Professor Knopphauser's Chilli Sauce
Labels for Justin Knopp's (Typoretum) home-made chilli sauces. Ever since I know Justin, I am a huge admirer of his typographic laboratory and chilli garden. So when he asked me to design the labels of his annual chilli sauces I thought, this will be the perfect opportunity to draw limitless details, hidden puzzles and wicked characters, which will perfectly fit to Professor Knopphauser's laboratory!
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The label is depicting the making of the chilli sauces, on which occasion, skeletons and devilish creatures are gathered in the dungeons of Typoretum. In the background of this diabolic kitchen there are objects, posters and instruments, which are related to Justin in a way or another. Sadly, this illustration, however true it may seem is not an accurate interpretation of the cooking process, so put down the torches and pitchforks guys!
🦴 💀 🦴
For the finished illustration Justin has chosen colours to match the sauces perfectly, then he letterpress printed them on his Gietz Hand Feeder. The label cropped size is 145×85mm.
Chilli sauce 🜋 Justin Knopp
Letterpress ♄ Typoretum
illustration 🝟 Gergő Gilicze
FONT FAMiLY 🜰 Alegreya
Paper 🜄 Munken
photography ⚗ Richárd Kelemen
Special thanks for the shooting location to INK letterpress!
The label
The Laying Skeleton
He is the keeper of recipes and the inspector of bottles. His banner says Ab imo pectore, which means from all my heart. His hands rising in a friendly greeting, the light on top of his Burning Staff radiate immense knowledge of the otherworldly kitchen arts.
The Candle Chamber
The Candle Chamber holds the oldest skeleton in the dungeon, only a skull that remained of her body. She lits the whole lab with a perpetually burning candle. Around her Chamber, on th wall, there are several items related to Knopphauser's professions. For firefighting there is the alchemical symbol of fire and the firefighter's axe. For letterpress printing there is the alchemical symbol of lead and typographic posters made by the master Knopp himself.
The Columbian Press
An antique machinery of the lab for both printing posters and crushing chillis. It reveals its most diabolical form, when it is not in use for printing. The eagle which serves as a counterweight flies off and a small wickedly dancing skeleton replaces its place. The ominous sea monsters revived by the deadly vapours of the simmering chilli sauces, bites angrily to all directions.
The Ghost of The Burning Staff
Just a friendly old spirit, living in the staff of The Laying Skeleton. His name is Phillippe by the way.
Secret Chronogram
Chronogram is a sentence, in which specific letters are interpreted as numerals. In this case, you should add up the roman numerals to get the year of the creation. It is easier than it sounds.
The Standing Skeleton
It is a huge skeleton with an enormous ladle. He is the conductor and taster of the cooking process and keeper of the ancient Hungarian and Saxon texts. He is the most reliable skeleton in the dungeon. He was a druid once, who lived there 2000 years ago.
The Printers Devil
His job is to stir the sauce constantly for 10 days and nights. This illustration depicts the last days of making the sauce, he seems to be really tired now. You can find The Chest of Spices under his feet, full of ingredients you can't dare imagine.
The Imp
He is the caretaker of the dungeon, he keeps it nice and clean. He is also a gardener, his tasks include potting, watering, trimming and harvesting the chilli plants and to search for new chilli varieties. In his free time he is in his study, behind the library, learning ancient languages and making alchemical experiements.
The Legged Cauldron
A cauldron with legs where the Magic Frog lives. Don't worry, the heat doesn't affect her, she is safe there!
Thank you for watching!
