Applepicker is a cross-genre solo project run by one of the key figures of the modern Belarusian underground scene: Mikita Arlou. Low Noise, High Output is a compilation of minimalist ambient guitar and synth sketches recorded on tape in Pinsk and Minsk between 2016 and 2020 and remastered in 2022. It marks the first release of the K7 cassette label.

The artwork is reminiscent of the cassette inserts of the 1970s and 1980s, but also intended to look futuristic.

There is not a lot of information on the Zentak font on the Internet, but it can be found in Chartpak Velvet Touch Transfer Lettering Box.

The design was made in Berlin, Germany and finished in Minsk, Belarus, in April 2022.

Unheimlich ("Uncanny") is a reference to Sigmund Freud's term. Artur Novikov (poet) asked me to make a design to embody his description:

This book is about poetry, or should be. All the verses in it are surrounded by a black shimmer, a black outline of ominous consonances, or should be. This book is the author's attempt to say goodbye to the leitmotif of the uncanny inside his being by transferring the sound overpressure of this to paper. This book is a demonstration of this transference process: it will be carried out before your eyes.

I undertook to embody the uncanny and surround the negative space with a ragged repetition of the title and idea of the book – “Unheimlich”.

Repetition is necessary to emphasize the essence of the term – a meeting with something has already happened, with something very familiar, which leaves an ominous feeling.

This repetition principle is expressed on the front as well as on the back cover to become one unit. The back cover inherits the points from the letter i, extracted from the front cover word “Unheimlich”. It is a reference to a poetic rhyme, when words from one line convey particles of the sounds of words from the previous one.

Thus, Unheimlich is dark poetry and an uncanny encounter with the past.

Dimensions: 5×8 in. (12.7×20.32 cm). Principal type: Neue Montreal by Pangram Pangram.

Лабораторная работа (“Laboratory work”) is the name of the joint improv concert of СОЮЗ & Интурист that will take place in Studio 42 in Minsk, Belarus. The name comes from the idea of making a live event in the form of a musical laboratory (e.g. BBC Radiophonic Workshop) focused more on creating sounds and textures.

The titles are set up in the original Gemini and Yagi Link Double typefaces with some self-made Cyrillic glyphs with the accompanying Univers text. There are two variations of the crop-and-repeat technique utilized on the poster. The digital version was printed and scanned in order to get the right texture.

Diet for the Atomic Age was written by Sara Shannon in 1987 and originally issued by Avery Publishing Group Inc. in Wayne, New Jersey. The book reflects on the topic of radiation, especially in the light of the recent Chernobyl disaster (1986), and gives nutritional advices to minimize the impact of the radiation. It was reissued in a Russian translation by the “Belarus” publishing house in Minsk, Belarus in 1991, with a preface to the Soviet reader (this was eight months before the collapse of the USSR) by the author.

I didn’t manage to find the original US issue, but it looks like the Belarusian book cover is replicating it, at least in terms of fonts. The first double page spread probably shows us how the original cover typography looked like, paired with the translated Soviet version. The used fonts are the same, featuring Churchward Design Lines and ITC Serif Gothic, but the original Kabel Light was replaced to Futura.

Космическому Веку – Астрономическую Точность (“Space Age – Astronomical Accuracy”)

Astronomical precision for the space age advertising poster by Minsk Watch Factory, USSR, 1983 featuring a Cyrillic version of ITC Serif Gothic. The poster was designed by V. Mysin.

Легенды Менску (“Legends of Minsk”) is a limited edition series of three beers from the Krynitsa brewery. The new design coincided with the 950th anniversary of Minsk. The client asked to implement the concept of the city’s most famous urban legends, resulting in “Artifacts” as a design concept, which determined the future creative boundaries.

For greater persuasiveness of the idea and what was said in the legends, reference was made to classical monumental inscriptions. Epos was designed as a custom typeface for this project to achieve greater artistic expressiveness and individuality of the product as a whole. The typeface has become the binding material of the entire composition.

Illustrations: Andrey Yaroshevich.
The full case study (in Russian) can be found on design.by.