According to the Herb Lubalin Study Center of Design and Typography, this logo for Mountain Dew was proposed by the Lubalin studio probably sometime in the 1970s.

Mountain Dew is a soft drink brand using a formula originally invented in 1940. In August 1964, the brand and production rights were acquired from the Tip Corporation by Pepsi-Cola. In the late 1960s, Mountain Dew still used the so-called Hillbilly logo. By around 1970, it was discarded in favor of psychedelic lettering, with the two words stretched to fit into a rectangle. The accompanying “ya-hooo” wasn’t deleted from the logo until about 1975.

The logo proposal is based on the solid style of Algonquin. Originally designed by John F. Cumming and advertised by Dickinson in 1890, New York-based Photo-Lettering, Inc. showed a phototype adaptation of both styles in their 1971 One-Line Manual of Styles.

Algonquin as shown in ATF’s Specimens of Printing Types, 1897

Stoppage Time was launched as a new television talk show dedicated to women's football, a collaboration between FIFA and ATA Football. Since there is hardly anything to be found about this project online, it appears to have been a short-lived project. The logo and visuals for the show use Orientation, and were esigned by Bolter Studio, who write:

The brand is textured, angular and layered, featuring darts and diagonals that recall the marking on the ball and an instantly recognisable typeface (Orientation released by Commercial Type). Colours are bold yet playful, empowering a positive femininity and celebrating the unstoppable rise of the game.

The Wombles made their television debut over 50 years ago, bringing with them a strong environmental message long before eco-awareness became mainstream. Their influence led to the creation of ‘wombling’ groups across the country, dedicated to litter-picking and recycling.

Often seen as the original environmentalists, the Wombles’ inventive recycling methods have now been spotlighted in their updated brand identity. This refreshed image positions them as a seal of approval for sustainable businesses, offering a new layer of relevance.

With a fresh chapter ahead, the London-based agency How&How has taken on the task of reimagining the Wombles and their iconic characters, such as Great Uncle Bulgaria, Madame Cholet, Tobermory, and Orinoco. Staying true to the Wombles’ ethos, the agency adopted a reuse and recycle approach, incorporating visual elements from the past, including icons, illustrations, and pictograms.

Each character has been given its own sub-brand, complete with distinct color palettes and patterns, alongside a collection of illustrated icons reflecting their personalities from the original stories. The new verbal identity draws inspiration from the Wombles’ theme song and scripts and is paired with a fresh headline typeface, Kyle by French foundry Blaze Type.

Additionally, the Wombles now feature a redesigned W motif and wordmark. “For the wordmark, we aimed to stay true to the original chunky slab design, selecting Nordvest by Monokrom foundry as our base. We liked the way its horizontals are slightly thicker than its verticals,” says Cat How, the agency’s founder and creative director. Some of the pins and stickers use Fort Foundry’s Alkaline.

“This subtle inversion of traditional stroke weighting adds a quirky, playful quality that felt perfect for the eclectic spirit of the Wombles.”

While the digital illustrations and character icons are a departure from the furry models many remember from TV, these updates reflect the many versions of the Wombles that have appeared since their inception in Elisabeth Beresford’s 1960s books.

How&How’s initiative is focused on promoting brands dedicated to “making less stuff,” but it seems the new identity will also extend to the Wombles’ physical merchandise. It's hoped that this expansion will be handled carefully to preserve the environmental values that have made the Wombles so beloved.

Business card for a stock exchange based in Berlin, Germany. The only item realized (and printed) of a planned new identity, it was set in Wilke, roman with small caps – Wilke had just been published by Linotype for phototypesetting the year before. The digital version of the typeface misses the small caps.

Main program posters with the names of the first four guests

Posters and booklet created as a student project for the cultural event “Les Rencontres de la Bibliothèque” at the École Duperré Paris.

At this event, visitors can attend presentations of literary and/or philosophical works by their authors, followed by a moment of exchange with the public. “Les Rencontres de la Bibliothèque” is organized by the school’s teaching staff.

Redaction (by Jeremy Mickel and Forest Young) was chosen for the titles because of its pixel-style variation; by playing with its classic style and its pixel style, the idea was to create a deciphering effect, an effect found with the speakers when they explain their theses and ideas to the audience. Area (by Blaze Type) was chosen for its clean, coherent structure, making it an excellent alternative to popular linear fonts.

This proposal was shortlisted but eventually remained unrealized.

Booklet with a short presentation for the first four guests and a map of the event’s placement at École Duperré Paris

Poster variations for each of the first four guests

In 2005, when he was a British School resident in Rome, Toby Glanville made a series of photographs. In 2019, Atelier Dyakova designed a book about this Roma series, using Almeria. The book remained unpublished. From the studio’s website:

Toby Glanville’s photographs have been published and exhibited internationally and are held in collections including the Victoria & Albert Museum, London; The Bruce Bernard Collection; The British Council & The National Portrait Gallery, London.

Classical literature publications inspire the design. The textured card of the cover resonates with the warm terracotta of Roman architecture.

Breuninger Magazin, a publication by the luxury multi-brand German store by the same name, underwent a visual redesign by God save the screen. Graphic research, art direction by Mariela Montiel, and photography by Kristian Schuller. Romie (designed by Margot Lévêque) is used alongside the store’s brand typeface Sofia.

Emeritus Display by Blaze Type and ABC Monument Grotesk by Dinamo in use for an unrealized rebranding for a wellness studio. From Geoffrey Mark Taylor:

Rebrand for men’s hair and wellness studio Shinko (新古; “new and old”) from earlier this year. Unfortunately the studio was forced to close as a result of Melbourne’s lockdown before this brand could hit the ground, but fingers crossed it’s something they can revisit in the future.

An enormous thanks to Fabian from ABC Dinamo for not only his time and kindness, but supplying the custom weight of Monument Grotesk to match the blackletter. Also a special thank you to Ryo Takara for assisting with the kanji.

Photography: D. Wheeler

We worked closely with Vision Hospitality Group to establish a story that made sense to personas in and out of Louisville, Kentucky. We also collaborated closely with the interior design firm on the elements and collateral inside of each room and the lobby.

Note: Due to unforeseen circumstances the name was changed from “The Wilder” to “The Grady Hotel” during construction. The images included here hence show applications that eventually remained unused. Our design including the colors, the illustration, as well as the typographic choices with the logo in Fertigo with Termina was maintained, though.

Exterior hotel mural and sign

Pamphlets, waterbottles, a flag pennant, and note paper

The Wilder Hotel business card design

Keychain, envelope, luggage tags, door tag and folder

Hotel magazine

South East Asia Youth Music Camp wants to be the predominant player in classical music in Indonesia’s cultural life.

The objective laid out in this project is to establish a sense of playfulness from classical music so that it would appeal and relate better to the younger generation.

South East Asia Youth Music Camp's logo is fluid, to accommodate across different size and formats. For this, the variable font Metal worked best. We needed a classic, sturdy font for the secondary type so we went with ITC Souvenir.

Originally planned to take place in 2020, the event was unfortunately postponed due to the COVID situation.

Steel Brothers. License: All Rights Reserved.

The New Walden is a collectible, hardcover edition of Thoreau’s masterpiece, annotated for modern readers. Beautifully designed, illustrated and printed to last for generations.

The preorder for this limited edition is now live and will run until August 5, 2022. As this is a crowdfunded project, the book has not yet been produced. All images shown here are renderings.

Thoreau’s ideas about consumerism, busyness, and humankind’s place in the natural world are uncannily relevant to the problems we face today. When I (Matt Steel) first read Walden, I shared my enthusiasm for the book with anyone willing to listen. But I kept having to couch my recommendations: “This is a wonderful book, but the 19th-century language can be hard to digest. It’s full of beauty and wisdom, but the first chapter is a tough hill to climb. But stick with it, and you’ll be glad you did!” The bevy of buts bothered me. I didn't want to keep telling people they should read Walden – BUT ...

While Walden has always been a challenging book, the evolution of language over the past two centuries has made it harder for modern readers to get into the text. What’s more, there seemed to be a design gap among the many editions of Walden. After first reading the book on a tablet, I went hunting for an archival edition to keep near my other favorite books. Given Walden’s status as a classic, I was sure someone somewhere had made an edition that looked and felt like a genuine reflection of the story. An heirloom that could last for hundreds of years. To my surprise, I couldn’t find one still in print.

Steel Brothers. License: All Rights Reserved.

Steel Brothers. License: All Rights Reserved.

Hopefully, this newly annotated and illustrated edition will help Walden remain evergreen.

Annotated editions of Walden already exist, some of which include abundant commentary. That’s great for academic study, but a delightful reading experience for both newcomers and longtime fans is our primary goal.

Our annotations are relatively sparse. We don’t want to create a study companion as much as an unobtrusive guide for newcomers and longtime fans alike. The goal is to leave you alone with the text as much as possible while offering enough insight so you can keep that smartphone in your pocket.

Much of Walden remains accessible by today’s standards. We’ve simply elucidated the archaic words and idioms in the book, as well as the cultural, historical and literary references that Thoreau used to embellish and connect his thoughts. And when untranslated Latin and Greek appear in the text, we’ve included the English translation in the margins.

We’ve also created a brand-new section of prose poems selected from some of Thoreau’s most arresting sentences in Walden.

Steel Brothers. License: All Rights Reserved.

Lastly, typography is central to this book’s design. After extensive research and testing, I decided against using fonts based on those from Thoreau’s day. Most of them felt either too stiff or too ornate for this project. I wanted something that was not only effortless to read but also crisp, energetic and timeless in its design.

Thoreau had French Huguenot ancestry on his father’s side. I wanted a typeface that felt efficient and relatively anonymous, with just a little Gallic flair. Lyon Display and Lyon Text, from Commercial Type, fit the bill. Type designer Kai Bernau created the Lyon Collection as a contemporary rendition of serif typefaces created by the 16th-century French designer and printer Robert Granjon. Furthermore, Lyon’s optical variations allowed me to use a single font family – ideal for a book about simplicity.

Visit our preorder page to find out more about this project.

Editor’s note: A first version of this post was published on February 24, 2016. It was updated in May 2022 with new text and images coinciding with a renewed crowdfunding campaign for this book.

Steel Brothers. License: All Rights Reserved.

Steel Brothers. License: All Rights Reserved.

{ths} created a proposal for the new corporate design for the Sprengel Museum Hannover, as an entry for a design competition announced by the state capital Hanover.

The basis of our proposal is a very flexible design system with a maximum recognition value. The new logo of the Sprengel Museum Hannover is not an independent element but a part of the flexible system and can be changed according to requirements – it retains its recognition in every set form. The corporate design is designed in such a way that even without a logo, the museum is unambiguously identifiable.

Together with our type foundry Cape Arcona we developed a typographic system with several corporate and custom fonts including a font for the logo, title and body text. Our goal was to develop a simple, traceable system that works on posters, posters, advertisements, flyers, tickets and other media. High recognition and high flexibility in the conversion of all print media.

The SMH-A typeface was developed especially for this project. This custom typeface is used for the logo as well as for all exhibition titles and headlines. It ensures the strongest recognition effect; the new logo of the museum would also be set in SMH-A, thus making exhibition titles and headlines an extension of the logo. Even without a logo — only by placing an exhibition title — the Sprengel Museum Hannover is recognizable again. The use of the typeface for both titles logo allows content and institution to grow together into one big one.

The SMH-A typeface was later renamed to CA Saygon Display and CA Saygon Text and made available as a retail typeface.

Soto is an innovative, genderless, extroverted leather bag brand. Their products are created from art-thought designs with excellent quality materials.

Kinoto Studio's branding proposal was based on combining resources with a perfect balance between classic and current trends. The logo uses Migra (Pangram Pangram); Sneak (Tightype) is used in one style as the main typeface for all typography. Both typefaces live together in an organic way in the different layouts.

MyValue is a leading technology provider in the banking sector, serving both individuals and businesses. In 2021, the company was acquired by Finleap Connect.

MyValue approached us for an identity that would reflect their position in the open banking scene as a professional and forward-thinking company. We created an identity in response to their features, a coherent and clear identity. The resulting visual language seeks to convey a sense of transparency and openness; building a distinct and elegant style that represents the company's core values.

We built the identity around a custom logo inspired by the economy and the dynamism of the financial world. This identity is composed of a dynamic pattern that interprets the movement of financial data, a timeless typography using Graphik and a color palette representative of the banking scene. The logo is inspired by the dynamism of open banking, as well as by the union of the two initials of the company's name: the M and the V.

Subsequently, the company took a different direction in terms of corporate typography and decided to use another typeface for its communications.

This is a T-shirt design concept by Jose Manzo for The Petal Connection, a non-profit in Roseville, CA that donates flowers to hospice patients in the Placer County area. Jose Manzo is a freelance designer based out of Sacramento, California. The tee uses fonts Lone Pine (by Hoodzpah), and BN Scouts Hand (by Brandon Nickerson) and features a retro, almost Woodstock Festival meets Precious Moments (am I right or am I wrong?) 1970s bird illustration.

Chesstempt is a project aimed to promote the game of chess and make it more accessible through communication and pedagogic content. It was made for my bachelor thesis at LISAA Strasbourg.

The typeface WT Kormelink is used for the main content and for the lowercase logo. I wanted to use a serif typeface to recall the prestige of the chess game and contrast it with these abstract piece shapes. Moreover, this typeface have this beautiful st ligature which correspond perfectly with the idea of connecting "chess" and "attempt". It’s supported by IBM Plex Sans for the website and for all the printed documents to learn the game.

The game of chess knew a golden age during the Cold War when it was considered as a measure of intelligence between the two blocs. At the end of this period and with the arrival of computers, the popularity of the game slowly declined until chess was considered as a game difficult to access, meaningless and reserved for intellectuals. Yet this is a vision that contradicts the very essence of the game, which advocates values of equality and has benefits that are often overlooked.

Mockup of the posters presented in the public space

Mockup of the website (chesstempt.com hasn’t launched yet)

Method is a restaurant, bar and event space in the heart of Moscow, Russia. Built on the site of an old ceramic factory, it carries the spirit of Russian constructivist traditions.

Working with interior designers, we came up with a warm yet sharp identity, which marries the flexibility of ceramics, and rigidity of Russian modernist design aesthetics: think black square. The black plaques on the restaurant walls stretch, modify and attach to letters in the identity. Typography is flexible and clay-like - it flows and bends just like pottery.

The visual language of this – not yet rolled out – new visual identity is built on sharp typography. The capitals of Neue Plak (paired with Neue Helvetica for copy) are applied across materials and assets: merchandize, coasters and glasses, interior spaces, event brochures, website, posters and menus.

Cover artwork and art direction by Julian Schröpel for the EP The Quarantine by Los Angeles based rap artist Suzie Soprano that was never released, but deserves to be shared to inspire us.

This artwork was made during the first months of the pandemic. First it should have only the typeface Cecilia Script as a neon light sign surrounded by the house under lockdown. As well as to aim to create it more or less like a club or a cinema where you watch a movie, but at that happens at home.

Right after that the thought went to creating a world around us and the welded tape. The recommendation infos and little details where decorated with the bold Microgramma typeface. Cecilia Script was used as abstract stretch over the tape to create a more clubby atmosphere on the cover.

In March 2020, I was commissioned by Rimowa to design a contribution to their luggage sticker collection. The theme was the graduation of the class of 2020, a transitional year on a worldwide level. Although the product did not hit the market, the experience of working for such a well-rounded team was fascinating.

The font in use is Dinamo’s ABC Whyte Inktrap, while the two globes are glyphs from W Type Foundry’s Friends. Finally, I placed the “of” catchword glyph from Adobe Wood Type Ornaments in the center, with minor adjustments.

Single cover and two unused proposals for “Ei Voi Unohtaa” by Finnish artist Lil Yayo from Helsinki on behalf Universal Music Finland. The song title translates to: “I can't be forgotten” which in this case describes him as the wheel where his heart is stuck and filled with poison. A wheel refers to a getaway from all these problems and feelings, while poisoned.

The title in the final version was written in the brush type Indelible by Youssef Habchi. The artist’s name is set in a sharp and creepy font called Sinistre from French artist Lazy Dog aka Jules Durand. The alternative covers show the same font in different graded chrome styles.

These 3D elements were created by another French designer named Louis Crevier, who recently worked with Julian Schröpel as well on another single cover for German rap artist Payy. Seems like we will see more of those two collaborating on single covers for the future.

Another one was made with Lucas Descroix’s Nostra Sett for the first part and for the second line the swing-ish style of Nostra Stream.