Otto Eckmann

The Weekly magazine Jugend No.14

1896

 

Otto Eckmann’s work with the Jugend magazine is what brought him the majority of his fame, so, naturally, one of his personally designed magazine covers would be important to explain. This was one of the earliest editions of the magazine that reeled in a popular market. In Germany, there were around 20,000 readers each week and about 30,000 copies printed. Inside the magazine, every page, front-to-back, was filled with art. Both Eckmann and Peter Behrens became the two most known artists for the magazine, using their skill to print on wood block similar to Japanese and later-adapted French styles. It is evident in this cover in particular that Eckmann enjoyed creating floral designs, that was popular in the German “Lilienstil.” Most importantly, Otto Eckmann was able to promote his font, Eckmann’s script, here on the page. It was a pretty monumental font for the Art Nouveau movement- and especially the German Jugendstil movement. Eckmann’s ideal was to mix Japanese Calligraphy with Medieval font design, which he perfected and used in these magazines. The title of the magazine “Jugend” is written with a brush in his script font, which is notable in itself due to the fact that most fonts were wrote with pen at the time. Lastly, it can be observed how Eckmann strayed a little from the others of the Art Nouveau movement by how he added dimensionality to the design. There is a clear background, middle-ground, and foreground, where most artists comparable to Eckmann focused more on a flat look. On a more personal note, this is my favorite piece that Eckmann created. There’s something about the softness of the face that reflects the flowing, feminine flowers, and the way the colorway in this piece gives me the feeling of warmth. As someone who loves drawing the human figure, I find the style that Eckmann has drawn this woman in to be extremely beautiful and delicate.