Letra, aka Marco Balesteros, makes game play of graphics to great effect

Date
6 July 2012

Letra is the studio of Portuguese designer Marco Balesteros, who graduated from the ArtEZ Institute in the Netherlands in 2009, and has been producing eye-catching graphics ever since.

Using board-game elements – like consistently sized circular forms placed on flat background surfaces – his work has an extremely playful quality. To continue with the board-game analogy, there are rules, regularities, and systems – and these ensure that the work retains a highly considered appearance. The resulting images are also reminiscent of maps or brainstorming sessions, and the combination of ruled linear marks and separate geometric forms offers a visual language akin to that of mathematical textbooks. All very appropriate, then, for a graphic designer whose discipline must involve a huge deal of planning and measurement – and we can see this pay off in his posters and layout work. Balesteros is also co-founder of Random Press, which is run between Lisbon and Frankfurt.

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Letra (Marco Balesteros): Sala Polivalente – with S. Gonçalves

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Letra (Marco Balesteros): Workshop LOW HIGH (Madrid) – with Sofia Gonçalves

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Letra (Marco Balesteros): Sala Polivalente – with Sofia Gonçalves

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Letra (Marco Balesteros)

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Letra (Marco Balesteros): Play

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