Flora Typographica

The work is a typographic interpretation of the Red List of Threatened Plant Species of Germany.

While the Red List provides information in a scientific manner, Flora Typographica comes close to an experience of nature. The topic is not approached rationally, but through intuition and sensuality. Endangered plant species that can hardly be experienced in reality are made tangible and kept in remembrance. It points out the importance of preserving biodiversity – not for economic reasons, but for the mental well-being of the people.

First there was the idea that writing systems and plants have one thing in common: a limited set of characters or shapes. By repeating and assembling the individual parts, an infinite variety of compositions is created.

In order to abstract natural phenomena, an associative approach was combined with typographic rules. Starting from an original shape – an oval that was split and then pieced together to abstract figures, seven shape alphabets were constructed. Accordingly, each of the seven groups of plants has a set of 26 figures – the components of its own language. Each figure represents a letter of the Latin alphabet. The botanical names of 168 plants were set to images. Relationships between species and laws of plant morphology were implemented.

The shape images are placed on two book blocks lying next to one another. A third block at the top contains the listed botanical names of all endangered plant species. The numbering creates a link between text and image. An enclosed legend with the seven shape alphabets can be used to identify the groups of plants and to decipher individual characters. The cover is finished with a blind embossing. The book has neither linearity nor a specific use due to the unusual book design. This promotes free and playful interaction.