Logo

Studio Najbrt designed the visual identity of Kunsthalle Praha, a contemporary art museum that opened its doors in February 2022.

The logo was created already five years earlier. Its design is based on an alphabet suggested by Jan Tschichold for “easy and quick to construct lettering” in 1930, the same time when the building of the Zenger Transformer Substation was built – which now houses the museum. Marek Pistora developed a custom typeface family from it, named Kunst. It also comprises the all-caps Kunst Grid and a set of pictograms, Kunst Picto. This constructivist typeface became “the basis and an integral part of the future visual style of the orientation system and exhibitions.” Most prominently, its caps adorn the façade of the building. From Studio Najbrt:

The idea for the typographic designation on the corner of the Kunsthalle Praha building arose during the development of the logotype and visual style. This unusual solution is not only well visible from different angles, but has become a natural part of the specific morphology of the building. The application on the facade required a lot of modifications and testing, paper models, visualizations, including the necessary stress of the Kunst font central strokes. The resulting metal inscription is definitely our biggest realization of typography in public space!

The custom typeface is complemented by Suisse Int’l. See also the contribution by Swiss Typefaces about Kunsthalle Praha’s exhibition design including posters and catalogs. For more images, see the case study by Studio Najbrt.

The inspiration for the custom typeface: Jan Tschichold’s Leicht und schnell konstruierbare Schrift (“easy and quick to construct lettering”) from 1930

The name is shown in metal letters that are bent around the corner of the building.

A bent letter in the making

Bilingual poster announcing the new museum

Posters on a column in Prague’s cityscape

Poster for The Zenger Transformer Station, the first exhibition shown at Kunsthalle Praha in February 2022

Wayfinding in the museum

Wayfinding in the museum, combining Kunst and Suisse Int’l

Wayfinding in the museum, featuring Kunst Picto, a set of pictograms accompanying the custom typeface

Kunsthalle Praha, opened in February 2022, is a private contemporary art museum located (despite its German name) in Prague. This new institution quickly rose as one of Prague’s new cultural hotspots, with a dynamic program of events, movie screenings and workshops.

The team at Kunsthalle Praha collaborated with Czech graphic design studio Najbrt from the very beginning, as they were in charge of the overall visual identity of the venue and its communication.

For the various exhibitions graphical components, Studio Najbrt set all the titles with Kunst Grid, which is part of the custom Kunst typeface designed by Marek Pistora for the Kunsthalle identity: From the signage and captions on the walls, to leaflets printed for exhibitions, texts are set set in Suisse Works. Suisse Int'l is also used for dates, address and website.

Suisse Works and Suisse Int'l are available from Swiss Typefaces.