If you (or someone you need to get a present for) loves letters, then you may know – and if not you should! – the Buchstabenmuseum in Berlin. Its exhibits are well worth a visit for any self-respecting letter lover.
At the end of your expedition, having encountered head-high letters and familiar brands even, be sure to also hop into the museum shop. There you will find a plethora of the finest type goodies picked by founders Barbara Dechant and Anja Schulze: greeting cards, lucky charms, buttons, bags, prints, sketchbooks, pop-up books, three-dimensional letters as well as tea, wine and vodka – to name just a few of the available items.
Big names from the type community have added their favourite objects too and even designed pieces specifically for the museum. These include mugs by Playtype, limited edition posters by Alexander Branczyk and Erik Spiekermann or the crazy but wonderful typographic wall calendar by Harald Geisler. Need a nice piece of jewellery for a special someone? Then be sure to pick up one of Julia Sysmäläinen’s K Rusties, pictographic pendants of her Kafka-typeface FF Mister K.
Due to lack of space the museum has recently begun selling off single pieces. What better way to show your love for someone than by presenting them with a 7ft high letter for Christmas …
For the more restrained present giver (and for those of us that simply don’t have enough space at home) a Buchstabenmuseum membership also is a good idea. A one-year membership is only 26 Euro – 1 Euro for each letter of the alphabet (without counting German Umlauts and the Eszett, obviously). Donations and sponsorships for pieces in the exhibition are highly appreciated. It is not just endangered animals; endangered letters are also in need of your help!
Those that are not after a large collection of letters or type on their teacups might go for something a bit more digital. FontShop offers thousands of beautiful fonts that would work perfectly as Christmas presents. If you are looking for inspiration take a look at our curated FontLists, such as our seasonal special Festive Holiday Fonts.
Or check out these offers running until the end of December:
FF Franziska, one of our favourite fonts of 2014, has a “mini family” (Regular, Italic and Demi Bold) for a sensational 9,90 – be it Euro, Dollar (US/AUS) or English Pounds (no Russian roubles, sorry).
Early-bird tickets for TYPO Berlin 2015 “Character“ for 399 respectively 199 Euro for students. A super gift to ask for from your parents, aunties, relatives: It is education, inspiration, self-improvement, networking, an international meeting point, …
Another beautiful and useful item is the Typodarium, a calendar “with a fresh font for every day” (16,80 Euro). The 7th edition of this modern classic can also be purchased at the Buchstabenmuseum Shop.
Christmas is the season of eating well, so if you happen to be in the Netherlands, chocolate letters would make fantastic stocking fillers. Is it coincidence that there are so many talented type designers raised there? Anyway, the lekker (delicious) Dutch chocolate letters are associated with Sinterklaas. At the occasion of the holiday celebrating Saint Nicholas, friends and family are traditionally given their initials as chocolate letters.
Bärenschule (Bear School) is a colourful gummy candy alphabet from famous German confectionery company Haribo, who invented their Gummibärchen (little gummy bears) in 1922. Extremely lecker (German for … well, you know by now). Its digital companion would be V.A.G. Rounded (Black).
Russisch Brot (Russian Bread) is another traditional food, from the German city of Dresden. The link sends you the recipe, an excellent description plus beautiful pictures of how to make Russian Bread. Now you can bake those letter cookies yourself. And here we cross the border to digital again: you can get and give Russisch Brot as a font.
Enjoy!
