The Edit: five projects including VEDIA DESIGN and Antton Ugarte's identity for Digerolamo

Each and every day, we're lucky to discover dozens of interesting and inspiring projects from around the world. From global identities and campaigns to side projects and independently published books, The Edit is home to five of them; every two weeks.

Born from three generations of leather craftsmanship, Digerolamo is a Florence-based leather accessories brand that produces handcrafted bags in a variety of colours. Commissioned to redesign its identity, packaging and website, Bilbao-based duo Clara Briones Vedia of VEDIA DESIGN and Antton Ugarte, as well as web designer and developer Hermes Grau, teamed up to produce a graphic language inspired by the brand’s history. At the forefront of their solution is the pairing of two contrasting typefaces; Greed, a narrow sans serif from Displaay Type Foundry; and Sometimes Times, a 90s-inspired serif from Boulevard LAB. The couple combine both individually and together within Digerolamo’s wordmark; resulting in an elegant aesthetic that feels as vintage as it does contemporary. The typefaces are backdropped by a series of geometric graphic shapes – a choice derived from the rounded shape of the brand’s handmade bags.

After years of coding her own website and selling her typefaces via email, French graphic and type designer Margot Lévêque teamed up with Munich-based web developer Carlos Mayo to officially launch her own type foundry. As well as housing a selection of her freelance work, the website is home to her growing library of typefaces, including Romie – an elegant display serif inspired by calligraphy. Speaking to us about the challenges of launching a foundry, Lévêque proclaims that “designing a typeface is the easiest part!” and that figuring out the licensing, pricing and protection is where it really gets difficult. “There are many steps before releasing a foundry,” she tells us, “I searched by myself and finally succeeded step-by-step to find answers;” finally having an end product after nine months of hard work. With no fixed plans for the future, Lévêque explains that she would much rather build “a small, simple and well-mastered catalogue that feels like me” and avoid becoming “a foundry with a LOT of typefaces.”

‘From South Korea’ is the sixth title from UK-based online book store Counter-Print focusing on graphic design work from specific geographic locations. Following on from Japan, Scandinavia, Eastern Europe, Latin America and Switzerland, the colourful 168-page publication includes projects from 19 different design companies, including Studio Fnt, Bohuy Kim, Ordinary People, Everyday Practice and Jaehoon Choi. Find it at counter-print.co.uk/products/from-south-korea.

Contrarian Ventures is a Lithuanian venture capital fund focusing on sustainable energy companies. As their name suggests, they like to think differently, but had been struggling to do so within the competitive and cutthroat financial industry. With the help of branding collective Sons & Daughters ID, their identity and communications have been completely reimagined; moving away from the safe blues of the industry towards an illustrative and colourful graphic language. The illustrations are intentionally nonsensical, with a t-rex, ‘headless dude’ and a unicorn showing up at various points to acts as the company’s proud mascots. Complementing the vibrance of the illustrations is the choice of Titling Gothic as the headline typeface – a bold selection that aims to represent the founder of Contrarian Ventures’ bold personality.

Learning her craft since the age of 14, former dental technician Elise Pierer releases sophisticated, sustainable jewellery under the moniker VON ELISE. Upon gaining recognition in her home city of Graz, she turned to local design practice STUDIO FURORE for help with her brand; hoping to capture the handmade precision and individuality of her pieces as well as speak to a wider audience. The studio’s bold solution balances sparse layouts with contrasting typography – an approach that aims to reflect jewellery’s ability to play a personal role in everyday life. As well as a heavy sans serif wordmark, the identity utilises the delicacy of Diana Ovezea’s Passenger Serif; resulting in an aesthetic balance that embodies both the durability of metal and the handcrafted nature of Pierer’s products.