Over the years, London-based Alphabetical has honed both a distinctive style and a distinctive client list: often, its most celebrated projects are those for brands or organisations that are both a unique place, and more specifically a site for a community that’s underserved or underrepresented. In short, Alphabetical has honed its knack for uniting a people-centric, frequently cocreation based approach...
The once laudable claim to have started a thriving business with ‘a small loan’ from a doting family member may have been muddied beyond recognition by the truth-stretching of serial tax-offender and part-time Presidential candidate Donald Trump. Despite this, turning ‘one thousand pounds from nan’ into a luxury watch and diamond dealership with a sparkling flagship store in Mayfair remains...
Recchiuti Confections is a San Francisco-based gourmet chocolatier that creates chocolates with unique flavour combinations. Using traditional European techniques, with locally sourced ingredients from Northern Californian farms and markets, Recchiuti’s chocolates have earned a loyal customer base and several accolades. After 25 years in business, Recchiuti sought the expertise of Manual – a local design studio – for a brand...
Oslo-based multi-disciplinary design studio Olssøn Barbieri has created the brand identity for Los Angeles-based speciality coffee roastery Stereoscope, working across its packaging design and printed materials with a typography-led approach that celebrates tactility. According to Olssøn Barbieri, Stereoscope is underpinned by a philosophy that sees coffee as a living organism rather than a commodity, and which takes its responsibility to...
Not a new project, but a lovely one nonetheless; it seems there couldn’t have been a more perfect fit for London Centre for Book Arts than Studio Bergini when it was looking for a design team to task with creating its new visual identity. Formed by two Central Saint Martins grads – Norwegian Kristian Hjorth Berge and Italian Francesco Corsini (hence...
The skincare industry is a varied visual landscape. At one end of the spectrum, brands like Glossier and Soft Services (reviewed July 2022) have found balance in softness and understated minimalism. At the other Dr.Jart+ (reviewed Jan. 2018) and Malin+Goetz bring pharmacy-chic with functional, type-led packaging. And then we have our classic, heritage brands – like Kiehl’s and Elizabeth Arden – which...
In 1775 Crane paper was used to print the first money for the American colonies, and by 1801 the company was the primary paper producer for local and regional banks. Later that century, equipped with an arsenal of innovative techniques from Europe, Crane won a contract with the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and became the supplier for the US...
160 Faces is a new publication from Swedish artist Daniel Götesson working under the name Ekta, designed by Lundgren+Lindqvist and distributed under the studio’s publishing arm ll’Editions. The book collates 160 drawings made by the artist in 2019, and sequenced, rather than in logical pairs and with a curated rhythm, but by using an algorithm developed by the studio. Applied...
The White Rabbit Collection is a contemporary arts publication showcasing the work of 99 artists drawn from the White Rabbit, a contemporary art museum, gallery and archive in Sydney. The museum has become one of the world’s most significant collections of Chinese contemporary art, with over 2000 works from 700 artists. Through this new publication, designed by Australia design studio Toko...
Atop of Croatia’s Istria peninsula, just where the land slips into the Adriatic sea sits the tiny small-batch gin distillery of Monachus. Stone shores, botanical covered hillsides, the smell of pine and scattered pin cones characterises the landscape. Drawing on this, the natural history of Istria and the name Monachus, borrowed from Monachus Monachus an endangered Mediterranean monk seal, Swedish design studio Bedow created a...
Queremos Sonreír – Activar la Cultura Local (We want to smile – Activating local culture) brings together the voices of a variety of cultural agents–from citizen collectives and activists to artists and managers of cultural programmes–who are generating actions that intend to stimulate local culture, empower citizens, develop learning processes and further critical thinking. Through these voices the book explores questions around citizen...
North Star Film Alliance (NSFA) is a joint venture between Estonia, Latvia and Finland. The Alliance intends to develop and promote themselves as one filmmaking region to international film and TV productions. It is a competitive marketplace, with other countries provide low tax rates and incentives to film big-budget spectacles on their stages using local crews. Together, the three countries...