The aim with The Palace of Typographic Masonry is to make a plea for the splendour and variety of the graphic languages and their value within our society. A place where the intrinsic function of graphic design can be highlighted, a collective (imagined) building that is entirely devoted to the craft’s necessary abundance, poetry and digressions. This mission of 'The Palace of Typographic Masonry' is expressed in exhibitions, publications, lectures and other initiatives, amongst which this encyclopedial website.
The structure of The Palace of Typographic Masonry consists of 9 Departments (Sign, Symbol and Ornament, Construction, Poetics and Play, Order, Craft and Practice), 9 frames through which graphic design can be seen, 9 themes in which it can be classified. In each department the visitor finds various rooms dedicated to specific subjects related to these themes. The rooms vary in size and modes to express the unique source collection on which they are based.
A personal initiative of Richard Niessen, The Palace of Typographic Masonry is increasingly involving other graphic designers to collaborate on this unique 'Gesamtkunstwerk'.