Vita

Gertrud Nolte, born 1968 in Bochum, attended a painting school parallel with a commercial college, completed a one-year internship at a small graphics studio before studying communication design at the University of Wuppertal with Prof. Uwe Loesch (practice) and Prof. Bazon Brock (theory).
Moved to Düsseldorf in 1993, where she lived for almost 20 years. From 1993–99 freelancer on the team of Prof. Uwe Loesch. From 1995 additionally, and from 1999 exclusively, director of the gertrud nolte embassy. In 2012 the embassy and archive moved with their founder to Würzburg, where Gertrud Nolte is a professor.

 

Activity

Prof. Gertrud Nolte is a member of TDC New York, the five-strong German Liaison Committee of the TDC New York, the art association Der Malkasten in Düsseldorf and an active member of the tgm Typographische Gesellschaft München, in the Lesbar network of the German-speaking countries.
Her activities see the extraordinary in conception, typography, poster design, advertising and communication design, editorial design, corporate design, company reports, etc.
In the embassy for cultural, social, philosophical, political and historical enlightenment Gertrud Nolte regularly publishes socially engaged poster editions that are met with great interest and approval. Her work has received many national and international awards, and can be seen in exhibitions and books.

 

Teaching

Gertrud Nolte taught in Cologne at the ecosign Akademie für Gestaltung from 2000 to 2003 (specialising in sustainable and ecological design). In 2003 she was appointed professor at the Design Faculty of the University of Applied Sciences Würzburg, focusing on conception and design, typography and visual communication.

 

Focus of activity, thinking and teaching

Gertrud Nolte’s enthusiasm and sense of mission is focused on the embassy of art and culture, with a speciality in the design of CDs, posters and books. She places particular emphasis on the prior intellectual grasp of every design. Taking even the smallest typographical and dramaturgical details into account, she develops unique, complex and wholistic solutions whose character and credibility are incontestably suited to the content and context in hand. Her particular approach to editorial design has won awards from the ADC NY, TDC NY, the Stiftung Buchkunst, the Biennial of Book Art in Martin (SK) and the Red Dot.

With this background she has successfully supervised diploma, bachelor and master students for many years.

In the summers of 2009, 2010 and 2011 Gertrud Nolte led summer schools in Spoleto (Umbria, Italy) with Dr Matthias Quast of the Amphiteatrum association (Spoleto). Headings: Tourist Information and Guidance Systems for the City (2009); The Alternative Book on this Ancient City (2010); Script Design from and for the City (2011).

In 2009 Gertrud Nolte introduced the subject of script design, which she offers every summer semester: 26+Zeichen.Setzen.Schriftentwurf

In 20011/12 she was finally able to realise a dream, and the Open Studio was set up for project teaching every winter semester.

In 2008 and 2012 Gertrud Notle conceived and realised the exhibtion stand at the 54th/58th TDC Show (Type Directors Club of New York show, Awards of Typograhic Excellence) with her project students at the drupa in Düsseldorf.

Gertrud Nolte works convincingly and from conviction on words, content, attitude to material and as a consultant. This ‘embassy’ is ‘permanently represented’ in lectures, her teaching, her applied and unapplied projects or on numerous juries. Three of its messages:
»Teaching thinking, not what has been thought
Attitude and style convince
Everything is possible! Everything. Extraordinary.«

 

Awards (selection)

Major Award Poster-Triennial of Trnava; Red Dot Design Awards; 1st Poster Biennial of Korea; 18th International Poster Biennale Warsaw; ADC Germany; Merit Awards ADC New York; International Biennale of Graphic Design Brno, Czech Republic; Die Schönsten Bücher Deutschlands, Stiftung Buchkunst; Merit Award; 3rd and 4th Biennial of book art Martin BBA, Czech Republic; Diploma of Honou,r ‘Die 100 besten Plakate des Jahres’; Poster Triennial Trnava several times; Poster Biennial Hangzhou several times; China International Poster Biennial; International Poster Triennial Toyama (Japan) several times; Festival D’Afiiches de Chaumont; Lahti Poster Biennale XVI; twice nominated for the German Design Award

 

Short selection of awards for book and poster design

»LockBuch Bazon Brock«, Dumont Buchverlag Cologne (book)

»Die Welt zu Deinen Füßen. Den Boden im Blick«, Dumont Buchverlag Cologne (book)

»BO T SCHAFT GE GEN KULT UR EGO IS MUS«, embassy for cultural, social, philosophical, political and historical enlightenment (double poster, each DIN A0)
warten 2000, embassy for cultural, social, philosophical, political and historical enlightenment (double-sided, DIN A0)

»warten 2000«, botschaft für kulturelle, soziale, philosophische, politische und geschichtliche Aufklärung (Wendeplakat, DIN A0)

»Lucio Fontana«, Museum Franz Gertsch, Burgdorf, Switzerland (poster, F4)

»the sublime is now« Museum Franz Gertsch, Burgdorf, Switzerland (poster, F4)