block series, in Berthold’s Probe Nr. 275 from around 1932

Typefaces

  • Berthold Block
  • Hochblock

Formats

Topics

Designers/Agencies

Artwork location

Post a comment