10 Years of Roadtyping

2016 - 2026


It all started with Franzis grandpa's VW bus,
the love of skiing and the mountains
and two people who loved each other
to work

The story of Roadtyping begins like our love story: with two people who realize how much they enjoy working together and how well they complement each other. They also share so many hobbies, and then one summer evening they were sitting by the lake, brainstorming ways to creatively capture all their photos and moments. That was the birth of Roadtyping.

The name Roadtyping was Marius's idea and is derived from the word " roadtrip " or " roadtripping " and " typing ", which means writing with a typewriter, and we interpreted it in a broader sense as written narratives, i.e., stories from the road .

For Franzi, it was also quite clear that the most striking and important stylistic element of her own brand had to be the Bulli, because she loves it dearly and received the old green and white VW Bulli T2, built in 1976, as a family heirloom from her grandpa for her 18th birthday.

Bottom left: The VW bus traveling in France in the 80s with Franzi's mother
Bottom right: The same VW bus today on the road with the Roadtyping family (Photo: Martin Erd for Höfats)

Road typing
Milestones

2016 - February

The first seven greeting cards with envelopes were created spontaneously in February. Almost all of them are still available in the shop today. The bestseller is the "Summit Climber" card.
At this time, Marius and Franzi live in Munich Obergiesing; Marius works full-time as a project manager at Pascher + Heinz, while Franzi has been self-employed with her own design office since 2014.

2016 - May

The Gipfelstürmer (Summit Climber) mug expanded our product range. Back then, Franzi hand-sewn a small bag for each mug, made from old tents. It became part of Roadtyping's identity and remains one of our bestsellers to this day. Since 2024, there has also been a Gipfelstürmerin (Summit Climber) mug .


2016 - September

Our product range is growing with the addition of the Summit Climber bottle and the My Adventure Stories travel journal with stencil.

2017 - September

On December 1st, 2016, Franzi Marius made a paper gondola advent calendar for her birthday. Because all her friends loved it so much, we developed it into a new Roadtyping product and launched it for sale in September 2017. All 500 calendars sold out within three days while we were on a sailboat in Turkey. To this day, the gondola advent calendar remains Roadtyping's best-selling product.

2017 - October

We won the German Design Award in the stationery category for our 4 summer and 4 winter greeting cards as a mountain series.

2018 - January

We are beginning our collaboration with the Wertachtal Workshops in Kaufbeuren-Ostallgäu. Up until now, we have done everything ourselves: assembling, packaging, and shipping cards and all other products from home.
With the MEH (people with acquired brain damage), we begin therapeutically to develop a warehouse and shipping team and a process.
A project that continues to this day with the same people, successfully and in a very humane way.

>>> You can read more about it here.


2018 - April

Roadtyping is becoming a family business :-)
Alongside Roadtyping, our family is also growing; our first son, Leo, was born in April 2018. At the same time, we moved from Munich to Franzi's hometown of Kaufbeuren in the Allgäu region, and Marius quit his job at Pascher + Heinz and is now 100% dedicated to Roadtyping.
To this day, Marius takes care of marketing and concept, programs and processes. Franzi is the designer behind all Roadtyping products.

2018 - Summer

Our first trips with a child change us and our travel habits. Currently, we travel in a VW T5 California, but the desire for a more flexible and larger campervan is growing stronger. Our product range is also changing along with us, so that more and more products for travel-loving children and families are finding their way into our portfolio.
PS: Our first longer trip with the baby was to Corsica.

2019 - Summer

Welcome to the family, Sprinti!
The day has finally arrived, and we can take delivery of our new adventure vehicle. We designed and converted the 6-meter-long Sprinter ourselves. Now a new era begins; we'll be spending a lot of time on the road, expanding our travel blog and social media presence as a family, sharing our adventures, and giving tips.
Our first trip with the still very unassuming Sprinter will be to France and Spain in September 2019.


2020 - April

In April 2020, our family will receive
More offspring and it continues to turn our professional lives upside down.


2021 - March

We're launching our multifunctional camping blanket with the "Adventure Awaits" design. This product is a dream come true for us, as it's so wonderfully multifunctional and we ourselves are its biggest fans – even now. It's still completely made in Germany.


2021 - Spring

We love traveling with our Sprinter camper and our two children so much that in 2021 we decided to go on a three-month trip. We spent April to June in Portugal, and that led to a big decision...

2022 - May

We're embarking on an unforgettable adventure on May 8th, 2022. We're shipping our camper to the east coast of Canada and will travel through Canada and the USA for nine months before heading home from Florida in January 2021.

>>> Click here to read the blog about this adventure


2023

Meanwhile, the Roadtyping range comprises approximately 250 products and is available for purchase in over 300 brick-and-mortar stores worldwide.


2024

And in the meantime, we've become a real team, which we're super proud of again (Alice and the Wertachtal Workshops team are missing from the picture).


2024 - November

We're opening our first own store in our hometown of Kaufbeuren in the Allgäu region. Initially, it will only be a pop-up shop for two months.


2025 - June

Our first book, "Hej Midsommar," will be published on June 6, 2025. It's a personal travelogue about our three-month trip to the North Cape in Scandinavia in the summer of 2024. We've compiled many photos, personal moments, tips, illustrated maps, and essential information in this book. It's the last trip before Leo starts school...

>>> You can reserve it here

2026 - 10 years of road typing

And ten years later, not only is our brand still around – we still love what we do every single day. Not just together as a married couple, managing directors, and parents, but also with a team of incredibly wonderful people around us who share this passion and continue to build on it together. And most importantly: we have remained true to our values.

Thank you for joining us on this journey and for your support.