The Desalpes wine fair takes place in Lausanne, Switzerland. It’s an annual occasion to celebrate exceptional beverages and people, and to experience an immersive journey into the world of natural wines.

For its 5th edition, the choice to use Citizen Grotesk (Altiplano) breaks away from convention. This grotesk typeface is not intended to be “neutral”—Altiplano, in fact, challenges the very idea of neutrality. Citizen Grotesk was designed to combine efficiency with distinctiveness, featuring numerous twists with a technological flavour.

The current event logo is set in Nirvana; its rounded design lends itself to the calligram of a grape cluster. Meanwhile, the logo from previous years, “Vins Vins,” was specifically designed by Raphaël Verona of Altiplano, based on the uppercase letters of his Monaako.

Front cover

Semi Science-Fiction is comic book by French artist Léa Murawiec, published by Flûtiste Éditions in 2023.

Nirvana is in use for the book's title and author name. The Bold weight of Aesthet Nova serves for subtitles and other book names in the credit's page and inner sleeve. Format 1452 is the text typeface.

Back cover

Credits page

Close-up of the front cover’s title, showing Nirvana with hyper-extended glyphs and other modifications

Close-up of the back cover’s text, showing Format 1492

Close-up of the inner flap, showing Nirvana, Format 1492 and Aesthet Nova.

Die Scham in der Petrischale – ein Sammelband zur Annäherung (“Shame in the petri dish – an anthology for approaching the topic”) is a book was developed, designed and published by Clara Birkmann in the summer semester of 2024 as part of the Bachelor’s degree in Graphic Design at the Faculty of Design at TH Nürnberg, Germany. From the designer’s Instagram post, translated:

Shame observed, examined, described, packaged in 4 essays from 10 perspectives on 8 themes across 120 pages. The focus was on shame as a social instrument of power, together with its companions such as origin, sexuality, affiliation, and convention.

As part of this examination Clara collected four essays from four different authors and asked people to contribute their own lyrical confrontation on the theme of shame. Additionally she added eight lyrical fragments of her own and developed a photo series with motives of places and associations to shame.

The result is a collection of approaches to a topic that still faces a lot of stigma and silencing in order to understand the mechanisms of shame and find a way to work with it.

The book is typeset in Softcore by Tekio and Diatype Mono by ABC Dinamo. Additional display fonts used throughout the book are Nirvana by Altiplano and Trattatello (an alias of P22 Operina) by James Grieshaber.

The included essays are:
• An abridged version of Scham by Lea Schneider, published in the Edition Poeticon of Verlagshaus Berlin
• “Die Scham des Seins” by Marina Garcès, from Durch die Augen der Lernenden published by Turia + Kant
• “Hüterin und Zerstörerin menschlichen Selbstgefühls” by Peter Conzen, from Scham – 100 Gründe rot zu werden published by Wallstein Verlag
• “Keimen” by Laura Späth, from about shame published by &töchter

Lyrical contributions by Minh Voll, Geneva Späth, Nadine Zenker, Anna Hofmann, Carlotta Kiefhaber, Ivana Marija Hope, Curry Eirich, Maja Grass, Elias Hüppauff, and Clara Birkmann.

It Were All Muck & Nettles is a folded “hot dog” cut zine for artist Sam Francis as part of her People Came for Tea and Stayed Forever show at East Quay Watchet. The zine examines the use of nettles in folklore, food, magic and traditional remedies.

Printed by Taylor Brothers Bristol in Pantone 7488U and black. A3 folded to A6.

Studio Bruch designed the identity for Sestra Store in Graz, Austria. Nirvana’s simple and geometric shapes interact harmoniously and reinforce the pop mood of the brand. It’s paired with BR Sestra, a custom typeface designed by Studio Bruch. The website additionally used Athletics. See more images on the studio’s website.

In many projects, Nirvana has proven to be a great “logo generator,” whether in the music industry, interior design or, as in this case, fashion: its simple use gives the word a lively and pop image.

These labels were designed by Lorenzo Boero and Alice Guarnieri for Frolicking with the Guys, a collaboration between Ascend Beyond and NOIA magazine.

The three jacquard labels represent the touch points between the two projects, the idea of embracing boredom and resting, to later use them as a push to be creative and explore.

Studio George, a London-based interior design studio, use Nirvana as their brand typeface. The complementary sans serif is ABC Diatype. Their identity was designed by Studio Lowrie, who describe the choice of Nirvana:

Studio George London loves creating a moody, cinematic feel with her interior design solutions, so we explored how we could bring that feel to the graphic design. We researched the golden age of Hollywood and the film titles that existed in that period had some really bizarre and fun fonts used. Nirvana was a font that we thought mirrored the unpredictability of these fonts, but being a full font could be adapted across the website and identity in the future.

In many projects, Nirvana has proven to be a great logo generator, whether in the music industry, fashion or, as in this case, interior design: its simple use gives the word a lively and pop image.

Deep Sleep is a product developed by Rose Los Angeles to improve sleep.

Nirvana has simple and pop shapes. It has no angles and expresses softness. Its rounded shapes combine well with illustrations: the words “deep” and “sleep” are transformed into an image of strange clouds. Nirvana is paired with a yet unidentified grotesk.

Still from a clay animation featuring lettering based on Nirvana, with three-dimensional letters on a bouncing baseline

“Do good and good will come to you” – a piece of wisdom, an idea, a vision that inspired Simone and Adi Raihmann to create Karma Food. What started out as a restaurant with the mission of making people happy with healthy and nourishing meals soon grew into a multi-layered and diverse brand. Six additional restaurants later, the Karma Food world now includes a recipe platform, catering business, cooking classes, events, their very own cookbooks, and a wide range of specially created products, all centered on Indian cuisine.

We had the pleasure of supporting Karma Food in the creative process for their product line, and developed the visual language of the packaging. Reminiscent of vintage Indian packaging and matchboxes, the headline typography Zangezi Sans by Daria Petrova mimics the slightly offset printing and reinterprets it in a contemporary way. A bright color palette rich in contrast creates a striking, distinctive look and simultaneously blends perfectly into the colorful world of Karma Food.

The logo was designed by Atelier Karasinski using GT Haptik (Grilli Type). Pitch by Klim Type Foundry is used for information. On the menu it is paired with Haptik – plus selected details in Lineto’s LL Circular and Nirvana (Altiplano).

Nirvana is the voice of the new “Technical Apparel for Recreation” campaign by Outdoor Voices.

Outdoor Voices makes activewear for Doing Things daily — dog walks, runs, and yoga included.

Nature is staged in a graphic and simple way. Both in the wording, where the game is mentioned, and in the choice of materials and colors of the clothes, we can feel the invitation to play. Nirvana’s simple and geometric shapes interact harmoniously and reinforce the casual mood of the campaign. It’s paired with the fixed-width Aperçu Mono.

For the past seven years, the Macki Music Festival has been decentralizing the traditional Parisian party circuit by offering a modern and original cultural program in Paris and its suburbs. Organized by two young collectives, the event strives each year to transmit the values that unite its initiators: curiosity, meeting and conviviality, musical eclecticism, ecological awareness and accessibility.

For the identity of the 2021 edition of the festival, and its application on multiple communication materials: website, social networks, videos, timetable, map, flags and T-shirts, the Parisian design studio Atelier Choque Le Goff has chosen to use Nirvana Bold, paired with a brightly colored palette. The geometric shapes of the typeface combined with a modular structure and bright colors creates a friendly and playful atmosphere.

Nirvana has a vivid flow: selected strokes of the lowercase u, n and m are extended past the baseline/x-height, the lowercase g is raised above the x-height, the dot on the i is shifted; all these elements give to the font an original rhythm suitable for use in connection with music.

Homepage.

Collective of Sighs is an offset- and Risograph printed book, published by Look Back and Laugh (Ljubljana, Slovenia). The book compiles a selection of artworks by Tjaša Cizej, Marko K. Gavez, Klemen Ilovar, Jurij Lozič, LeaLudvik, Bor Kokelj, Ema Kobal, Matija Medved, Miha Perne, NezPez, Nejc Prah, Sangara Perhaj, Dorijan Šiško, Gašper Uršič, Jaka Vatovec, Tadej Vaukman, Sonja Vulpes, Luna Woelle and Leon Zuodar.

Printed Matter, Inc. wrote:

This book was conceived as an attempt to turn the stream of unpleasant events of 2020 into something positive. It consists of works by nineteen Slovenian artists, connected by the stream of events in 2020.

Nirvana and its expressive shapes combine well with illustrations: each word stetted with is transformed into an image and become a collection of strange rounded shape objects. Nirvana is paired with a yet unidentified grotesk. [Edit: It’s ABC Monument Grotesk, see comments.]

Artwork by Gašper Uršič, using GT Pressura Mono.

Nirvana and its rounded shapes are perfect for summer holidays and water sports. The letters are prolonged by illustrative endings to reinforce the evocation of the waves, already enhanced by the aquatic texture applied to the typography.

Lausanne sur Mer is organized since 2002 by the Foundation for the socio-cultural animation of Lausanne, which describes itself as follows:

There's no need to go on holiday in the summer, it's great in Lausanne. Come and enjoy the sea, our terrace, our grounds and a multitude of sporting activities at the Pyramides de Vidy.

Nirvana Bold is enjoying some success in the music industry. After having been used for digital album covers, as published on digital platforms, or analog (vinyl and audio cassettes).

This tee is in celebration of Amorphous Sounds’ new single “Camille” and the birth of the new label and collective. It is available for one month only on Everpress.

Amorphous Sounds is a collective and label that has grown out of Deep Throat Choir. It describes the collaborative and porous practices of the artists making working in the choir, and gives name to an already existing collective of music makers from a wide-range of disciplines. It is a statement of intent for future cross-stitched imaginings. The label is founded by Luisa Gerstein and Anika Mottershaw.

“Ojibwa”  / “Namid” by Fabrizio Fattore, Resident DJ of NEUHM (Italy), is the 30th release by British/Swiss record label Visions Recordings.

Ojibwa’s journey into deepness, its spacey sounds and percussions, are embodied in Nirvana’s atom-like letterforms used on the label. The outlined letters enhance the retrofuturistic ambiance.

The design of Nirvana (Altiplano) is based on eclectic references, from Art Nouveau and calligraphy to contemporary blobular and rounded forms, which makes it a nice match for contemporary composite music.

From the Altiplano website:

With its Arts & Crafts/medieval fantasy based structure, revisited with circular shapes and pop twists, Nirvana ensures clear readings and at the same time bold contemporary solutions for headlines and posters.

At small sizes, Nirvana’s profile is still literary. But the closer we look, the smoother the curves and the stranger the vibe. Arts & Crafts meets aliens? Max Bill meets William Morris? Victorians on drugs? In type paradise, anything goes.

Divisive rapper Azealia Banks released her ‘comeback’ single “Nirvana” on the 13th of February 2020 though her SoundCloud account, with a cover designed by Dominik Keller. The Spanish-language single uses a drill beat, produced by Onyx & As If Kid. Banks is a proficient speaker and has previously rapped in Spanish, most notably on her song “Gimme A Chance” from 2015’s Broke With Expensive Taste. Ironically, but perhaps in classic Azealia Banks fashion, she took to Instagram to rant profusely about how UK Drill has vastly overtaken it's older cousin Grime in terms of influence and popularity in the US: “Grime sucks and I suggest you all just bury it and pretend it never happened.”

As If Kid is a prominent grime producer in his own right and well respected in the scene and Banks' comments provoked a lot of annoyance within the community.

For the typeface, the singles title shares the same name as the typeface used - the beautiful Nirvana. Designed by Altiplano, the typeface incorporates art-nouveau sensibilities and calligraphic qualities, alongside blobular, rounded forms; tropes often associated with y2k era graphic design. This very contemporary display font is eyecatching and flows very well. I think it compliments Banks' eclectic range of musical influences and intriguing personality. From the Altiplano website:

With its Arts & Crafts/medieval fantasy based structure, revisited with circular shapes and pop twists, Nirvana ensures clear readings and at the same time bold contemporary solutions for headlines and posters.
At small sizes, Nirvana’s profile is still literary. But the closer we look, the smoother the curves and the stranger the vibe. Arts & crafts meets aliens? Max Bill meets William Morris? Victorians on drugs? In type paradise, anything goes.

I am not such a big fan of the first two covers and think the "cellophane" effect that is a mainstay on Instagram's Explore tab at the minute is a little done. However, I am more inclined to the halftone-heavy purple, red and white cover - it's much more exciting! The song and Banks' personality deserve a strong, emboldened visual to go with this comeback track.

IDP is the new formula of a magazine formerly called IDPURE created around 15 years ago, which focused on graphic design and typography (the publication became a reference and was founded by subscriptions).

IDP continues in the same track, only expanding the scope into topics related to visual culture and media studies. It’s a print publication and the editorial board aims to become peer reviewed in the future.

The publications include essays, stories, and interviews with Jim Blinn, Susan Kare, Suzanne Treister, April Greiman, and Lisa Messeri, among others.

Nirvana demonstrates its design qualities for headlines and posters design and matches well with both serif and sans-serif text fonts.

Confederation, the sans-serif typeface in use, is still unpublished and contains many OpenType features designed specifically for the publication (e.g. figures and section pictograms).

Le Bonbon Nuit is a free magazine about cultural events in Paris. The August 2019 issue prominently features Nirvana (Altiplano) for section openers. See also this previous post about this year’s general editorial design by République Studio.