Rebranding Ngọc Thẩm Jewelry (NTJ) was a comprehensive identity transformation for the three-generation jewelry house that’s rooted in the Mekong Delta since 1989. Developed by M — N Associates, the project repositions NTJ as a contemporary cultural luxury brand while preserving the emotional familiarity and trust deeply associated with the brand across Southern Vietnam.

At the center of the system is the custom NTJ type system, developed in collaboration with Trà-Giang Nguyễn (Gydient). The typography consists of two complementary families: NTJ Display and NTJ Sans.

NTJ Display carries the ceremonial and editorial voice of the brand, designed in refined Roman and Italic styles with elegant proportions, subtle contrast, and soft transitions that echo traditional craftsmanship through a contemporary lens.

NTJ Sans functions as the structural backbone of the identity system. Designed for omnichannel applications ranging from retail signage to digital platforms and product engraving, the typeface balances clarity, scalability, and luxury restraint while remaining fully optimized for Vietnamese typography.

Together, the two families form a 20-style type system built to support a complete cultural luxury ecosystem across packaging, retail environments, photography, digital experiences, and spatial branding.

Throughout the identity, typography was treated not simply as a communication tool, but as a way to express inherited value, precision, and continuity across generations.

See more images and a full list of credits in the case study.

Together we own all that is on earth. In that sense we are all royalty. And kings and queens of this earth. And we all deserve dignity.

This poster design featuring Droog was made as an entry to the 14th edition of Posters for Tomorrow, titled “What is Dignity?”

The 1962 album Kings of the Steel Guitar is a compilation featuring multiple artists, including Pete Wade, Leon McAuliffe, Herb Remington, and Jenks Carmen. It was released on the Design Records label and features various steel guitar instrumental tracks like “Oriental Twist” and “Orange Blossom Special”. The title is in PLINC Bookman Swash with News Gothic used for the artist list in Bold and song list in Thin.

[More info on Discogs]

Decca SLK 16834-P. Ted Heath’s name is in Univers; the track list in Akzidenz-Grotesk.

Ted Heath (1902–1969) was a British big band leader. His 1967 album Swing Is King was issued in a number of cover variants. The image above shows what I believe to be the original design. The photo depicts royal insignia – crown, orb and scepter – on a throne, surrounded by musical instruments, with red curtains in the back. Above, the title is set in capitals from an ornamented typeface. It’s Karnac, which originated at the Dickinson Type Foundry in Boston in 1884, and was adopted for phototypesetting by VGC in 1967. The typeface choice continues the theme of regal pomp. It certainly helped that some of the ornamentation in John F. Cumming’s design echoes the fleurs-de-lis seen on the crown.

The variant shown below is an example of a fine cover ruined by series design: someone at Decca/London Records decided that it additionally had to feature the large numeral 4 from the Phase 4 Stereo design (cf. Chacksfield Plays the Beatles’ Song Book). The already complex photo is now cut up by thick white lines. And there wasn’t enough space left at the top, so the title had to be crammed into the small field at the top left. Too much elements, and too little space for Karnac to breathe.

A German reissue from 1969 (last image) replaces Karnac with Moore Swash, a VGC original by James H. Moore and shows the artist’s name in Times New Roman. For some reason, the photograph was mirrored for this variant.

[More info on Discogs]

London Records SP 44104. The track names are here set in Trade Gothic.

The gatefold has the liner notes set in Trade Gothic Condensed, with the numeral 4 shown in negative. The text about Phase 4 Stereo on the right uses Century Schoolbook. Lowercase Futura serves for the heading.

Decca DS 3198/1-2 double LP

“Crown Prince of Dance” is the fourth studio album by Rufus Thomas (between the second and third record, Stax released a live album). The cover features a photograph of Rufus Thomas showing off his dance moves, shot from underneath a glass plate(?) by Maldwin Hamlin. The design and art direction are credited to The Stax Organization, who picked St. Clair for the cover typography, set in a matching purple hue.

I personally like the text block with track listing and credits on the back best of the album design; it’s set in two weights of Helvetica and it’s functional without looking thoughtless or boring. I like to think that this is the kind of typography that would later inspire designers like Experimental Jetset.

[More info on Discogs]

Xeque Mate is an alcoholic beverage made from (yerba) mate, rum, guaraná, and lemon. Started in 2015 in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, the company had to go through some tough changes in its logistics and distribution format during the pandemic — mainly, changing its focus from barell sales to bars to can sales made directly to customers.

Because of this change, in 2022 the company decided to go through a rebrand, in order to make its can more appealing on supermarket shelves and in the carts of street vendors. The change coincided with the reopening, and helped the company go through a remarkable growth, becoming the “unofficial official drink” of 2023’s and 2024’s Carnaval.

Poster and artwork for a party series by DJ Some Guest, held at club Jasna 1 in Warsaw, Poland. I used Generation Mono for the logo and Microgramma’s Extended Bold style for the lineup. The little quote is set in Mistral. The design is inspired by bottled beer labels. Made using combined printing and scanning techniques, with a touch of digital editing and color grading.

The Queen’s Picturehouse & Eatery combines fine dining with a boutique cinema experience in the heart of Gibraltar’s Grand Casemates Square.

‍Kenshō Agency’s visual identity utilises Angle (Sensatype Studio) for the logotype, alongside FF Meta Serif (FontFont) for display type and Motiva Sans (Plau) for both body copy and accent type within the logo lockup.

Atelier Saint-Lazare did the rebranding for French chocolatier Debauve & Gallais. The logotype is set in Tartuffo (from Lift Type). It’s paired with Chromatic (from Colophon) and Lazarus Upright Italic (from Capitalics).

History of the brand from Saint-Lazare’s Instagram:

Founded in 1800 by the pharmacist of King Louis XVI, the traditional French chocolatier Debauve & Gallais became the official supplier to the French court in 1819, following its success as a supplier to Napoleon. The house later supplied Kings Louis XVIII, Charles X (a chocolate in the shape of a fleur-de-Lis was created for his coronation) and Louis-Philippe.

Merlin’s F.A. Premier League 2001 Sticker Collection is the official sticker collection of F.A. Premier League for the year 2001. The booklet and sticker box use FB Agency. Stickers use Optima in all caps for “The F.A. Premiere League” and Eurostile for team and player names.

POS sticker box

Back of sticker. The URL uses a version of China.

Page with the Greek version of Johnson

Playbill by the Royal Theatre of Greece, or Βασιλικό Θέατρο (later known as the National Theatre of Greece), for two plays by Molière; Les Fourberies de Scapin and Les Femmes savantes.

This formerly unknown Greek version of Johnson was probably cut by Karl Brendler & Söhne in Vienna as Elefanta before 1924.

Cover with lettering

© vrai studio / Camille Gabarra. License: All Rights Reserved.

This project is proof that the cooperation between small players can produce great results, and this on all levels. In this post we feature the redesign of Champagne M. Marcoult, skillfully conceived, designed and realized by artistic director and photographer Camille Gabarra of vrai studio from Paris. The scope of the project is quite impressive and ranges from designing the logo and the bottles, to the packaging and the stationery paperwork, to the website.

© vrai studio / Camille Gabarra. License: All Rights Reserved.

At the core of the design concept are two colors, cream representing champagne and a dark green that stands for the vineyard. The pictorial logo element resembling a crown is derived from playing with the initials of the company’s founder, Michel Marcoult. The crown was further developed into a pattern that you will see in various places, including corks, cardboard boxes, and the website. The whole approach is rounded off with beautiful photography and an interesting mix of typefaces.

Looking at the bottle labels you find, from top to bottom: the roman Spectral for “Champagne”, the narrow sans serif Tungsten for “M. Marcoult”, followed by the serviceable Trade Gothic on the lowest level of typographic hierarchy, in two widths. Designed by Jean-Baptiste Levée and available from Production Type, Spectral has all the features of a classic roman. It brings a flair of tradition and timeless elegance into the scene – while its counter-part Tungsten from Hoefler&Co. is reminiscent of letter painting and 19th century ephemera. The two typefaces complement each other and create an exciting brand image.

For their use in print one has to acknowledge also the fine craftsmanship in terms of enhancement through relief embossing, foil gilding, and UV varnishing. It takes a network of competent partners to achieve such quality, in this case Autajon Etiquettes Atlantique in Gradignan for the labels and Spind Artisan Imprimeur in Lognes (with papers from G.F Smith and Colorplan) for the stationery.

Founded in 1967 in Barbonne-Fayel, Champagne M. Marcoult is a family business, run today in the third generation by Florence and Julien Marcoult. They are members of the Vignerons Indépendants. This means that they exclusively produce from their own vineyards which they cultivate with utmost environmental responsibility. Certified by the French state as an agricultural business of High Environmental Value (H.V.E.), the soil of their vineyards is covered with natural gras and grazed by sheep. In cooperation with a local cooper, they design their own barrels made from acacia and oak wood available in the region. This way they are able to fine-tune on the wine aging process of each of their ten different sorts of champagne. Their cuvée Authentique les Macrêts was selected for inclusion in the Guide Hachette des Vins.

© vrai studio / Camille Gabarra. License: All Rights Reserved.

Sketches by Camille Gabarra for the development of the logo and the pattern from two M shapes.

© vrai studio / Camille Gabarra. License: All Rights Reserved.

© vrai studio / Camille Gabarra. License: All Rights Reserved.

3D effect through relief embossing and foil gilding

© vrai studio / Camille Gabarra. License: All Rights Reserved.

Behind the scenes: reference material used during the production process

© vrai studio / Camille Gabarra. License: All Rights Reserved.

Love is in the details: even the corks were carefully designed.

© vrai studio / Camille Gabarra. License: All Rights Reserved.

A variant of the Marcoult lettering with a drop shadow

© vrai studio / Camille Gabarra. License: All Rights Reserved.

Spectral providing a box with splendor. The typeface is used in all caps, mixed case, roman, italic, and bold.

© vrai studio / Camille Gabarra. License: All Rights Reserved.

Champagne M. Marcoult stationery, printed by Spind Artisan Imprimeur.

© vrai studio / Camille Gabarra. License: All Rights Reserved.

Spectral in gold: detail of the metallic foil stamping

Source: www.champagne-marcoult.com License: All Rights Reserved.

Detail from the Champagne M. Marcoult website featuring Spectral Italic and Trade Gothic

Shop front of G. Klose’s bakery in Königslutter, Germany, spotted by Monsieur Adrien in August 2023.

The letterforms are patterned after Diskus, a pen script by Martin Wilke that was first cast by Stempel in the late 1930s, in two weights. The sign is based on the bolder one, with increased x-height. There are two digitizations of Diskus Bold, by URW and by Linotype. We can tell that neither was referenced for the making of this sign: the G uses the alternate form (with trimmed descender) – which isn’t included in either of the digital fonts.

When Jürgen Klose retired in 2018, the family business closed for good.

Standard version

In 2013 Escape the Fate released their studio album Ungrateful through Eleven Seven.

The cover artwork features the album name in the typeface A Gothique Time by Bonez Designz. The band name is custom drawn.

The band released two versions of the album, a standard and a deluxe version, which were distributed globally. The album debuted in the USA at number 27 on the Billboard 200, with approximately 17,000 copies sold in its debut week.

[More info on Discogs]

Release announcement

T-shirt

Deluxe version

Source: www.flickr.com Uploaded to Flickr by mikeyashworth and tagged with “rockwell”. License: All Rights Reserved.

The official brochure issued in connection with the manifestations that the local council organised. It included simple treats such as a commemorative mug or spoon for school children, a day out for children who lived in council homes (and one shilling spending money) and for the day only, upon production of the pension book, free travel on the local Corporation buses.

The advert is for the well known and popular local grocers James Duckworth Ltd, then in their heyday with over 180 branches and known locally as ‘Jimmy Duck’s’. I remember the shops well although generally as Co-op members in this most Co-op of towns we went and got our divi at the local branch! Founded in 1868 by local man, who was self-made to the point of being knighted in 1908, Duckworth served as Mayor of Rochdale on several occassions before his death in 1915. The family continued with the business until they sold out to Wright’s, the biscuit makers of South Shields, in 1955. The stores were finally run down with the headquarters closing in 1969 and the final shops vanishing in c1975.

The blackletter is handdrawn Old English, combined with typeset Rockwell and all-caps Plantin Italic. The ad on the back is set in roman and italic styles of Gill Sans. The bold condensed grot with straight-sided rounds used for Duckworths is probably not a typeface. Caslon’s Condensed Sans-Serif No. 2 comes close. See also Miller & Richard’s Sans-Serif No. 4 and Stephenson Blake’s Condensed Sans Serifs No. 1.

Source: www.flickr.com Uploaded to Flickr by mikeyashworth and tagged with “gillsans”. License: All Rights Reserved.

On Wednesday 12 May 1937 HM King George VI and Queen Elizabeth were crowned at Westminster Abbey and as part of a week long programme of events the County Borough of West Bromwich, then in Staffordshire, this official programme of events was issued. Printed, in rather an eclectic style, by the town’s major printers, Kenrick & Jefferson, it lists an amazing range of events; parades, fetes, fairs, the presentation of medals, souvenirs and prizes – even an ox roast in Dartmouth Park. All this was spread over 9 May until 15 May 1937.

The programme is supported by numerous adverts for local concerns.

“Coronation May 1937” seems to be (modeled after) the extra bold style of Spartan, the British name for Copperplate Gothic, integrated in reverse into the ribbons. “County Borough of West Bromwich” is in caps from a lighter and less wide style. The other text uses Gill Sans.

“Dear Bronx, we know that clowns can be annoying” – Block Condensed and FF DIN for the “King Stairs” campaign by Burger King, in collaboration with delivery service Uber Eats.

The Drum has the story behind it:

There’s a staircase in the Bronx, NY that has quickly gained notoriety after its display in a recent movie about a clown turned criminal in Gotham City, and the stairs have quickly become a top New York City tourist destination.

Because of this, residents in the Bronx have become increasingly frustrated with the uptick of disruptive tourists. Burger King knows how annoying clowns can be, and they want to put a happy face on all Bronx residents.

To make Bronx residents forget about the annoying tourists, at least for a little while, Burger King is partnering with Uber Eats to give them a free Whopper sandwich.

Museu do Tesouro Real, or Royal Treasure Museum, is a museum in Lisbon that houses several collections related to Portugal’s royal history, including the crown jewels, power insignia of the kings, coins and medals, and gold and diamons from Brazil. It was inaugurated in 2022, using Prumo as the main typeface for the logo, exhibition and communication.

The design by Francisco Providência uses Prumo Display and Prumo Text. On the website, Prumo Text is paired with the sans-serif Priva.

The Holy Crown of Hungary is one of the oldest remaining intact crowns in Europe. It is a symbol of Hungarian statehood and has been the subject of scientific research for centuries. Dozens of Hungarian and foreign experts have studied its structure, its parallels in art history, as well as the story of the object itself. The crown has become a prominent part of the career of textile artist Éva Nagy. It was she who created the velvet cushion that the crown was placed on in the Domed Hall of the Parliament building. Her initial interest steadily grew into a total of 21 years of research. In the resulting 260-page book Örökség (“Heritage”) she seeks an answer to the question of what the Holy Crown of Hungary communicates to us today.

The principal motivation for her reflections has been the discovery of the secret symbolism of the coronation insignia. In her view, the Holy Crown is a work of art that symbolically represents the universe in miniature, synthesizing culture, science, art, and divine law. Its main value, apart from its historical function and sacrality, lies in the possibility of knowing and being one with the world and Christ. It is not just an object, it is a symbol of the spirituality of our ancestors.

In the course of her research, she discovered that the apostles and wise men featured in the enamel paintings are communicating with their hands in a secret sign language, and the inscriptions alongside them are made up of abbreviations and fragments of words. As such they are ambiguous and open to multiple interpretations. They also form an acronym that can be interpreted in a variety of ways. In this way, she has moved from the study of the seemingly decorative elements of the crown to that of a symbolic system of fragments of words in foreign languages. She has uncovered an old-new language based on a ‘letter stair’, which became a decisive element in the design of the page layout and typography, set in Neue Haas Grotesk (headlines use Arachne). The book is divided into two parts, the subsections within those parts are articulated into golden pages for the reader. Although Éva’s research was at first a pastime, she now sees her hypotheses as more thought-provoking. For her book, she has created artistic drawings, graphics, and paintings to help us learn more about the Holy Crown of Hungary and discover our heritage.

Art direction, graphic design: Kira Koroknai
Photography: Kevin Harald Campean

King Slayer in use by Hudterapeuten C, a skin care clinic in Upplands Väsby, Stockholm. The font is used for their logo and signs. In the former, it’s paired with caps from an unidentified geometric sans.