Menta is a branding and packaging studio founded by Laura Méndez. Based in Guadalajara, the studio works with small businesses throughout Mexico. I find their work for Manassé, a French-African inspired boulangerie, to be especially charming. For the bakery, Menta crafted a packaging system that blends Parisian-inspired color pallets with traditional patterns from the West African nation of Benin. The designs are lively yet sophisticated, and the gold foil details add an extra dose of elegance to each box.

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Jess Bonham is a still-life photographer that captures stunning images for luxury brands and editorials. Often collaborating with set designers, she uses a variety of materials to create compositions that are sculptural and akin to an art installation. Her photos have illustrated subjects such as death, fetishes, and solitude. In the piece above, she captures the spirit of independence to accompany an article in Evening Standard Magazine about modern attitudes on being alone. In Bonham’s own words, “The article suggests that doing things alone, such as dining and going to the cinema, have now come to represent more of an empowered, independent spirit, than loneliness.”

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Are you a fan of design and type related books? If so, these Kickstarter campaigns might be of interest to you. The first supports a stunning reference book on the 1972 Munich Olympic Games’ identity system. The second is a detailed biography on designer W.A. Dwiggins. Learn more after the jump.

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Farewell

Felipe Posada is a multidisciplinary visual artist living and working in New York City. I am enthralled by his ongoing project, The Invisible Realm, a collection of digital collages inspired by concepts that have captivated him throughout his life. Bursting with celestial imagery and vintage landscape photography, his pieces often revolve around the themes of space exploration, anthroposophy, and metaphysics. As I study Posada’s surreal compositions, I can’t help but reflect on my own connection with nature and the mysteries of the ever-expanding universe. To see more from the series, check out his Instagram.

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Spassky Fischer is a graphic design studio based in Paris. Focusing on identity, photography, and print, they often collaborate with museums and festivals throughout France. Last year, they created stunning work for MuCEM, the Museum of European and Mediterranean Civilization in Marseille. Layering blocks of color, large typography, and a slew of photographs, the studio crafted an assortment of posters, signage, and brochures that beautifully display the museum’s content. The dynamic collage-like layouts radiate with energy and attract museum-goers, pedestrians, and subway riders.

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Studio Proba is a multidisciplinary studio founded by Alex Proba in 2013. From designing furniture to painting murals, she immerses herself in a variety of projects including collaborations with stores such as Print All Over Me and Aelfie. For the latter, she created two rug collections that feature playful geometric patterns and pastel color pallets.

Another project I’m drawn to is her “A Poster A Day” series. Each day she designs a poster by visually interpreting questions and stories submitted to her website, all of which fall into the given theme of that year. In her own words, “The first year of ‘A Poster A Day’ was about my life, the second year was about Yours and the third about Ours. The next 365 days are going to be Hers.” The project has turned into a beautiful series of photographs and abstract compositions, including the image above, which answers the question, “What is the most important global challenge right now?” To participate in the project, see submission guidelines at StudioProba.com/Hers.

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Caserne translates to “fire station” in French. Like firemen, the Montréal-based design studio believes in dedication and rising above adversity. Building on that theme, the studio has a shop in which they sell fireman-inspired items including tote bags covered in fire hoses and t-shirts that sport the phrase “dedicated”. A personal favorite is a promotional photo calendar they created last year which features an assortment of typefaces found on fire stations throughout Montréal. The charming letterforms accentuate one another and are well balanced.

In addition to their shop, the studio tackles a variety of projects such as food packaging, movie posters, and type design. When crafting the identity for their own brand, they collaborated with the type foundry Coppers and Brasses to create a custom typeface that is “subtler than a siren, but as visible as a fire truck.” Together, they produced a stencil typeface that is applied to Caserne’s entire brand and has won accolades from the Type Directors Club and Grafika 2016.

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Muskat is a small studio founded by Claudia Scheer and Manuel Federl, designers based in Berlin and Hamburg. The duo has compiled a lively portfolio after stints at design schools and prominent studios such as Edenspiekermann and Upstruct. During their tenure at TH Nuremberg, they crafted a visual identity for a fictional ballet academy. Incorporated into the identity is Benesh Movement Notation, a collection of symbols that represent choreography. These symbols gracefully unite the type and photography as they dance across each layout.

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Karan Singh is an Australian artist living and working in Tokyo. Drawing inspiration from graphic design and op-art, he crafts illustrations and animations that burst with vibrant colors and bold patterns. His lively work has led to collaborations with an impressive list of clients including Sagmeister & Walsh, The US Open, and American Express. I especially admire his work for group exhibitions such as The Tōkyōiter and the OFFF 2016 Archetype book. To see more of his work and animations in action, visit his Instagram.

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Formes Vives is a creative collective that focuses on creating politically driven work for the common good. Consisting of three designers, Nicolas Filloque, Geoffroy Pithon, and Adrien Zammit, the trio aims to produce work that is original, demanding, and non-commercial. Often working with non-profits and activist groups, they hold a particular interest in crafting visual identity systems without using “authoritarian, tiresome graphic guidelines” that are often associated with corporate brands. This aspiration for individuality has built a colorful portfolio brimming with playful illustrations, bold collages, and large-scale installations.

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