iDesignmuseum DanmarkFrederiksstaden
LABORATORIUM: Kontrapunkt
This exhibition has ended.
Behind the scenes of Kontrapunkt, the agency that shaped Denmark's visual culture, from the DSB S-train hexagon to TV2's circle, across seven cases and four decades.
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Under glass, sheet after sheet of tracing paper shows the DSB winged wheel being redrawn: in pencil, in black marker, under a crown, in red, then in orange, beside a yellowed newspaper clipping. You walk on among tall free-standing panels, and the one on DSB is headed "Resistance is part of the process".
This is Kontrapunkt's first museum exhibition: seven cases from the Copenhagen agency's four decades, including the S-train hexagon, TV2's circle and the pharmacy "a", whose letterform comes from Renaissance apothecary glass. The museum's point is that the agency rarely starts from scratch, building on a 150-year-old symbol or a city's lions. Berlingske gave it four stars and said walking through "the little Kontrapunkt exhibition" is like receiving a series of small messages in bottles from the past.
Expect sketches, panels and real signage rather than objects. It closes on 18 October and is included in the museum ticket (DKK 140, free under 18 and with the Copenhagen Card), with Thursdays open until 20:00.
Editor's pick
Four decades of the agency behind Denmark's visual culture, from the S-train hexagon to TV2's circle, laid out across seven cases. If you commute in Copenhagen, you've been reading their work for years.
Look for
The DSB winged-wheel sketches
Look for the tracing-paper sheets where the old DSB wing and wheel is redrawn over and over in pencil, marker, red and orange.
The apotek wall
A tall panel stacks versions of the pharmacy's "apotek" lettering next to green cross signs and a photo of a real pharmacy front.
Full-size transit signs
Dark wayfinding signs stand in the room, including a Metro sign for the M3 and M4 and one with bus and airport arrows.
Good for
- Evening Visits
- Locals Who've Seen It All
- Nerding Out
Skip if
You want objects to look at: this is sketches, logos and signage on panels.
With kids
Under-18s get in free.
Also at Designmuseum Danmark
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Image credits
8
- Designmuseum DanmarkJasparbang / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Sending all my love — Vintage Postcards from the Middle EastCourtesy of The David Collection
- The Art of Desire – an Ottoman Sex Manual and its Context (Begærets Kunst)Courtesy of The David Collection
- Som Supaparinya: Reroute:© Som Supaparinya
- The David CollectionOrf3us / Wikimedia Commons, Public domain
- Kunsthal CharlottenborgKevin Wallis / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
- SMK – National Gallery of DenmarkJiří Komárek / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Rosenborg CastleFalk2 / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0