The Newsletter 148

Projects, jobs, mockups, books and more

Elliott Panam-Moody
November 11, 2024

Case studies

Striking and stylish

Striking and stylish, while secondary to the works on display, Hugmun’s approach to OBJEKT’s branding emphasises understated elegance over flashy creativity. A new collective design gallery in Warsaw founded by Aleksandra Krasny and Marcin Studniarek, OBJEKT features a small collective of artists whose practices blur the boundaries between art and design. The visual direction of the identity originated from a series of conversations with the founders, who have each been involved in the world of art and design for a long time.

In perfect rhythm

The Centre for Creative Technologies (CCT) at the University of Bristol is a meeting point of art and innovation. It bridges the gap between analogue and digital realms, serving as a hub for researchers, practitioners and industry professionals to spark, develop, and deliver groundbreaking projects that push the boundaries of creative technologies – from film and print to gaming and VR. Situated in Bristol – a UK city renowned for its creativity – the centre also collaborates with local creative industries, spanning animation, natural history filmmaking, live performance and games. Collaborating with the team at the university, Bristol-based creative collective KiskiStudio crafted a brandmark and the accompanying identity that reflects the broad, multifaceted projects of CCT.

Honouring Hungarian craftsmanship

London-based creative studio Any Other Name has breathed new life into Budapest fashion house Nanushka’s brand identity, with a new look that aligns with their reputation for time-honoured craft and technical innovation. “Our goal was to honour this duality by crafting a cohesive identity that speaks to this dichotomy,” explains Ben Atkins, Founder & Creative Director at Any Other Name.

A face for every emotion

Leeds International Festival of Ideas (LIFI) is renowned as a leading UK centre of ideas and discourse, inviting thinkers, innovators and creatives to express thoughts, explore topics, and exchange ideas, all in the name of encouraging curiosity. Where previous versions of the event’s identity have centred on abstract depictions of the themes and line-ups, from science and technology to culture and society, this year moves the proverbial spotlight to the crowd. Designed by Rabbithole – a Leeds and Glasgow-based studio who have played a pivotal role in shaping LIFI’s evolution over the past four years – this year’s identity captures the spirit of a curious audience and the experience of attending and engaging with the event as a whole.

Scribbles and crumpled receipts

“Stripping the visual languages I create down to the basics has been part of evolving my practice, which hasn’t been easy for someone big on ‘out there’ stuff. I do believe that if you can create a strong visual language through the use of type, layout and colour, you can actually create the best solution,” says Bruges-based designer Davy Denduyver, when asked why he took a type-forward approach in his branding for Elgin, a restaurant in Saigon, Vietnam. Elgin’s identity looks pretty busy at first glance; however, some careful sifting is enough to discover that the dense compositions are actually made of type-based graphics stripped down to their bones.

Championing creative freedom

Out/Standard isn’t just another stock music provider. As they put it, “Music isn’t just our business, it’s a passion for everyone who works here.” Their unique approach involves collaborating with “real and significant artists to create original, credible, high-quality tracks – music with a spark and identity beyond its commercial purpose.” This ethos sets them apart in an industry often criticised for its generic offerings. Their brand refresh, designed by London-based agency Soo Yeah Studio, deftly expresses this vision with a dynamic typographic system that allows for both fluidity and creativity.

New series

Why is branding rebelling against the old fundamentals?

Welcome to The Shift, a series presented in collaboration with one of the world’s leading brand-building platforms, Frontify. Here, we’ll dive deep into the realm of flexible, dynamic branding. We’ll be tapping into the sharpest minds in design – from visionary studios to leading independent designers – to understand what it takes to build a dynamic identity. Why must one create a dynamic brand in the first place? For our first chapter, we’re looking at how, in making brands imbued with a sense of elasticity, designers are bending or breaking the old rules of branding. What about these rules have changed, and are they even relevant now? When we set out to find some answers, we collected nuggets of insights from our conversations with the creative minds at DIA, Madalena Studio and Block.