The Edit: five new projects including KUNSTHAL by Husmee

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Elliott Moody
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The Edit: five new projects including KUNSTHAL by Husmee

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.

The Edit: five new projects including KUNSTHAL by Husmee
The Edit: five new projects including KUNSTHAL by Husmee
The Edit: five new projects including KUNSTHAL by Husmee

KUNSTHAL is a design school in the Spanish city of Bilbao, founded in 1997 as the first of its kind. It is now recognised as one of the leading higher education institutions in Spain, with students and designers travelling from all over the country to attend its courses. On moving to a new headquarters in Bilbao, the school commissioned San Sebastian-based studio Husmee to redesign its visual identity. The studio was founded by Alain Villastrigo, a former student at KUNSTHAL. From his experience, he recognised a need for the identity to symbolise the attachment the students have to the school. The studio decided to use an abstract reference to adhesive tape to symbolise the connection, creating a flexible, modular grid system based around strips of colour. The palette was developed in close collaboration with Susana Zaldívar, Professor of Colour Theory at KUNSTHAL, to include both warm and cold tones for bold and sober expression.

The Edit: five new projects including KUNSTHAL by Husmee

Adelaide’s Rundle Mall is one of Australia’s busiest pedestrian malls, home to more than 700 retailers and host to 24 million annual visitors. Local design agency Simple was employed to rebrand the mall to reinforce its position as the city’s leading retail facility.

Simple’s aim was to achieve “the holy grail of branding” – to be recognised not by name but by an icon. To accomplish this, they utilised Adelaide’s ‘Spheres’, a widely recognised landmark known affectionately by locals as the ‘Mall’s Balls’. The iconic symbol, distilled into the form of two circles, acts as a simple, recognisable springboard for an energetic identity system.

The Edit: five new projects including KUNSTHAL by Husmee

Reconome is a London-based start-up that collects and finds new homes for unwanted electronic items. By doing so, they eliminate the linear consumption model used today, encouraging circular practices within the industry. ⁠Their logo, designed by local Studio Alba, is made up of two parts. The first is a reductive lowercase ‘r’ which references the digital world as well as positioning the business as an outlier, splintering away from convention. The second part, the name, works in unison with the angular icon thanks to Dinamo’s low-contrast grotesque Favorit.

The Edit: five new projects including KUNSTHAL by Husmee

Lost Motel is a touring and events production group for music artists and festivals in Australia. Founders Sophie Kirov and Yasmin Massey combine over 20 years of music industry experience to assist artists with budgets, show design, production, logistics, schedules and admin. Melbourne-based designer Tim Simple developed Lost Motel’s identity, basing it around imposing angled rectangles that represent the many ‘doors of opportunity’ offered by the company. Typography plays a role too, with a combination of The Designers Foundry’s decorative serif Wulkan Display and the classic sans serif Neue Haas Grotesk providing a versatile mixture of past and present.

The Edit: five new projects including KUNSTHAL by Husmee

LTDO, an abbreviation of the Portuguese word for ‘limited’, is a São Paulo-based music label that organises intimate parties with renowned DJ’s such as Moodymann, Danny Krivit and Joe Claussell. Contrary to the name, their parties aren’t an expensive or exclusive experience. Instead, they provide small concert experiences in which music is the only priority. Ricardo d’Avila’s logotype for LTDO is constructed from four individual typefaces, curated one by one just like the DJ’s for the parties. The ‘L’ is from GT Sectra, the ‘T’ is from GT Pressura, the ‘D’ is from GT America and the ‘O’ is from GT Walsheim. The logo is applied to printed materials with a custom-made brass stamp, giving each application its own imperfect feel.