Nowhere Studio’s catalogue for DOMa captures the architectural sophistication of its contents

As part of an institution-wide rebrand, Athens-based design practice Nowhere Studio’s catalogue for 2020’s Greek Architecture Awards is a showcase of beautiful typographic reservation and contextual awareness. “We have been working closely with the DOMa for the past few years,” Marinos Kolokotsas, Creative Director at Nowhere Studio explains, developing the independent institution for contemporary architecture’s “entire identity and portfolio in a holistic manner.”

Many of the book’s specifics, therefore, are implemented corresponding with the guidelines they’d already created, “including fonts, layout styles and also verbal elements like tone of voice,” Kolokotsas adds. The application, however, is far from run of the mill; succinctly capturing a sophisticated architectural aesthetic through their typographic and systematically-led visual system. With no typeface more appropriate to spearhead such a project, Nowhere Studio opted for Dinamo’s modular typeface Galapagos for the front cover.

“Galapagos is one of our favourite fonts and we thought that in this case it would be a great fit,” Kolokotsas tells us, explaining “the unique characteristic of this font is that each glyph is made using a system of elements that can be repeated in different ways and combinations,” creating an entire alphabet in the process. With each individual character contained within its own grid, the end result is inescapably architectural, and beautifully paired with Colophon Foundry’s Aperçu and Aperçu Mono, which also convey powerful construction but in a more reserved and supportive manner.

“We chose Aperçu for its distinguished personality that reflects the institute’s academic, yet approachable character,” Kolokotsas tells us, “it looks clean and playful at the same time,” adding, “a perfect fit!” Using typography to not only convey the thematic tone of the catalogue but also the geography, Nowhere Studio utilised Cannibal Fonts’ Greek version of Garamond – in doing so subverting the traditional editorial use of the classic typeface, as well as introducing a serif to the hierarchy of the book.

With the intention for the binding and typographic choice to remain the same for years to come, with only the colours and paper changing, the concept behind the construction of the book was vital. Christening the maiden issue with a striking wire binding, Kolokotsas explains “wire binding is often used in calendars, making handling a publication of such a large volume easier and allows for turning the pages using only one hand,” bookending the catalogue with thick board for the front and back cover akin to the style used in architectural models.

Nowhere Studio