Speculative Enquiries: Aesthetic, Ethical, and Epistemic Technologies is a 2023 conference theme and research focus from the European Culture and Technology Lab+ (ECT Lab+), that explores how speculative design, AI, and the arts can reshape future technologies.

The posters are animated and visualize speculative versions of the title across different times and places.

Niceshit is a Barcelona-based animation studio. For their tenth anniversary, they asked Ufficio to redesign their visual identity. Their design pairs Onlysans by Daria Cohen (distributed by Contemporary Type) and Niceshit Non-Regular, a custom typeface designed by Fer Cozzi.

From Ufficio’s portfolio website:

From the start, we understood their work needed no extra visual layer. What we wanted to amplify was their voice. Our goal was to capture two things that were central to their work method: the collaborative team and the off-screen ideas where every project is born.

So we proposed building a custom typeface from the handwritten alphabets of all three founders: a flexible system with multiple variables per character, designed to work across different contexts and scales without losing identity.

The direction made us completely rethink the process. It was our first time designing a typeface, and we were doing it in the most unorthodox way possible. With no visual references, we let the conceptual bet guide every decision. Doing what's easy to say and hard to actually do: designing from the idea.

The Niceshit Non-Regular was then paired with a more stable sans serif of equal weight and spirit, one representing process, the other delivery. The logotype and phonogram ‘nsh’ came later as a synthesis and timeless symbols of the brand.

Graphic design and web design by Ufficio (Crista Bernasconi, Sofía Noceti, Luis Cruz) under management of Luna Nuñez. The website was developed by Juan Pinkus.

A Victorian-era ticket with a unique border and striking typefaces. The star of the show is Bank-Note Italic, a variant of John F. Cumming’s Bank-Note Italic (c.1863) in which the top halves have diagonal hatching. Charles E. Heyer added it to the catalog of the Boston Type Foundry in 1875. 

Opening Party at Fox’s Hall, South Worcester, N.Y.
Thursday Evening, Dec. 15, 1887 Music by Belcher's Full Band.
Yourself and lady are respectively invited.
Bill $1.50
J. D. Beard, Manager. E. Fox, Prop’r.

Business card (4⅝″×2½″) by Hills & Winship, manufacturers of “bench and moulding planes of every description”. A quick dig finds that this partnership likely began in 1832, the assumed date that this business card was created. The 18pt Caslon Italian line at the top has especially crisp edges all around, clearly from metal type, perhaps brand new type.

Loyalty programme and identity for the Paul Smith's Collectors Club, designed by agency Limesharp.

A stamp-collecting loyalty programme for British fashion brand Paul Smith, where members build a digital album of over 100 bespoke illustrated stamps earned in-store and online across 20 countries.

The Collectors Club logo is set in Kalice from Claude Type, designed by Margot Lévêque, in both Regular and Italic. It is paired with Paul Smith’s brand typeface Mint Grotesk by Lift Type. Diatype from Dinamo is used for text on the stamps.

The current identity for art center Kunsthaus Potsdam was designed by Onck West, using Affairs and FT Kunst Grotesk throughout. From the studio’s case presentation:

Kunsthaus Potsdam was founded in 2000 by the artists Hubertus von der Goltz and Frank Michael Zeidler in the former equestrian military hospital of the Garde-Ulanen barracks in Potsdam. The building now houses an exhibition hall and several artists’ studios. With the arrival of a new curator and a renewed focus on contemporary art, the Kunsthaus asked Onck West to develop a fresh visual identity. Our design was inspired by the extraordinary building and the time in which it was created.

Trevor Dearing (1933–2023) was a Charismatic Anglican priest who wrote eighteen books, including this one about miraculous healing through faith. For the cover, designer Cynthia Sahlman build a wall of type from the Heavy and Regular weights of ITC Serif Gothic. The display typeface by Herb Lubalin and Tony Di Spigna is used in all caps, featuring the alternate uncialish E.

The visual identity for Staatsballett Berlin, designed by Eps51, combines expressive typography with a restrained contemporary layout system. As one of Germany’s leading ballet companies, Staatsballett Berlin plays a central role in the development and preservation of ballet, both locally and internationally.

The identity translates the grace, energy, and emotional intensity of dance into a graphic language that balances movement and structure. The typographic palette pairs Similar with NT Zeu, whose proportions and rhythm complement the geometric character of Similar while introducing a contrasting voice across editorial materials, posters, and digital applications.

Developed in close collaboration with the team at Staatsballett Berlin, the system reflects both the tradition of classical ballet and the company’s contemporary cultural presence in Berlin.

Letterpress printed Souvenir Ticket for the 2026 Bay Area Printers’ Fair & Wayzgoose. Printed in 2025 from vintage handset metal type, in order from top:

Caslon Bold Extended (1911)
Futura schmalhalbfett (1936)
Lilith (1930)
Figaro (1940)
Hellenic Wide (c.1954*)
Festival Titling (1952)
Gill Sans Cameo Ruled (1935)
Antique Condensed (pinmark from MacKellar, Smiths & Jordan, 19th century)
Ad Lib (1961)
Antique Shaded (1913)
Mistral (1953)
Plymouth (1900)

All borders are cast by Stephenson Blake, printed from new-in-box old stock fonts.

*) Note that Hellenic Wide is a 1950s adaptation of the same letter style as the 19th century Antique Extended.

Pentagram partners Michael Gericke and Michael Bierut collaborated on a new visual identity for the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, one of the most beloved and visited museums in the US. Its goal is to “reflect the vibrancy of the institution and its diverse collections, programming and audiences.”

The new wordmark was tailored from a bespoke version of Empirica by Frere-Jones Type. It has “stature but is friendly and welcoming, conveyed in the deliberate shift to upper and lowercase type,” says Pentagram.

The National Gallery of Art (NGA) is a world-renowned art museum on the National Mall, founded by Andrew Mellon in 1937, offering a vast collection from the Middle Ages to today, including European and American masterpieces, sculpture, and modern art, with free admission and two distinct buildings (West for classics, East for modern) plus a Sculpture Garden, welcoming millions annually to explore art freely.

Motto by Hilton is a vibrant global hotel brand built for modern explorers who travel intentionally, live smart, and stay connected. Anchored in buzzy neighborhoods across some of the world’s most iconic cities, Motto appeals to travelers through modular room designs that enable flexible, personalized stays. For those seeking an experience-driven stay, the hotel is designed to be a launchpad for energetic neighborhood exploration and cultural immersion.

Watson led the brand’s strategy, positioning, and identity refresh, clarifying Motto’s voice and expression to deliver a cohesive vision—one defined by intentionality, ingenuity, and local connection.

To express Motto’s locally rooted approach to each hotel location, Watson developed a dynamic typographic system that captures the essence of each place through a corresponding typeface. Each hotel’s location logo lockup pairs the existing Motto wordmark with the city name, typeset in its selected typeface. Comprised of eight typefaces that are distinct in style yet unified in proportion, the system forms a cohesive library that reflects the hotel’s collection of unique destinations.

A clear methodology guides how each typeface is applied, ensuring it reflects the distinct energy and character of its neighborhood. An arts district like Chelsea in New York City features a typeface inspired by calligraphic letterforms, echoing its offbeat, idiosyncratic character. In contrast, a tourist hotspot like Times Square adopts a friendlier geometric sans serif to convey the destination’s broader, more universal appeal.

We reimagined the visual identity for beckn, a universal protocol enabling open, decentralised digital ecosystems. The world carries interconnectedness in its pocket, yet continues to function in silos. Envisioned as free, open, and accessible, the internet’s promise remains uneven – one that beckn reimagines through open, decentralised digital ecosystems.

Having built beckn’s identity in 2020, the brand language was evolved from a quiet, minimal presence into one that feels bold, empowering, and deliberately counter-intuitive. Rooted in the metaphor of the rhizome – a non-linear, interconnected network – the refreshed system reflects how the internet actually works. At the core of the identity is an organic rhizome grid layered with a structured framework, balancing dynamism with order. A visual language built from three geometric forms circle, square, and pentagon – represents the ecosystem’s diverse participants.

Noto Serif forms the typographic foundation of the visual identity. Chosen for its open-source, multilingual foundation – supporting over 1,000 languages and more than 150 writing systems – it echoes beckn’s vision of an internet that is accessible, inclusive, and not owned by any single entity. Its considered, universal character reinforces the protocol’s role as shared infrastructure, while its classical structure introduces a counter-intuitive presence within a decentralised, technology-driven context. The supporting typeface, Poppins, provides a contemporary geometric contrast, bringing clarity and functional precision across digital interfaces.

The first page of a large 480-page catalog advertising goods offered by Feldheim, Gotthelf & Co., an Australian importer of “British, Continental and American Merchandise”. Founded in the 1850s, the company entered a period of growth starting with a new warehouse in 1892. This catalog, published around 1905, offers an extensive window into essentially the entire breadth of goods available to Australian households at the time. The company entered a period of decline a few years later due to partners retiring from business, and in 1924 began the process of shutting down the company which concluded in 1927.

The catalog is set in a smorgasbord of period typefaces. The shown page features Facade for the company’s name, followed by Maltese Shaded, Condensed Sans Serifs Italic (see Condensed & Elongated Sans Serifs), Grotesque No. 4A, and Reed’s Runic Extended (for “Sydney”). “On Sale” is in DeVinne Ornamental and the list of items in De Vinne. The caps used for the name and location shown integrated in the red border are from Concave. Some of the typefaces used for smaller text are yet unidentified.

Poster for the 10th anniversary of Behind This Wall bar in Hackney, London.

This bilingual yearbook showcases contemporary Latvian photographers and significant exhibitions at the Latvian Museum of Photography in Riga. Designer Alexey Murashko selected three typefaces by Nikola Djurek for the book: Diurnal Display for the titles, Nocturno for the main text, and Diurnal for the marginalia. The book is cut horizontally in half, with the lower part containing the English text and the top part containing the Latvian text. This system allows the pages to be flipped independently and creates unexpected compositions.

The deconstructed letter parts in red are from Sandrine Nugue’s Orientation, see the comments.

Renata Motyka has designed the visual identity for the exhibition Planetary Consciousness. Ecosystems of Care at the School of Digital Art, Manchester Metropolitan University. It was curated by Eliza Urwanowicz-Rojecka and Jakub Wróblewski.

It is another project designed to promote Polish and Ukrainian contemporary digital art, co-delivered by the Arsenal Gallery in Białystok and the 3D and Virtual Occurrences II Studio, Faculty of Media Art at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw.

The project has been inspired by the concept of planetary consciousness, in reference to a theory by sociologist and globalisation theorist Roland Robertson, who introduced the notion of global consciousness (Robertson 1992, 2014). Thus termed by Robertson, the shift towards the world-universe relationship already assumed that the global perspective would transcend into the planetary.

The exhibition was presented from November 4th to December 2nd 2025 at the School of Digital Arts (SODA), Manchester Metropolitan University 14 Higher Chatham St, Manchester M15 6ED.

Context Window takes a McLuhan-esque mosaic approach in the form of a visual essay on the ever-expanding role and effects of computers and digital technology on our lives. As our exposure to computers and digital technology has expanded, infiltrating nearly every aspect of human existence, their ability to change our behavior through subconscious cues and otherwise invisible environmental changes should prompt deeper consideration of who these changes ultimately benefit.

On the font choices throughout the book:

Like the books I've designed and produced, Context Window is a creative outlet to utilize a number of my favorite typefaces. Tiempos being an economic and reliable family for long-form text – and especially capable in print. And Nick Sherman's HEX Franklin has become a go-to workhorse but also fitting for its historical ties back to the writing of Marshall McLuhan.

The first printing, a limited edition of 100 copies was printed by Newspaper Club in the UK and includes additional related Risograph prints and other ephemera produced in the heart of Silicon Valley.

A ticket for a fundraising benefit held at the Grace Lutheran Church in Lancaster, Pa. The printer was David Bachman Landis of Pluck Art Printery (also called Pluck Print and later known as Landis Art Print).

Entertainment
By the Young Women’s Missionary Society, At Grace Lutheran Church, Tuesday, May 15, 1894.
Benefit of Emmanuel Mission. Admission, 10 Cents.
Pluck Print

Petit Serif is used for the cover of Anne Bradstreet: Passionate Femininity, published by Canon Press in their Christian Renegades series:

America’s first poet, Anne Bradstreet, wrote poems regularly for her family’s private enjoyment. But in 1647, unbeknownst to Anne, her brother-in-law set sail for England with a manuscript of her poetry. Upon his return, he presented her book to her: The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America. Anne was thoroughly embarrassed but also pleased. Subsequent generations have valued her gifts as a poet as well, and her poetry remains in print to this day.

However, to the modern mind, Anne herself remains something of an enigmatic figure—a dedicated Puritan, housewife, and gifted poet. How these attributes can co-exist, feminists have yet to understand. This biography provides a deeper look at Anne Bradstreet’s personal qualities, the vibrant poetry she created, and her contributions to the way of life in the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

This book is a reprint of Beyond Stateliest Marble: The Passionate Femininity of Anne Bradstreet.

William H. Moyer, of Pottsville, Pa., received a V.S. (Veterinary Surgeon) degree from the Ontario Veterinary College in Toronto during the commencement held on March 28, 1891, according to a note in the Journal of Comparative Medicine and Veterinary Archives, vol. 12, no. 5, May 1891, pp. 261-64.

Afterwards, he set up a practice in Elizabethville, Pa., as indicated on this business card. Someone penciled in the year “1890” on the front of the card, and the name “J. Romberger” is written on the back.

Dr. W. H. Moyer,
Veterinary Surgeon and Dentist, Elizabethville, Pa.
Graduate of the Ontario Veterinary College, Member of the Veterinary Medical Society, of Toronto, Canada.
Four Year’s Practice with Dr. J. W. Sallade, V.S., of Pottsville, Pa.

The doctor’s name is set in John F. Cumming’s Karnac (Dickinson, 1884). The condensed low-contrast slab for his job description is unidentified – it’s similar to Skeleton. “Elizabethville, Pa.” is in a Gothic, possibly Boston’s. Additional typefaces include (an American version or relative?) of Antique Five, Latin Antique, a light Clarendon/Ionic, and what looks like Antique No. 310, Bruce’s version of Old Style Antique No. 7.