HBKsaar yearbook 2024

Published August 20, 2025

By FontsInUse

Contributed by Manuel Wesely

HBKsaar 2024 dust jacket front cover — 35 years already!

The annual yearbook of the Hochschule der Bildenden Künste Saar (University of Arts and Design Saar, HBKsaar) has long been a chronicle of the school’s academic life and an outlet for editorial practice. Designed in-house (first by Ludmilla Rech, then Daniela Spinelli, and today Manuel Wesely) with a strong emphasis on materiality and typographic concepts, each edition reflects the institution’s identity as a laboratory for contemporary education in art and design.

As in previous years, the HBKsaar yearbook arrives just in time for the graduation show at the end of the summer semester. The 2025 edition reflects on the 2024 academic year and, for the first time, includes essays from teachers who spent a research semester during that period. Unlike earlier editions, which showcased more than 100 student projects, this edition shifts its focus to teaching and a significant anniversary: HBKsaar turns 35. Student work is now featured on HBKnow, a new platform launched in spring 2025 to highlight HBK-related projects and events.

The number 35 provides the visual and conceptual thread running through the design, beginning with the dust jacket and continuing throughout the interior. Lorraine Bauer and Saleh Alsaid each contribute an editorial exploring the “35” theme – cheers to them!

Typography is led by Bernino Sans by Tim Ahrens and Shoko Mugikura, HBKsaar’s house typeface, which sets the main text and headlines. It is paired with the monospaced Gemeli Mono by Jean-Baptiste Levée and Pantasia by Wei Huang for captions, small informational text, and all personal names. The “35” editorials feature the Geigy typeface by Robert Huber for Lineto.

The cover nods to the aesthetics of German New Wave of the 1980s – fans of Trio will recognize the reference immediately (Herbert Grönemeyer may divide opinion). House and phone numbers hint at the school’s public accessibility. A calendar page with a “35-day month” reinforces the yearbook’s sense of structured order with plenty of space for personal notes.

The book was produced by Krüger Druck+Verlag. The dust jacket is printed on Igepa Spezial GD2 stock, which is also used for the cover, though reversed (“inside-out”). The book uses Circle Bulk recycled volume paper. Binding is hybrid: an untrimmed (at the outer edge), staple-bound booklet is combined with a dust jacket featuring a 12 mm spine and two flaps. Covers are printed in black plus Pantone 805 neon red; leftover neon ink from the press run was repurposed for a 16-page opening editorial and the 16-page reference section “HBKsaar from A–Z” at the back.

Just like the neon sections, the introductory photo editorial makes use of the specific page structure of a staple‑bound booklet. The first and last 20 pages – i.e., the ten outermost printing sheets – feature full‑bleed photographs of the Rundgang (open studios) and graduation ceremony. Each spread works both as two separate halves, divided by the gutter, and as a single image hidden within the pages. A book without a spine and a dust jacket with one might seem incompatible, but HBKsaar makes it work.

Opening page – Meret Preiß pointing at Gemeli Mono

Guest appearance of Studio 63, the HBKsaar student-run design studio, preparing the Rundgang and Abschlussfeier exhibitions. From left to right: Saleh Alsaid, Matti Henn, Marietta Stucky (on the ladder) and Manuel Wesely

Photo editorial: landscape-oriented photos printed full bleed on printing sheets, then divided by half through the binding, resulting in two portrait-oriented photos.

Studio 63 cameo on the left (Rundgang 2024 graphic design identity), and Saleh Alsaid’s “35” editorial on the right

Saleh Alsaid’s “35” editorial

Ending of Saleh Alsaid’s “35” editorial and the foreword of Prof. Dr. Christian Bauer, the rector of HBKsaar. The text also functions as a table of contents.

Essay by Prof. Burkhard Detzler on the origins of AI

Start of the centre editorial on yellow pages by Lorraine Bauer: “our students must learn the un-learnable: dealing with the unsolvable”, Lucius Burckhardt, 1989 (one of the founding members of HBKsaar)

Ending of Lorraine’s editorial and start of the second half of the booklet

Spread showcasing the “Principles of Serendipity” conference on extended graphic design

Essay by Prof. Dr. Christian Bauer “Be a Mensch!” on anti-semitism in arts and culture, poster design by Manuel Wesely

The second neon part: HBKsaar from A to Z

New folks now working at HBKsaar!

Infographics showing the distribution of individual students per study program of HBKsaar

The last pages, continuing the photo editorial

The second half of Meret’s face and her friend, and the last page of the booklet with the colophon

The backside of the book; notice the reversed cardboard and customized HBKsaar logo for the “35” occasion

Detail view of dust jacket (with spine) and booklet (without spine) and the untrimmed outer edge

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