Nina Stössinger, born near Basel (Switzerland) in 1978; self-employed designer (German Design Diploma) with a focus on type and typography. Previous work in text and journalism, unfinished studies of History, English, Film Theory; first website in 1996. During my design studies (multi-media design at Burg Giebichenstein University of Art & Design in Halle, Germany) I discovered my love of type, and went on to a post-graduate CAS class in Type Design at Zurich University of the Arts. Jobs and internships in Basel, Halle, Tokyo, some time spent in New York City. Since 2008 I have been operating out of my own studio for graphic and web design, typography and book design in Basel. Nights and weekends are often spent working on my own (type) projects; release of first commercial typeface, FF Ernestine, in 2011.
Design, to me, is as much a labor of the mind as it is one of the eye. Design cannot concern itself simply with the surface of things: Without permeating and understanding the substance of a problem, any attempt at a solution is moot. I enjoy delving into new tasks and subject matters – especially often in the fields of culture and the humanities – and from there, develop visual treatments that fit, and communicate; with a warm heart, a cool head, and much love for detail.
Aside from my own design work, I enjoy traveling to design conferences (sometimes a speaker, often a listener) and have co-founded Basel’s local Typostammtisch. I have taught an introductory class to screen typography at FH Dresden, and I sometimes write about design, type, and typography in German and English; my writings have been published on Typographica and Typografie.info as well as in the printed journals The Manual and Signa. I am also a contributor to We Love Typography and Typophile.