Univers : identité

The design of the 2019 Typographics festival was inspired by bright typographic posters you might see on telephone poles advertising everything from professional wrestling events to get-rich-quick schemes. Such posters often stretch type to fill as much space as possible in a composition. Playing on this idea, the Obviously typeface was used in variable font format to compose responsive text blocks where each headline occupies its full column width, regardless of the text. More moderate weights and widths of Obviously were also used for smaller body type. Conference name badges were automated to fit each name, with randomized color schemes.

We developed distinctive graphic forms derived from the architectural forms of “buildings of the day” to enable an extendable and flexible wayfinding, exhibition design, and identity system.

The brief was to design and deliver branding, identity, print/digital materials, and augmented reality (AR) experiences. Users could interact with festival materials decorating the city in the forms of billboards, posters, and flyers via the AR application, as well as share their experiences online. Poems were also developed into 3D interpretations that users of the AR experience could place around the city. The app, Gaia RA, became a central feature of the festival. It led to wider audience engagement and encouraged exploration of other festival features.

UNICEF came to us with an innovative initiative called Data Collaboratives, which creates partnerships between big companies and data research scientists in order to transform big corporate data into public good for children. The challenge? No one knows who they are and that they are under the behemoth of UNICEF. That’s where we wanted to help: by giving the platform its own identity and transforming it into a brand that private companies, the public, and researchers could get behind. We took inspiration from children’s marble maze games to create our brand system, a custom typeface called Maze Sans, and the interactive website wearemarble.org.

Play & Pray is a preaching platform in which users play strategic games. This is not a “from top to bottom” type of gospel sharing; it’s actually a transformation journey. Play for fun, but behind it all, seeking eternal joy is the ultimate goal. The stationery set was designed further from the logotype design concept. All of the pieces demand the user to open from below, then extend the “l” in the word “play” and eventually to show the hidden word “pray.” Furthermore, all information is written in a reversed format, which further exaggerates the playful feeling.

The RIAS Kammerchor chamber choir was founded in 1948 and is one of Berlin’s most prestigious musical institutions. The choir has been the first to perform a number of pieces, and its repertoire includes works by Arvo Pärt, György Ligeti, and Max Reger. RIAS has received numerous international honors and awards for musical excellence. M23 designed a brand-new corporate identity for all of the choir’s media.

The C&KE identity displays a bold wordmark that is purely typographic in its approach. This is an ultra-modern, clean, and clear typeface that makes a simple statement. The idiosyncratic nature of an ampersand within the font contains a strong geometric form that gives the word “C&KE” more clarity in the way that it “scans” to reveal the word “CAKE.” Careful consideration has been taken to ensure that the spacing (kerning) between the individual letters allows for a further contemporary look and feel.

The power of music to bring people together, despite their varied origins and backgrounds, is celebrated by Sani Festival. The festival’s purity comes from the essential elements that form it—the music and the place—proving no need for additional visual layers for the identity. The identity is based on the idea of essentialism yet elegance while building on the festival’s unique DNA and long-lasting cultural value. A dynamic and flexible visual typographic system provides enough space for variety through the years ahead while keeping a consistent character. Typography is the key, expressing the uplifting character of music in its purest form. Special type treatment and the Midnight Blue are the dynamic components that communicate visually the unique feeling of Sani Festival.

The re—inc name references the idea of reinventing the incorporated. Used as a prefix, “re” can set up a variety of words that describe what the brand is all about: resist, redefine, renew, revolt. The re—inc identity is set in La Nord Re, a customized x version of the typeface La Nord with the “e” reversed. Designed by Pentagram designer Raoul Gottschling, the typeface features sleek, elegant letterforms with sharp contrasts. Different applications use a plethora of typefaces, but La Nord is constantly present, tying everything back to the core of the re—inc identity.