Lava Sans Avec

I found this spread in etapes magazine, a french publication that is all about design and visual culture. The spread featured Lavafilm's, a Norwegian film studio, new visual identity designed by Bureau Bruneau. The film studio, having roots in fashion and contemporary art, "cock a snook" at how the industry has come to be so commercialized. So they hire on designers to create this identity.

Designers Ludwig Bruneau Rossow and Henrik Wold Kraglund say they have created a typography "in progress." The fontface, Lava Sans Avec, is described as a mixture of serif and grotesque versions of Futura and Times New Roman. The unique part of this typeface is that there are several versions for each letter. The magazine describes it as "like the planet, [it's] constantly evolving." The designer comments on how he finds inspiration from earthquakes and volcanic eruptions (Lavafilm) for the design of this typeface. Each symbol is subject to a series of natural disasters and there are visual vibrations within the characters itself and even the layout of the type. It's safe to say that this is strictly for display type.

Lavafilm has two collaborative directors that produce music videos, commercials and short films. The directors are young and it seems their target audience is pretty young as well (teens, young adults). I believe that this edgy style is extremely appealing to this genre of people, as it is filled with whimsical, youthful elements. In example below is with what I believe to be an ad for film screening. I think it works well with it's contrasts of thicks and thins against the white background and low contrast photos. Also, the overlapping and asymmetry of the layout further convey the feeling of this rebellious identity.

This example is definitely influential in that it is teaching to think outside of the box, that a typeface can be flexible and versatile. Seeing how there were multiple versions of each symbol made me realize how far you can develop a single idea. It also showcases how a single character can take on different personalities, i.e. volcanic eruptions and vibrations.