Nº 26 — Design studio for print, identity and type
47.3769° N, 8.5417° E
Established 1998
Letters that hold the line.
Thole Marr is a design studio in Zürich and Leipzig. We make identities, books, signs and websites on a strict grid, and we draw the letters ourselves.
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Nº 26
Since
1998
Studios
Zürich, Leipzig
Projects set
214
Countries
11
Identity
Editorial
Lettering
Exhibition
Wayfinding
Digital
Identity
Editorial
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01
Haltung
Approach
01
One grid
Twelve columns, one baseline, the same margins from the business card to the building.
02
Two typefaces
A plain grotesque for everything you read, and a drawn Fraktur for the few things you remember.
03
Blackletter, rarely
Wordmarks, initials and section numbers. Never body text, never on colour, never twice on a page.
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02
Ausgewählte Arbeiten
Selected work
Ten projects, one grid.
Identities, books, signs and sites for museums, bakeries, stations and opera houses. Every row opens a full case study.
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03
Im Fokus
In focus
Fig. 02 · Exhibition · 2026
A museum about harbours needed a voice for ship manifests and family letters. Every label sits on one twelve-column wall grid; Fraktur appears only in the ten room numbers.
1,840
labels set
11
rooms
14
months
Fig. 03 · Kupferwerk Foundry, stamp and site signage
Fig. 04 · Der Setzer Quarterly, spread from issue 112
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04
Leistungen
Services
Six things we do well.
Start with one and add the rest when you need them. Each comes with a fixed fee and a written scope.
Identity systems
A mark, a type system and the rules that let a small team use them correctly.
Editorial design
Books, journals, reports and programmes set with margins you can measure.
Type and lettering
Drawn letters for names, signs and posters, including blackletter done with discipline.
Exhibition and print
Wall graphics, catalogues and invitations for museums, galleries and pop-ups.
Wayfinding and signage
Systems that make stations, campuses and buildings readable in one glance.
Websites and digital
Sites and interfaces that keep the discipline of print: one grid, one hierarchy.
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05
Arbeitsgänge
Four passes
Brief
We listen for a week, read what you already print, and write down what must not change. You get a one-page brief and a fixed fee.
Listening · Audit · Scope
Raster
We draw the grid first: columns, margins, baseline. Nothing else is designed until the grid holds in three sizes.
Grid · Margins · Baseline
Satz
Type is set, letters are drawn, and the first pages exist. Fraktur is tested at the size it will actually print.
Type · Lettering · Pages
Druck
We stay through the press check, sign the proof and hand over files, templates and a one-day workshop.
Proof · Press · Handover
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06
Satzregeln
House rules
Two typefaces, and a rule for each.
Switzer 600
Grotesk · everything you read
Use it for
Text, headlines, captions, numbers
UnifrakturMaguntia
Fraktur · what you remember
Use it for
Wordmarks, initials, § marks, quote marks
Rule 1
Rarely
A page carries Fraktur once, twice at most.
Rule 2
Large
If you can’t set it big, don’t set it.
Rule 3
Never on colour
Black on paper, or paper on black.
Rule 4
Never for body
Paragraphs are always the grotesque.
years in business
projects set
countries shipped to
languages
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07
Büro
The studio
Eight people, two studios, one proof table.
Ida Thole
Founding partner, typography
Jonas Marr
Founding partner, identity
Katja Wendl
Design director
Emil Brandt
Lettering and type
Noor Habib
Digital design
Tobias Reinke
Production and print
Mira Solberg
Studio producer
Lukas Ehret
Designer, exhibitions
Visitors read our walls now instead of walking past them.
Dr. Ilse Voss, Director, Hafenlicht Museum
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08
Auszeichnungen
Recognition
Some prizes, honestly earned.
2026
Golden Composing Stick
2026
Hairline Prize, gold
2025
Wayfinding Merit
2025
Silver Bodkin
2025
Best Set, shortlist
2024
Tabula Award
2024
Golden Composing Stick
2023
Hairline Prize, silver
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09
Notizen
Journal
Notes from the proof table.
Type
7 min
Why Fraktur still works on a grid
Blackletter does not fight a strict layout. It needs one rule: use it rarely and set it large.
Grid
6 min
A twelve-column grid in practice
Twelve columns divide by two, three, four and six. That is why everyone keeps coming back to it.
Type
5 min
How we choose a grotesque
We test every sans on five words: Hamburgefonts, Rhythm, 1234, Zürich and a client name.
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10
Fragen
Questions
Asked before every first call.
Prices, timing, fonts and what happens after you write to us. Not here? Ask.
Do you only work in blackletter?
How much does a project cost?
How long does an identity take?
Do you work outside Switzerland and Germany?
Can we use the fonts you draw?
Do you build the website yourselves?
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11
Anfrage
Enquiry
Bring us the difficult one.
A few lines is enough. We answer every brief within two working days, with questions or a proposed call.