Formwork Studio
We asked for a system that would get out of the way and let the buildings speak. One typeface, used with real discipline, did exactly that — the monograph is now the first thing we hand every new client.
Adrian Kessler
Principal, Formwork Studio
220+
Pages in Monograph
4
Design Awards Won
2×
Press Features Post-Launch
6 wks
Design-to-Print Timeline
The Brief
Formwork Studio, an architecture practice known for material honesty and quiet structural ambition, needed a monograph and identity to accompany a decade of built work. The brief was simple: let the buildings do the talking, and build a system that gets out of the way.
The Approach
We committed the entire identity to a single grotesque typeface, used across every weight and context — the monograph, the practice’s stationery, the site, and signage for the studio itself. The discipline of one typeface forced every other decision to be about hierarchy, spacing and paper.
A 260-page monograph structured chronologically by material, not by project size
A grid system ported directly from the practice’s own drawing conventions
Uncoated stock and exposed binding to echo the studio’s material palette
The Result
The monograph has become the practice’s primary business-development tool, placed directly in the hands of prospective clients and collaborators. The identity has since extended to exhibition graphics for the studio’s first solo show.
One typeface, used well, says more than five typefaces used carefully.
