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Harry Bennett
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Sometimes Always and Estúdio Daó combine to boldly brand Los Angelian book store Reparations Club


Sometimes Always and Estúdio Daó combine to boldly brand Los Angelian book store Reparations Club
Sometimes Always and Estúdio Daó combine to boldly brand Los Angelian book store Reparations Club
Sometimes Always and Estúdio Daó combine to boldly brand Los Angelian book store Reparations Club
Sometimes Always and Estúdio Daó combine to boldly brand Los Angelian book store Reparations Club
Sometimes Always and Estúdio Daó combine to boldly brand Los Angelian book store Reparations Club
Sometimes Always and Estúdio Daó combine to boldly brand Los Angelian book store Reparations Club
Sometimes Always and Estúdio Daó combine to boldly brand Los Angelian book store Reparations Club
Sometimes Always and Estúdio Daó combine to boldly brand Los Angelian book store Reparations Club
Sometimes Always and Estúdio Daó combine to boldly brand Los Angelian book store Reparations Club
Sometimes Always and Estúdio Daó combine to boldly brand Los Angelian book store Reparations Club

In partnership with São Paulo-based studio Estúdio Daó, Marseille-based design studio Sometimes Always have created the identity, website, and printed matter for Los Angelian concept bookstore Reparations Club – a Black and women-owned store that celebrates the cultural creations and literature of BIPOC individuals.

Sometimes Always and Estúdio Daó faced the challenge of crafting an identity that is, importantly, contemporary but historically referential; making sure they understood the racial issues felt specifically in the United States. With a resulting brand that is respectful but not dry, the duo have succeeded in balancing the sincerity of the context without undermining its impact; producing a typographically led brand that is graphically blazen, conceptually driven and unavoidably cool.

Referencing the typefaces found within their historical research, Sometimes Always and Estúdio Daó opted for Newlyn’s New Spirit Condensed alongside Franklin Gothic – in doing so creating a beautiful typographic contrast that is not only striking in its construction, but also equally representative of Reparations Club’s break from the norm, and the forming of their own convention.

Paired with an energetic colour palette, indicating the urgency, impact and significance of the store itself, whilst simultaneously referencing the vibrancy of the community it is celebrating. Recurring throughout the brand is also the use and prominence of a square acting aesthetically as a framing device, and conceptually symbolising the demarcation of space given to the BIPOC population.

Graphic Design

Sometimes Always
Estúdio Daó

Typography

Franklin Gothic by Morris Fuller Benton
New Spirit by Newlyn

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