Naranjo-Etxeberria redesigns ODDA from the ground up in a feat of contrast and cohesion

New York-based contemporary fashion and culture magazine ODDA has gone across the pond for a redesign of their bi-annual publication, approaching Madrilenian design studio Naranjo-Etxeberria to take on the task. With the magazine taking its namesake from the Greek ‘ode’, meaning a lyric to be sung by more than one person, Naranjo-Etxeberria pitched the concept of having three voices through the issue, characterised by three corresponding typefaces.

Being so significantly historically rooted, Naranjo-Etxeberria had an almost infinite pool of inspiration to draw from, but landed on Pablo Neruda’s 1956 ‘ODA A LA TIPOGRAFÍA’ (‘Ode to Typography’), taking his typographic movement and rhythm as their primary artistic and thematic reference. “On an aesthetic level,” Naranjo-Etxeberria explain, “we wanted to avoid trends, to create a magazine with a more timeless design,” something it is safe to say they thoroughly achieved; crafting a delicate but emboldening publication with a tone of voice that is both referential and truly authentic. “The main challenge has been to give coherence and unity to the magazine as a whole, but at the same time make each section recognisable,” they recall, taking the lyrical compositions of the magazine’s Greek origins as key references.

Redesigning the magazine from the ground up, Naranjo-Etxeberria tell us they intended to make the cover more continuous, “including some details that reflect what we are going to see inside.” Entirely future-focused, Naranjo-Etxeberria’s rigorous graphic system is designed to handle anything that is thrown at the magazine, explaining “much of our work has been to analyse the magazine to create styles capable of adapting to unforeseen events and changes that may arise in future issues.”

“Regarding the header, our work has been continuous and subtle,” Naranjo-Etxeberria note, inverting the dual ‘d’s as well as optically amending the kerning of the masthead. “We have also modified some thicknesses so that the header is more in tune with the fonts we have used inside,” Naranjo-Etxeberria explain, resulting in a visual aesthetic that is remarkable in feeling wholly cohesive despite it’s recurring contrary elements and aesthetic.

Naranjo-Etxeberria

ODDA