Everso is a music agency, founded in Hamburg in 2014, that specializes in tailor-made live performances for events of all kinds. With more than 80 musicians from all over Europe, Everso offers a three-tier all-in-one concept (Essential, Enhanced, Endless), ranging from DJ-sets to experienced singers to complete live bands.

Their preferred venues include private parties, corporate events, trade fairs and VIP receptions. A particular highlight for the company took place in September 2023, when a seven-person Everso combo brought the MGM Grand in Las Vegas to life with 20,000 enthusiastic guests.

For its tenth anniversary, Everso wanted a comprehensive rebranding, which was overseen and implemented by the Innsbruck-based agency Northlight. Their work immediately won the silver medal at the European Design Awards 2024. The project included the design of a new logo, the revision of the corporate design and the development of a modern website. Lead designer Felix Gärtner said: “The people and emotions behind the brand made this project particularly exciting.” His goal was to make Everso’s professionalism tangible both acoustically and visually and to position the brand as the number one artist solution for successful events.

With authentic photos and video clips, precise text and new fonts, Northlight has taken Everso’s website and printed materials to another level. The fonts chosen were Pangea Regular and Nikolai Light Italic – a combination of clarity and character.

“Pangea stands for timelessness and readability, while Nikolai gives a poetic expression with its fine details and nuances,” explains Gärtner. The interaction of the two typefaces is particularly attractive: the italic Nikolai as an accent throughout the brand gives Everso’s visual appearance personality and depth.

The first Italian edition of the European Design Awards and Festival took place in Naples from 30 May to 2 June, with the partnership of AIAP (Italian Association of Visual communication). The visual identity sprang off from the collaboration between two Italian design practices. Naples-based studio Dotfog populated the identity with a series of bizarre figures taken from local history that evolves in infinite combinations, while Studio FM Milano worked on a theatrical representation of Naples inspired by the 18th-century postcards sold to the Grand Tour travelers from all over Europe. Three images based on the most traditional Neapolitan views were reconstructed, three bright colors (light blue, pink, orange) and three words were chosen (‘Volcanic’, ‘Tumultuous’ and ‘Sunny’).

Together with these design decisions, the choice of Roma Neue – practical, clean, legible, perfect for exhibition design and corporate identity – contributed to create a sort of visual tapestry able to express the essence of design and celebrate European culture.

Impossible Langhe is a tourist novel, half guide and half story, written by Pietro Giovannini and enriched by photographer Maurizio Beucci. It explores and tells about the Langhe, an area populated by epic stories, visionary heroes and breathtaking landscapes. Impossible Langhe was designed by Elisabetta Azzalini at Undesign and published by Fondazione Radical Design of Charley Vezza, directed by Axel Iberti. The book won Bronze at the European Design Awards:

The volume, conceived as a travel notebook, is designed with the intent to combine the spirit of the Langhe, its historical, cultural and geographical specificities, to the contemporary. The dual nature of the book is explained by the structure of the graphic design that divides each of the nine chapters into two complementary sections: the first one, detailed and analytical, is dedicated to the routes, the second one, narrative and characterized by a colorful background, is reserved for the stories and tales of these places. In the titles the Voyage font exasperates the shapes of the typefaces used for the labels of the wines, creating, with a strong contrast, an elegant but contemporary effect. The palette of typefaces is then enriched with the famous Egyptian character designed by master Aldo Novarese and produced in the late fifties by the renowned Fonderia Nebiolo (a non-random association for a project that tells the story of a land of vineyards and wines), Piedmontese excellence recognized worldwide. The result is a visual and textual journey that leads to the discovery of one of the most characteristic and famous places of Piedmont, from an unusual and special point of view.

Titles are set in Voyage. The text typefaces are Prensa and Suisse Int’l. The contents pages additionally use all-caps Egizio Bold and Triptych Grotesque.

This book is an examination of one of the most popular typefaces ever created, Futura, designed by Paul Renner and released by Bauer in 1927.

Originally developed as a a catalog, a reference source to accompany an exhibition of the same name at the Gutenberg Museum in Mainz, the book was edited by the museum’s director, Dr. Annette Ludwig, and two professors of the Mainz University of Applied Sciences, Dr. Isabel Naegele and Dr. Petra Eisele. It was published in November 2016 in German as Futura: Die Schrift by Hermann Schmidt Mainz and in October 2017 in an English translation (by Phyllis Elago) as Futura: The Typeface by Laurence King Publishers. This post shows images from both editions.

The design of the 520-pages tome in light mint green is by Stephanie Kaplan and Isabel Naegele. It won prestigious international awards: Gold at the European Design Awards as well as an Award for Typographic Excellence at the 63rd Type Directors Club Contest in New York.

The digital fonts used in the book are from the Futura ND typeface family, part of the Neufville Digital and Bauer Types typeface collection. As the owner of the Bauer foundry assets, Neufville has the most accurate digital reproduction of the original Futura drawings. Futura ND is supported by Architype Renner by The Foundry Types (not visible in the images shown here). The numerous illustrations include drawings, processs material, specimens, and in-use samples of Futura with Futura Condensed as well as of other members of the greater Futura series, including Futura licht, Futura Black, Futura Display, and Steile Futura.

The white envelope, precious and still to be written, contains two volumes full of content.

The annual report 2019 for the Rome University of Fine Arts (RUFA) was designed by Intorno Design (Guido Lombardo, Roberta De Cristofaro, Tommaso Salvatori). This edition is dedicated to the memory of the first twenty years that have passed since the foundation stone was laid to build the creative melting pot that today is the Academy. The intent is to celebrate the continuous renewal of the original impulse, narrating the main projects and events of the past year.

The design uses several members of the Sang Bleu series by Swiss Typefaces, namely Empire, Sunrise, and Kingdom. The typography brings elegance and delicacy to a design with an almost nostalgic appearance.

In 2020, this edition of RUFA Annual Report won a Silver Award at the European Design Awards.

The first volume, in pocket format, includes in a single collective voice twenty testimonies of some of the protagonists of the years from 1998 to 2018.

The second is developed horizontally and evokes the old family albums, both in format and in visual content. The photographs also refer to the traditional albums through the shots of the “professional families RUFA”, from the schools of the different departments to the staff of the Academy.

The central insert is dedicated to the RUFA Contest and is printed in monochrome on Favini Crush Kiwi recycled paper.

The book is printed in five colors (CMYK plus Pantone silver) and uses six types of paper. The use of typography and the layout of the book is a mixture of elegance and experimentation. Taking risks to generate innovation is one of the characteristics of the Academy. The same can be said of the annual report.

The NIPKE logotype, set in Nip Sans—a redrawn and revised version of Arial Narrow Bold.

NIPKE is a beer and liquor brand initiated and designed by Studio de Ronners. The name is based on the Dutch word ‘nippen’, meaning ‘sipping’. Studio de Ronners writes:

NIPKE bundles our most outrageous ideas and experiments in taste, aroma and design. We founded the brand as an outlet for anything that doesn’t fit our regular work. In close collaboration with professional partners, we develop beers and spirits of gastronomic quality. NIPKE is also an exercise in uncompromising marketing: we go against all standards in alcohol branding and packaging to create a product line with a distinctive look and feel.

NIPKE products are enjoyable and drinkable, but they are also exclusive, coming in limited and hand-numbered bottles. This exclusivity is represented by the design, which makes it clear that this is not your average drink. With its bold lettering on back-to-basic monochromes, NIPKE can be seen as a kind of anti-branding, not obviously aimed at ‘selling’ the product. The raw style shows that this product is the result of lab experiments. It’s a collector’s item. The labels as well as the packaging are sophisticated, but they also exude a DIY punk attitude that goes against the predictable norm.

As part of NIPKE’s uncompromising branding, the idea emerged to use one of the most overused typefaces, which comes free with Windows: Arial (1982) by Robin Nicholas (1947—) and Patricia Saunders (1933–2019). You might be surprised, thinking the NIPKE typeface doesn’t quite look like Arial, and you would be right!

Together with Studio de Ronners, I revised—and redrew some letters of—Arial Narrow Bold, to change it from a typeface many people are tired of seeing, to something with a bit more intrigue. I removed the calligraphic influences (the curved leg in R has been straightened), I fixed some letters (I felt the weight distribution and curves of S around its spine were awkward), and I exaggerated some features. One of the most obvious changes is the enlargement of bowls—such as in P—and the widening of circular glyphs.

As a result, Nip Sans (English: “Sip Sans”) has a much more open and polished appearance compared to Arial, as well as a slightly erratic rhythm due to the large counter spaces in circular glyphs. To better understand what I’m talking about, have a look at MD Nichrome by Rutherford Craze, which features this effect in a more exaggerated way.

Also, Nip Sans features 4 stylistic sets with which you can activate characters of different extents of exaggeration or deemphasis. With its design and optional features, Nip Sans is decidedly more playful than Arial, with a bit of a DIY punk attitude.

☞ The NIPKE brand won bronze at the European Design Awards 2020.

A comparison between Nip Sans (black) and Arial Narrow Bold (yellow).

NIPKE No. 1 (Herr Heino) features Nip Sans, Neue Helvetica Medium (Weizen + Juniper + Lagering), Gloucester Extra Condensed (Herr Heino), and Haarlemmer Medium (OLD GENEVER, 42% VOL., 500 ML).

NIPKE No. 3 (Dibbes) features Nip Sans, a horizontally compressed/distorted Times Regular (DIBBES), and a horizontally compressed/distorted Times Bold (TRIPEL BEER + JUNIPER + LEMON + CORIANDER + GENTIAN ROOT, MOUTWIJN, 39% VOL., 500 ML.). The trolley is a custom design by Remmelt Deriksen.

NIPKE No. 2 (O’ Manta) features Nip Sans, and Heroic Condensed Black Oblique (O’ MANTA & the rest of the typography). Mommeriete + NIPKE (Swampy Wood) features Nip Sans, and a horizontally compressed/distorted Times Bold (MOMMERIETE, Swampy Wood, Porter, 5.7% VOL., 33 CL), and an undistorted Times Bold (SMOKED PORTER).

Metáfora is a high-end brand of olive oil produced in Avantos, a hamlet in Trás-os-Montes, located in the northeastern corner of Portugal. Design studio Pacifica was tasked to develop a label concept and identity elements that convey the essence of the famous Transmontano olive oil to the international market.

The chosen typeface is Eksell Display. Originally drawn by Swedish designer Olle Eksell in 1962, the high-contrast roman with sharp serifs was digitized and expanded by Göran Söderström, and released by Letters from Sweden in 2015. The wordmark is concluded with a drop-shaped period printed in metallic bronze color. Eksell Display also serves for the debossed text on the label. According to Pacifica, this is “a metaphor for the cold and manual method of pressing the brand’s olive oil.” Translated to English, the text on the label reads: “Behind these mountains, we still hide the time the world forgot. We preserve the genetic heritage of the trees and proudly hold, within this bottle, an olive oil originated from past legends and millennia.”

The informational text on the labels is set in Mark Simonson’s monospaced Anonymous. Bottle number, batch, and harvest date are added by hand.

Photography by Numo / Nuno Moreira. Video by Artur Serra Aráujo.

This packaging design won Silver in the European Design Awards 2020.

Five kilos of graphic design! A complex career description of Petr Babák – one of our currently most significant graphic designers and a professor at the UMPRUM in Prague – and his studio Laboratory.

Through the medium of 85 projects, lined up from the most to the least popular ones, Babák presents with his characteristic language his own work in which he balances between fine arts and applied arts. He examines boundaries of graphic design and book experiments. The publication observes creation processes of individual projects from the very first communication with commissioners, through the design creation process to its realisation. It maps Babák’s work from the period of his studies, through the cooperation with Tomáš Machek to the current activities of studio Laboratory, and it describes Babák also as the professor and the publicist. A strong social and performative character of Babák’s life is substituted by unique personal titles of the publication created by his colleagues, commissioners, his family, fans, critics, students, graduates and friends.

A generous dimension of this author’s book, whose concept and graphic design was made by Lukáš Kijonka, operates as a comment to the current direction of frequently overlarge book design and it relates to Babák’s examination of the book as an object. Babák’s texts are supplemented by photographs of Filip Beránek. 15 centimeters wide spines of the book were made manually by most significant current Czech artists, Babák’s colleagues and friends. Would you like to own an original made by Krištof Kintera, Tomáš Vaněk, CAP crew, Dominik Forman, Petra Dočekalová, Jakub Hojgr, or Petr Kvíčala?

The book was designed by Kolektiv Studio and published by the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague (UMPRUM) together with the Moravian Gallery in Brno. It was awarded a Silver medal in the Artistic Catalogue category at the European Design Awards.

A photographic monograph of Russian artist Anatoly Zverev, designed by Konstantin Eremenko, using Brioni Sans for the titles and the serif version of Brioni for the smaller text, and subheads. The book has been awarded at the D&AD Awards 2019 (Wood pencil), Type Directors Club Tokyo, 2019, and European Design Awards 2019 (Silver).

Brought together by their fascination for the wondrous flower and plant world, artist Denise Collignon and landscape historian and floriculturist Mariette Kamphuis founded Veld & Vaas (“Field & Vase”). Together, they design and create the floral decorations of special occasions and locations, characterized by vegetable materials, folklore, and historical and contemporary (floral) art.

Veld & Vaas presents itself as a symbiosis of two worlds, which formed the starting point for the design of their floral soapboxes (“bloemenzeep”). The packaging is adorned with both serif and sans-serif typefaces; the typefaces Domaine Text & Domaine Display (Klim Type Foundry, 2013), a subtly modified Domaine Sans Display (Klim Type Foundry, 2014), and Campton (René Bieder, 2014).

The colors of the packaging are derived from the content of the soaps/ingredients (marigold and activated carbon), which also come together in a dual-colored version with both types of soap. The result is contemporary and timeless package design, with the inventors’ story printed on the interior.

☞ The Veld & Vaas bloemenzeep won silver at the European Design Awards 2018.

Language shapes our communication, our perception and our being. Language is much more than the structured articulation of words. It embodies our sufferings, joys, fears and hopes, through it we explain the world to ourselves and form our reality.

The masterthesis for Communication Design, submitted at University of Applied Sciences FH Joanneum, called Languages of the World – World of Languages is divided into three segments, which are also haptically differentiable through a variation of uncoated and coated paper. The theoretical parts are accompanied by a photographical series, visualizing languages as fluently changing objects.

Every day we toss around words, but at the same time their semantics? How can language be defined? What gives language its diversity? Where are its limits? The core of the thesis is formed by the practical part which is dedicated to distinguishing untranslatable words and their meanings. Those words are reflecting concepts from all over the world and cannot be translated by using just one single term, instead these untranslatable words need descriptions in order to be comprehensible in other languages.

A catalogue and a map have been created based on the untranslatable words and their languages, showing a new perspective on the world. The catalogue is arranged by the coordinates from the map and categorized by the meanings of the untranslatable words.

The intention is to explain the role of language in the creation of visions and ideas and to draw attention to the limits it can simultaneously impose on us. Through language it becomes possible to grasp constructs of thought and to encourage lateral thinking in a way that would otherwise remain hidden.

The main typefaces in the book are GT Sectra and Moderat. In the catalogue of untranslatable words additional typefaces are used for non-Latin characters. Cyrillic and Greek are set with FF DIN. PingFang HK is used for different styles of Chinese and Japanese. Lucida Grande is used for Hebrew and Thai. Jaldi is used for Hindi, and Kefa for Amharic. Tahoma was used for Arabic Character. Inuktitut scripts are set in Euphemia.

“Listy” means “letters” and refers to the long-term correspondence of Polish writers and activists Jerzy Giedroyc and Zdzisław Najder. The design of the book reflects how the relationship between the two men changed over time. Initally intense, it cooled down and then became conflicting. A characteristic motif of the layout of both the cover and the inserts is broken typography. The title of the cover is partly hidden. Navigating the letters is facilitated by numbering and marking them with the initials of the sender and recipient. The only decorative element, including a fairly minimalist design, is the repeating motif of delicate lines and rectangular boxes with letters of letters.

The book is designed by Polish design office Podpunkt and set entirely in Diogenes by LudwigType. It won the silver medal in the European Design Awards 2015 and got distinction in the competition for the Most Beautiful Book of the Year 2015 in Poland.