About me


Petra Rüth
© Photos by Jitka Ludvikova

MOTIVATION

With a classical background in graphic design, I am now focusing on type. I am a researcher, a teacher, a designer, a calligrapher — I care about letters. Currently I am finishing my diploma at the Academy of Fine Arts (Hochschule für Grafik und Buchkunst) in Leipzig. My goal is to deepen my knowledge of the history of writing; I am researching the relationship between Textur, Fraktur, Kanzlei and Current scripts.
My passion is working with blackletters. I like to read about their history, spend time getting familiar with their beautiful letter shapes and broadening my skills in formal penmanship (with quills).
I enjoy working in a team, which I think is important to achieve excellence. I am interested in things that have passed and things that will come. I like to be challenged.

WORK HISTORY

After I left school, I completed three years of vocational training to become a drafts­person. I worked in this job for four years, three of them in Atlanta, USA. I enjoyed the detailed work, but everything was specified by DIN Norms. As time went by I found that I prefer to do more creative work, so I decided to go into graphic design.
I studied in Cologne, Germany, to get my bachelor’s degree. After moving to Frankfurt, I worked as a graphic designer for over a year. As Junior Art Director I was responsible for all steps of a design process from concept to final printed work.
I spent one year in Helsinki, Finland, working as a graphic designer for Activeark Ltd. There my projects involved web sites, print materials and high-end interactive presentations for major clients, primarily Nokia Siemens Network, but also Hartwall Jaffa and others.
The last few years I was employed by a publisher in Berlin, Germany. S&S Media Group is an international publishing house with a focus on the IT sector. In the design department I created logos, layouts, artworks and infographics for both print and online media.
I am currently working as a freelance designer and also studying at HGB Leipzig (Fachklasse Schrift). I am mainly researching the correlation between the Textur, Fraktur, Kanzlei and Current scripts. Additionally I am exploring writing masters of past centuries. As part of this line of study, I am also cultivating my calligraphic skills.
In my final thesis I am working with Christian Gottlob Roßberg, who published his stunning instructions on how to write fast and beautiful in the late 18th century, titled Systematische Anleitung zum Schön- und Geschwindschreiben. In this project I am studying his manual about mathematical letter shapes in detail. After rebuilding his sophisticated constructions in AutoCad, I will be creating a font – it will be a super family with a variety of styles and weights. I am also writing his scripts with quills, which I prepare myself.

RESUMÉ

Academy of Fine Arts (Hochschule für Grafik und Buchkunst), Leipzig, Germany
Software & Support Media GmbH, Berlin, Germany
Software & Support Media GmbH, Frankfurt, Germany
Vollblut GmbH & Ko. KG, Wiesbaden, Germany
Activeark Ltd., Helsinki, Finland
Transparent Design Management GmbH, Frankfurt, Germany
KDA Cologne Design Academy (Bachelor in Graphic Design), Cologne, Germany

WIKA Instrument Corporation, Lawrenceville, Georgia, USA
WIKA Alexander Wiegand GmbH & Co. KG, Klingenberg, Germany
Apprenticeship as draftsperson (mechanical engineering), Aschaffenburg, Germany
For more detailed information, please contact me by email.

IT SKILLS

InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator, Glyphs, WordPress, HTML, Microsoft Office, AutoCAD

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