suhrkamp
In 1971 Twen closed, and Willy Fleckhaus, already world famous, moved on to a new field. During the next two decades, he designed book series for the German publishing house Suhrkamp. The first was the Bibliothek Suhrkamp, better known as the Rainbow Series. This work wove together the simplicity and the sophistication of the finest German typography in exactly 48 shades. In 1983 the designer finished his last big project, Suhrkamp’s White Series. This time there was no color at all, just three dozen white covers.
Suhrkamp Literature Newspaper, March 1977. Layout designed by Willy Fleckhaus.
Dieter Kühn “N”. Suhrkamp publishing house, 1970. Cover designed by Willy Fleckhaus.
Theodor W. Adorno “Aesthetic Theory”. Suhrkamp publishing house, 1970. Cover designed by Willy Fleckhaus.
germany’s most expensive pencil. —author unknown
A fragment of Spectaculum poster by Willy Fleckhaus. Suhrkamp publishing house, 1961.
frankfurter allgemeine magazin
Willy Fleckhaus taught visual communication at the University of Essen. In his lectures, he often spoke of a magazine as an ″experience.″ And Frankfurter Allgemeine Magazin was an experience. Published weekly as a supplement to the German tabloid Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, it was never boring, never old. ″Carefully planned chaos.″ In it one found the youthful boldness of Twen in the elegant execution of a person with 30 years of design experience. Fleckhaus also occasionally contributed columns to the weekly.
Frankfurter Allgemeine Magazin, issue 81, 1981. Cover designed by Willy Fleckhaus, photo by Kishin Shinoyama.
Frankfurter Allgemeine Magazin, issue 179, 1983. Cover designed by Willy Fleckhaus.