STADT:ENSEMBLE Ludwigsburg is a project that translates urban space, performance, and cultural narratives into a highly structured visual system. The branding reflects the collective’s character through a scalable and flexible communication system designed to adapt to various media and formats.

The visual identity is rooted in a deliberate typographic tension: by separating “STADT” (City) and “ENSEMBLE” (Collective), the logotype emphasizes the relationship between the urban environment and the people who activate it.

An underlying grid, derived directly from the typography’s stroke weight, establishes a consistent structural logic. This grid activates a system of nine thematic icons. Each icon represents core values of the ensemble and is designed to scale and expand into “image containers.”

These containers allow photographic content to become an inherent part of the identity, merging imagery with the geometric structure of the system.

The result is a clear, adaptable visual identity that combines typographic precision with conceptual flexibility. The system ensures strong recognition while allowing enough space for the dynamic, ever-changing nature of the cultural collective.

Inori Minase’s 5th Anniversary Live, “Starry Wishes”, was a special online concert held on Dec 5, 2020, at Yokohama Arena, celebrating the first five years of her career. It was released on Blu-ray/CD in 2021 with a career-spanning setlist including hits like “Starry Wish”, “Ready Steady Go!” and “BLUE COMPASS”.

“Starry Wishes” is in a version of Gill Sans in which all terminals are marked with dots. The smaller text is set in Seravek.

The Deep End is the debut album by The Swimming Pool Q’s, a new wave/jangle pop band formed in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1978. It was released in 1981 on DB Recs, with a cover design by band member Anne Richmond Boston. ITC American Typewriter is used in its Bold weight, with the alternate e used in the last two words.

[More info on Discogs]

Promotional artwork for a Record Store Day event at Skydiver, a record shop and bar in Collingwood, Melbourne, featuring DJ sets throughout the day. The typography utilizes all-caps Hobeaux for most text, with Basic TM for “Record Store Day” and Offset TM for the date.

Mille Cent Jours (“One Thousand and One Hundred Days”) is an artistic residency program conducted over three years in schools across the Île-de-France region, aiming to make schools places for experimentation, creation, and encounters. Led by the DRAC Île-de-France (Regional Directorate of Cultural Affairs), it brings together artists, students, and teachers to transform schools into vibrant spaces for culture and civic engagement.

The leaflet (pdf) was designed by Antonin Faurel using GroteskRemix by Benoît Bodhuin as display typeface. Text is set in Courier and Neue Helvetica. It was offset printed by Média Graphic, Rennes, in black plus three colors.

Richard A. Schlatter’s Wexford (VGC, 1972) in its lightest, unnamed weight, for an album with music by Antonín Dvořák, recorded by the Guarneri Quartet with Arthur Rubinstein and released on RCA Red Seal in 1973.

The Czech composer’s name is rendered in caps from the same typeface, squeezed and filled with pictures of sheet music in different pastel colors. The diacritics probably are custom additions.

[More info on Discogs]

Designer Hélène Marian continues her protean collaboration with the duo Autoreverse (live video on Youtube). After designing, among other things, their two previous releases, Esreverotua Vol. 1 and Vol. 2, which also featured fonts designed by her, here is a vinyl record whose cover is entirely composed of her latest release, NaN Archy. The design of Nan Archy directly echoes the half-electronic, half-instrumental layers of Nina Garcia and Arnaud Rivière’s band. In a typographic language we’d say half digital, half manual.

While Archy hints at reminiscences of heavier weights in these thinner styles, the album Autotunes, on the other hand, “exposes the takes played in the studio through ‘horizontal’ sequencing (A1), before repeating the same material ‘vertically’ in a meticulous work of hollowing out and elisions”.

The cover is a synthetic all-electric yellow sleeve, with the album name in the center like a shiny car logo with its chrome relief (what car tape player didn't have the “autoreverse” function?). On the back cover, there are a series of nods to the band’s name: a spinning text effect in “autoreverse” mode and revisited references to music technology features, all in NaN Archy in almost all its forms.

Here’s what Éditions Gravats writes about the album:

Autoreverse brings together Arnaud Rivière (prepared turntable – we should say damaged or destroyed) and Nina Garcia (guitar & feedback). Autotunes is something like the duo’s core in fission. They throw themselves into improvisation with little patience for detours: the position is clean-cut hardcore – less over-the-top clatter and more about finding the cutting edge, with an insistence on fine-tuning the limits of the instruments, attacking the raw and the gritty with maximum precision: the result is an irradiating flow of rare metals and certified toxins.

Recorded with the support of Musique Contemporaine at the Dynamo of Banlieues Bleues.

[More info on Discogs]

Align is used in the book How Can We Gather Now?, edited by Asad Raza and Prem Krishnamurthy and designed by Yotam Hadar.

Description from Washington Project for the Arts:

The publication How can we gather now? documents an experimental symposium that took place from March 31 to April 2, 2023, in Washington, DC, around the topic of gathering. Produced by Washington Project for the Arts and codirected by Asad Raza and Prem Krishnamurthy, it brought together hundreds of artists, creatives and organizers from all over the world. This publication acts as a performance of the event, collecting a rich variety of modes including transcriptions from conversations, poetry, essays, film stills, recipes and artworks.

The yellow type for the captions appears to be Arial Bold Italic.

Discos Larga Vida or D.L.V. was a Mexican label and record company from Monterrey that focused mainly on norteña music, founded in the early 1960s by Basilio Villarreal.

From Los Patrones (translated):

This story centers on two brothers, Gabino and Josel Hernández Cavazos, tireless cultural promoters. Each a leader of his time, they pushed the boundaries of technology to innovate and articulate the growth of norteño music and, later, grupera and tropical music. We dedicate these notes to their time at DLV.

“We came to the album by chance, by coincidence, by mistake.”

This semantic field exhibition was curated by Toy Selectah for Los Patrones. Documentary research and archive by Jorge G. Balleza / Sabotaje Media. Museography and graphic design by Malcom S. Vargas. Texts by Oscar G. Balleza.

The name on a curve is lettering based on a logo version that D.L.V. was using.

Visual identity for What is Music? (WIM), an international music and arts gathering held in the medieval city of Frías, Burgos, over ten summer days. Following the success of past years, the ninth edition will take place from July 18 to 26, 2025.

From the festival’s Instagram (translated):

What is music?

A question that seems simple, but whose answer is infinite. It is also the essence of our encounter: something seemingly simple that encompasses a great complexity.
Following that idea, we break down the WIM into its most essential elements: instruments, nature, outdoors, people, connection, emotion and of course, cold.

From them, these simple figures were born that, however, contain the chaotic, the deep and the indescribable of music.

Although we weren't always clear about the direction when drawing them, we knew that everything was interconnected. WIM is what it is because each of these elements composes it and, at the same time, in each dwell the others. Therefore, we try to represent them integrated, as in an infinite matrioska where the smallest piece is sometimes the largest, and vice versa.

For this common language, which is felt in the nervous system and is not counted in words.

Design by Clara Briones Vedia with illustration by Mabel Esteban. The font in use is Onlysans Bold by Daria Cohen.

Bach by Eve Mary Grew & Sydney Grew

Two biographies of famous composers published by Collier Books in 1966. For the covers, Seymour Chwast placed Bach’s face in the crown of a tree, and Mozart’s inside a crescent moon. Their names are shown in a chromatic setting of Marble Heart, with Egyptienne Bold Condensed used for the authors.

Mozart by Eric Blom

Poster for the third edition of Nantes-based music festival Sun fait la Java, designed by Persil Fragil. His hand-drawn title and illustrations are paired with text set in the recently released Gilway Paradox by Art Grootfontein.

The TikTok wordmark was introduced in 2018 when Chinese internet company ByteDance expanded overseas and acquired musical.ly to make the short-form video platform available globally. According to an article by Chloe West, the musical note symbol in its current form debuted already in 2017.

The logo was – and sometimes still is – used alongside Sofia, especially for all external marketing communications. Some sources claim that the wordmark was made by modifying Olivier Gourvat’s typeface. That is unlikely, though: none of the glyphs match Sofia.

At some point, Wolff Olins worked on TikTok’s brand strategy and visual identity, using Sofia.

In 2022–2024, TikTok Design Director Alex Polozun worked with Grilli Type on a custom type system. TikTok Sans builds upon the wordmark and comes in Text and Display sizes. These new fonts are not featured in this post.

Homepage with logo in 2018. The text typeface is Sofia.

Logo plus Sofia for a graphic from the developers page

Hashtags in Sofia

XXL ad at BFI IMAX, London

The photographic book BREATHE IN: Emotions of the XVIII Chopin Competition by Filip Dowjat offers a unique behind-the-scenes look at the 2021 Chopin Competition.
Filip Dowjat captured the emotions of the participants, from their intense concentration before performances to the anxious moments awaiting results. The project was developed in close collaboration with photo editor Joanna Kinowska, who curated the image selection and sequence, and designer Andrzej Dobosz, who crafted the elegant visual presentation.

BREATHE IN stands out for its elegance and subtlety, complemented by the sharp serif Migra (Pangram Pangram), emphasizing both the prestige and contemporary feel of the publication. The clearly integrated trilingual text (Polish, English, Japanese) allows readers worldwide to immerse themselves in the competition's atmosphere.

A distinctive feature is the photographic index, providing details about the location, date, participant's name, and the Chopin piece performed at each captured moment, enriching the emotional context for readers.

The title “WDECH / BREATHE IN / 胸に息を吸い込んで” symbolizes the silent moment before the first notes are played.

The book was published by the Fryderyk Chopin Institute (NIFC) and co-funded by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage.

The Henryk Wieniawski Musical Society (Towarzystwo Muzyczne im. H. Wieniawskiego) of Poznań brings together scholars, culture animators, artists, promoters of musical life and music lovers. It continues the tradition of the oldest secular musical association in Poznań, which was established on 2 May 1885. For a number of years, the Society has been one of the foremost organizers of musical life in Poznań. It has inspired several events of international calibre – including the famous International Henryk Wieniawski Violin Competition – hosted numerous concerts, meetings and workshops run by outstanding artists, chamber ensembles and symphonic orchestras. Wieniawski Society fosters the memory and disseminates knowledge of its patron. It collects documents and memorabilia, as well as publishes works on his life and work. The Society also provides young musicians – violin players in particular – with different forms of promotion.

The new graphic identity was inspired by the musical notation. The elliptical shape derives directly from this of the note, while the horizontal lines constitute a reference to the staff. The new logo focuses on metaphorical representation of space. It is a space both for music itself, and for the individually experienced emotions associated with it. Depth lies in what is profoundly subjective and directly experienced by the listener. The syllable-separated name of the association creates a rhythmic composition. Owing to its responsive and dynamic structure, adjustment of spacing between the two key elements of the sign symbolically creates space for multidimensionality of music.

The design was made by Matylda Awdziejczyk, Anna Małecka, and Anna Holik (art direction), with motion and strategy by Adam Chyliński. The project was managed by Daniel Naborowski.

SWOOSH FM ‘We’re On Air’ graphics for Nike Portland by FISK, using Neureal typeface by Laura Csocsán [edit: and ABC Maxi Round by Dinamo, see comments] in the logo.

Rugs Unplugged is a live music series based in Utah, United States, dedicated to showcasing diverse and exceptional musical talent. The series offers a unique platform for artists to perform in an intimate, unfiltered setting, giving audiences an authentic musical experience.

The design approach for the Rugs Unplugged logo draws inspiration from their passion for music and the vibrant community they've fostered through it. We crafted a mascot resembling three dancing figures that capture the dynamic energy and groove we feel when experiencing music. Upon closer inspection, the mascot incorporates musical elements, such as notes, a vinyl record, and an unplugged jack.

For the T-shirt design, we creatively reimagined the brand name by blending the concepts of ‘rugs’ and ‘unplugged’. We transformed the lines of a musical staff into a graphic that resembles a rug, with an unplugged jack cable woven through them. This design approach reflects the brand's passion for music while highlighting its deep connection to our lives and the raw, authentic energy of live performances.

Every year the music blog New Commute asks graphic designers from all over the world to make some artwork depicting their top five albums released in the passing year. For this project, I scanned in some of my personal matchbook collection to rework my favorite albums into fake, long forgotten matchbooks. Using a wide array of my personal favorite typefaces from across eras I was able to put together this depiction of my favorite albums.

A limited edition T-shirt designed by artist and illustrator Gabriel Alcala.

“It’s A Rainbow Full of Sound” – a quote from the lyrics of a Grateful Dead song – is set in the black weight of Central Type’s Rodger.

The brand identity of Ekle was designed by Rob Reuland, using Fabio XM and Rockwell. From the designer’s website:

Ekle is a music academy and community built around lessons for life and creativity rather than technique alone.

Ekle’s logo is composed of simple geometric shapes that can easily disassemble to form a symphony of notes or act as an interactive instrument in an online context. The logo has the potential to change or remain in a state of motion, capturing the energy and excitement of music.