NatLab visual identity and website

Natlab is a film theatre, located in the former NatLab – short for Natuurkundig Laboratorium (“Physics Laboratory”), one of uncountable (former) factories and housing projects in the city of Eindhoven that are related to Philips. NatLab was a place for experiments in the Philips days, it is a place for experiments now.

The Natlab identity, designed by design studio Scherp Ontwerp uses Bilo by local type designer Pieter van Rosmalen (Bold Monday) as a typographic backbone. Bilo is a sans-serif with a remarkably low x-height and cheerful details such as a wagging tail on J and j (Bilo was introduced with a set of dog icons for a reason) and a W with firm diagonals.

The diagonal division in the NatLab logo is repeated as a gesture in colourful typographic social media images, pairing bright colors with stacked and justified lines of information. In contrast, the website is quite straightforward – maybe even a bit bland – depending on the movie stills and Bilo’s details for variation. Here, its low x-height provides a strong and pleasant contrast between body text and the (mostly) all caps headlines.