Postmodernism & deconstruction
An expressive break with the grid. Carson, Brody, Greiman, Émigré, Cranbrook: legibility traded for emotion.
Coming soon — References
Graphic culture
A work-in-progress atlas: the studios, publishers and figures that shape how we see. Every reference is triangulated — official site, visual survey, institutional curation — and filed under an aesthetic family.
Families 1 & 3 published. The others will open progressively.
Aesthetic families
01 02 03 04 05 06
Editorial neo-modernism
The legacy of Swiss modernism and the Dutch school, carried on by their contemporary descendants. Typography as the engine, the grid as the backbone.
Cultivated maximalism
"More is more, and less is a bore." Unapologetic authorship and generosity that means something: ornament as carrier of meaning, lettering on equal footing with type. Sagmeister, Scher, Bantjes, Barnbrook, Boom, Glaser, Lubalin.
Contemporary radical
Acid, editorial brutalism, post-internet. Aesthetics born from the web and its margins.
Coming soonEngaged, vernacular, political
Grapus, Pierre Bernard, Ne Pas Plier. A strong French-language tradition, design as a stance.
Coming soonNon-Western perspectives
Sulki & Min (Korea), Daikoku (Japan), Brazilian studios. Decentring the canon, widening the panorama.
Coming soonContemporary studios
Amsterdam (NL)
Experimental Jetset
Dutch neo-modernism, post-punk modernist
→ London (UK)
A Practice for Everyday Life
Quiet editorial, institutional identity, type design
→ Amsterdam (NL)
Mainstudio
Typographic editorial, cultural identity (art, architecture, fashion)
→ New York + Miami (US)
Order
Brand identity, design systems, wayfinding, publishing
→ Munich (DE)
Bureau Borsche
Expressive editorial, fashion, culture, global branding
→ Milan (IT)
Studio Folder
Information design, cartography, data visualization, research
→ United Kingdom (UK)
Daly & Lyon
Editorial design, identity, art direction
→ New York (US)
Hassan Rahim
Art direction, identity, editorial (culture, music, fashion)
→ Berlin (DE)
Manuel Bürger
Post-digital editorial, book design, typographic research
→ New York (US)
Wkshps
Identity, editorial design, type design
→ London (UK)
Hato Press
Print, risograph, editorial design and community printing
→Publishers & schools
Amsterdam (NL)
Roma Publications
Design publishing house, Werkplaats Typografie context
→ Amsterdam (NL)
Valiz
Art publisher, critical theory, rigorous design
→ Arnhem (NL)
Werkplaats Typografie
Post-graduate design school, DNA of Dutch modernism
→ New York (US)
Standards Manual
Documentary reissues of historic identity manuals
→Contemporary studios
New York (US)
Stefan Sagmeister
Conceptual design, performative typography, object-books
→ New York (US)
Paula Scher
Cultural identity, expressive posters, environmental typography
→ Lunenburg, Nova Scotia (CA)
Marian Bantjes
Meaningful ornament, custom lettering, typographic illustration
→ London (UK)
Jonathan Barnbrook
Engaged design, typography, typeface design, activism
→ Amsterdam (NL)
Irma Boom
Editorial design, book-making, object-books
→ Leeds (UK)
Studio.Build
Brand identity, art direction, motion design, packaging
→ Barcelona (ES)
Mucho
Brand strategy, visual identity, packaging, editorial
→ New York (US) + London (UK)
Vault49
Brand design, packaging, animation, motion graphics
→Historical figures
New York (US)
Milton Glaser
Graphic pop, illustration, expressive typography, magazine direction
→ New York (US)
Seymour Chwast
Illustration and graphic design, the "Push Pin Style"
→ New York (US)
Herb Lubalin
Expressive typography, magazines, corporate identity, typeface design
→ New York (US)
Tibor Kalman
Editorial art direction, engaged design, design as public discourse
→Give us 30 minutes,
we handle the rest
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