Maldita Envidia (meaning “Damn Envy”) is a Mexican dressing brand whose visual identity, crafted by Guadalajara-based Estudio Cariño, playfully subverts the concept of envy, framing it as a positive drive for culinary discovery. The branding is designed to stand out on crowded retail shelves, drawing inspiration from the high-contrast, hand-painted cardboard signs found in traditional Mexican street markets.

For its brand identity, the studio says:

The graphic identity was developed the same way a dressing is prepared: with small touches—sometimes just a pinch, sometimes bold and dominant.

In order to do that, the wordmark uses Pouler by Alexandre Créquer, with some custom ligatures and a variation on the A for the logotype. In addition, they used Balacar from The Designers Foundry, GT Haptik from Grilli Type, and Quick Writers by Letterhead Studio. GT Alpina carries longer texts.

A neighborhood neo-brasserie and festive bar, Boucan reinterprets the traditional codes of the bistro through a contemporary lens. The branding is built on a dialogue between visual heritage and modernity, conceived as a graphic reinterpretation of classic bistro references, turning the venue into a full experience rather than a simple destination.

The logo is developed through multiple variations, set in Ohno Blazeface by OH no Type Co. and Enfilade by JTD Type, reflecting the many facets of the space. The visual identity embraces bold graphic decisions, driven by expressive, sometimes playful type choices, most notably Grilli Type’s GT Haptik Rotalic, Animo by Heavyweight, and Roca by Elena Genova, which bring rhythm, movement, and character to the overall visual system.

From Kunsthalle Recklinghausen:

The Danish artist Søren Aagaard (*1980) questions the performative potential of food and art in a wide variety of contexts. Who cooks what, and for whom? A closer look quickly reveals that food is a highly controversial topic. Aagard’s witty and carefully researched exhibition transforms the kitchen, the center of the domestic realm, into a performative-sculptural setting. Who would have thought that cooking and art have so much in common?

Following numerous solo and group exhibitions, including at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Roskilde and at the Performa Biennale in New York, the Kunsthalle Recklinghausen is now showing Søren Aagaard's first solo museum exhibition in Germany as part of the Ruhrfestspiele.

Alexandre Babel is a percussionist, composer, and curator with contemporary interests ranging from modern classical music and experimental music to performance art. Babel’s works challenge the listener’s expectations regarding conventional musical forms. He is a founding member, along with artist Mio Chareteau, of the performance collective Radial.

His portfolio website was designed by Ivan Liovik Ebel, using GT Haptik as the main typeface. Selected headlines use MAD Sans.

Mavis quickstart guide and assembly instructions (Side A). Two-color offset print on Mohawk Via Vellum (70T). 8.75 × 5.125 inches (folded); 26 × 15 inches (unfolded).

Released in June 2022, Mavis is a build-it-yourself analog synthesizer kit from Moog Music Inc. The identity for this synthesizer is anchored by Cinetype and Haptik—both released by Grilli Type—alongside Gotham and Trade Gothic, two mainstays of Moog’s core branding and product design. Art direction and design by Erik Pedersen and Emory Brandon.

The straight-lines-only design of Cinetype speaks to the collaborative nature of Mavis' design process and the stack of curve-free CAD drawings produced by the engineering team along the way. Haptik's tactile uppercase letters and numbers were chosen to reflect the hands-on process of assembling this synthesizer yourself.

Mavis quickstart guide and assembly instructions (Side B). Two-color offset print on Mohawk Via Vellum (70T). 8.75 × 5.125 inches (folded); 26 × 15 inches (unfolded).

Unboxing animation by Emory Brandon

Mavis Exploration Patchbook

Mavis User’s Manual

Lisa Bella Donna Artist Series Patchbook for Mavis

The graphic identity for Le MAT – Centre d’art Contemporain du Pays d’Ancenis was designed by Antonin Faurel, using Dolis’ Dark style for titles, and GT Haptik for body text.

The art center was born in January 2020 from the merger of two exhibition spaces: the Chapelle des Ursulines in Ancenis-Saint-Géréon and the Centre d’art contemporain de Montrelais in France. These two heritage spaces dedicated to exhibitions are located 20 km apart and have very specific and complementary characteristics. Both are part of an area with a strong historical, economic and tourist identity, and are linked by a strong natural element: the Loire (FR). The MAT’s activity is punctuated by three exhibitions a year in each of these two locations, as well as the hosting of artists in residence, the organisation of regular workshops, courses, meetings and conferences.

“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).

A Day in the Life show open

Titles, on-screen graphics, and identity for A Day in the Life, a Complex documentary series.

A Day in the Life brings you on a ride along with artists en route to performances, photoshoots, and events giving us an intimate look at their hopes & dreams, personal goals, past accomplishments, views, careers and more.

This show is all about a moment in time and place, and the visuals play off of the idea that “x” – in this case the dot – marks the spot. I chose GT Haptik as the main typeface for its distinctive shapes and almost clock-like letterforms such as its uppercase R. The goal was to have a simple but striking system that would let the in-the-field footage do the main push.

Associate Creative Director: Gina Batlle. Art Director: Warren Cochrane. Designer: Bárbara Abbês. Motion Designer: Sara Hilany. Creative Project Manager: Maya Shanker. Photos and Videos: Complex.

Title card

Location card

Show timer

Lower thirds

Mortise

Location transition

Transatlantika designed the graphic identity, packaging and logo design for Lokal Beer from Ottawa, Canada.

Lokal Beer is focused on brewing and celebrating traditional German style beers, using fresh (lokal) ingredients. Their first city-themed beer is a classic Düsseldorf Altbier. The river running through the city – in this case the Rhine in Düsseldorf – is shown on the can in a simplified way. Inspired by the brand name the design draws from simple and bold map graphics and is referring to typical German informational ​“Autobahn” aesthetics.

The logo symbol combines the two L’s from the name while pointing backward to brewing tradition and forward to brewing innovation. At the same time it marks the spot of the featured location. The colours draw from Düsseldorf’s crest colors underlining the heritage of the beer style.

While being very clean and straight-forward the chosen typeface ​GT Haptik has interesting characteristics.

Cook This Book is the first cookbook by Molly Baz, food editor and recipe developer. Art direction and editorial design by Violaine & Jérémy. Cover and recipes photographs by Peden & Munk.

The Cook This Book logotype is a custom typeface. The book layout uses Dida, Voyage, and Kobe. Body text is set in GT Haptik and Fugue Mono.

A modern guide to becoming a smarter, faster, more creative cook featuring fun, flavorful recipes anyone can make.

Molly breaks the essentials of cooking down to clear and uncomplicated recipes that deliver big flavor with little effort and a side of education, including dishes like Pastrami Roast Chicken with Schmaltzy Onions and Dill, Chorizo and Chickpea Carbonara, and of course, her signature Cae Sal. But this is not your average cookbook. More than a collection of recipes, Cook This Book teaches you the invaluable superpower of improvisation though visually compelling lessons on such topics as the importance of salt and how to balance flavor, giving you all the tools necessary to make food taste great every time.

The Clock by Swiss-American artist Christian Marclay is a 24-hour video installation, composed of thousands of fragments found in cinema and TV scenes that refer to the time of day. The work received the Golden Lion at the 54th Venice Biennale in 2011, and has since taken thousands of visitors to dozens of museums around the world.

For the exhibition foyer at the Instituto Moreira Salles in São Paulo, the communication design was conceived as a contemporary version of old cinema signs, with three-dimensional letters supported by horizontal shelves. GT Haptik was chosen for two reasons: its geometric letters, especially the O that we cut and turned into a C, slightly rotated for its two appearances in the word “CLOCK” (as a reference to the passage of time); and the absence of overshoots in the capitals, which made the lettering installation easier. In addition, a tabloid with the same graphic identity was designed, featuring an exclusive interview with the artist.

Timelapse of the installation of the wall lettering.

The new branding of Memphis River Parks is successful in its use of GT Haptik Black. The quirky typeface matches OCD’s colourful palette and succeeds in creating interesting signage in what may be otherwise mundane locations.

From OCD’s case study:

The new concept plan turned previously fragmented public property into one connected riverfront. The icon is a mini-map of the new configuration. It captures the six-mile River Line running through the five park districts: Greenbelt, Mud Island, Fourth Bluff, Big River and MLK.

The icon was driven by that tricky switchback at the hip of the path. That hitch informed type selection; Grilli Type’s GT Haptik had a particularly evocative R. And then the arches of the Hernando de Soto Bridge, the swirl of the river and the curve of Beale Street Landing informed the layout of the system. […]

No two signs are the same. The pieces are color-coded by district.

Design Partners: Jennifer Kinon, Bobby C. Martin Jr.
Designers: Hanah Ho, Talia Cotton
Signage: Andrew Freeman
Signage Photos: Bob Bayne

“Way-finding totems are commonly placed where paths intersect, or where the path/orientation is not immediately clear.” — OCD

“… and ankle height garden signs are placed to reinforce that you’re on the right path.” — OCD

On the website, GT Haptik is used in Black, Bold, and Medium weights, with its less eccentric stylistic alternates. It’s paired with Lora for text (not pictured).

Poster created for Paul Marus Fuog’s 2017 speaking tour Australia for AGDA (Australian Graphic Design Association). His lecture named “Appropriation and Restraint” dealt with appropriating existing items or works to create something new for the viewer. The poster was designed around an appropriated image of Paul using a restrained combination of a single color and one typeface: Grilli Type’s Haptik.

From Familiar:

Kunsthall Stavanger is a non-collecting art institution based in Stavanger, Norway. Founded in 2012, the Kunsthall occupies a beautiful 90 year old building space formerly occupied by a local art society. Prior to the renovation of the exhibition space, founder and chief curator Hanne Mugaas approached Familiar to create a website and visual identity that could grow with the evolving institution.

In late 2015 AIGA refreshed its identity. The Vendôme-inspired mark by Paul Rand (1970s–80s), and the box addition by Bart Crosby (2000) remained, but New York firm Kiss Me I’m Polish added a system of colors, lockups, and GT Haptik, which is used for the tagline and local chapters.

Kiss Me I’m Polish:

The expanded identity system bolsters AIGA’s brand strengths while brightening the visual language to emphasize the organization’s core attributes and personality. Passionate, flexible, and open, the new system introduces bolder use of color, a new typographic sensibility, and a more active and dynamic role for the logo mark in all of its applications.

Available in three variations: square, horizontal, and vertical, the refreshed AIGA identity provides greater usage flexibility for a broad range of applications, playing a significantly more dynamic role in each visual context, and providing greater emphasis on the organization’s tagline.

Later I’ll post more entries featuring previous iterations of the AIGA logo.

KTZ is a ground-breaking fashion powerhouse that fuses tribal eastern influences with western street-luxe silhouettes. Its mystical designs and drama-filled fashion shows have gained the label an enigmatic cult status.

The concept behind revamping of KTZ’s official website was simple: create space for clothing to shine. The font in use in GT Haptik Regular, set white on black.

Mono is the premium print edition of the digital Argentinian information platform called Red/Acción. Every issue shows slow-reading articles, illustrations, cartoons and infographics in an unconventional format that unfolds into different classic journalistic layouts, from magazine to tabloid and (unfolded) broadsheet.

Cover illustration Diego Parés

Posters for the musical presentations at Sesc Campo Limpo, designed by Cesar Albornoz.

The Musée Visionnaire is located in Zurich’s historical quarter and houses one of the richest collections of Art Brut in Europe. Referencing the collection Afrika created an identity which is steadfast and solid, using GT Haptik.

Pôle Culturel is a theater in Alfortville, France. For the new identity Ultragramme Studio used GT Haptik to attract a younger and more popular audience, while maintaining a connection with their core audience.