menn studio’s identity for Project Monyet highlights the reality of Malaysia’s primate problem

Initiated in response to the country’s declining primate population, Malaysian nature and culture-focused social enterprise Abundant Venture commissioned Project Monyet; an ongoing photographic exploration into Malaysia’s primate species. Exhibiting the work with the aim of raising environmental awareness and highlighting the reality of deforestation and climate change. Turning to menn studio, the Kuala Lumpur-based practice developed a striking visual identity for the campaign, both online and across the project’s tangible exhibition.

Kinetic and candid in its aesthetic and digital presence, the identity embellishes the notion of destruction through its use of coarse, fragmented illustration. Sat in situ with stark typographic layouts, the interplay between the two styles helps further convey the disconnect between nature and culture. Harnessing the recognition and familiarity of Acumin, Helvetica and Cormorant as the typefaces of choice, the identity shows something we understand and challenges it; disrupting the expectations we have, and in turn, embellishes the effects of destruction.

Similarly, the choice of red as the campaign's primary colour was a disruptive one. “Project Monyet was an evocative campaign,” menn studio tell us, “so we wanted to have a provocative execution.” Aiming to catch, and most importantly keep, the audience’s attention through its solitary, striking use of colour.

menn studio