Artem Strizhkov creates the identity for Hockney’s Russian installation for New Holland Island

Supporting the installation of David Hockney’s 2020 video piece ‘Woldgate Wood, Winter’ at Saint Petersburg’s New Holland Island, local designer Artem Strizhkov has developed the identity and secondary graphic ephemera for the artwork. Developing a stoic, striking and spirited solution, which typographically captures the tranquillity and mindfulness of Hockney’s seasonal video exploration, rolled-out across the artwork’s exhibitive and promotional outlets.

Leading the charge is Strizhkov’s choice of typefaces, Suisse Int’l and Suisse Works, both from Swiss Typefaces. “I was looking for a grotesque with regular proportions,” Strizhkov tells us, “and a serif to pair them to separate Cyrillic and Latin information,” he adds, also noting the reciprocal character heights between the two typefaces as an aesthetic and practical bonus to the combination.

In order to allow the video piece to speak for itself, the identity was executed in purely monochromatic tones. “I worked with black, white and silver Pantone colours because David Hockney's video work was filmed in winter and its colours are very restrained,” Strizhkov remarks. “The exhibition pavilion is mirrored outside and is black inside as well,” he concludes, “that’s why I used the same colours in the identity to create an entire image,” resulting in a quiet yet powerful graphic identity that speaks volumes through the simplicity and serenity of its concept and application.

The identity was developed by Strizhkov during his work for New Holland: cultural urbanisation project with the collaboration of New Holland Island Creative Department.

Artem Strizhkov