Koln Studio designs a type-led campaign for Madrid’s Pride celebrations

Date
7 July 2017

“The message that the City Hall wanted to spread around the city was that ‘diversity is the Pride of Madrid’, ‘freedom is the Pride of Madrid’, ‘rights are the Pride of Madrid’, and that ‘equality is the Pride of Madrid’," says Koln Studio of the brief for its recent campaign. The studio explored the concept through typography and developed a response that celebrated diversity and iconic typefaces of the 20th Century.

“The initial idea was to combine several contemporary types that reflected European graphic design’s good shape, and in doing so mirror the variety within the LBGT community. And then we found Lyno. This eclectic typeface comes in four different styles, each one of them related to a 20th century aesthetic trend: Ulys(ses 31), Stan(ley Kubrick), Jean (Arp) and Walt (Disney),” says the studio. “Radim Pesko and Karl Nawrot designed Lyno in 2012, and this is the first time it has been used on a large scale campaign in Spain. It is open and various, and the spirit is this: to resist normative tendencies and to reject the idea of definitive form.”

The campaign was seen across billboards, posters, emblazoned on buses and hung from the city’s lampposts. The studio planned to “break the rules” with the campaign and “not think about what other people say”, to carry a message that would resonate with the motives for Pride. “The preponderance of white in the colour design  responds to the omnipresent rainbow flag´s abuse. Its colours are still there, outstanding with renewed vigour and defining an original image for Pride,” says the studio.

The project is part of an ongoing collaboration between Koln Studio and Madrid City Hall. It’s Nice That covered the type-led campaign by the studio for the city’s referendum earlier this year.

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Koln Studio: Pride 2017

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Koln Studio: Pride 2017

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Koln Studio: Pride 2017

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Koln Studio: Pride 2017

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Koln Studio: Pride 2017

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Koln Studio: Pride 2017

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Owen Pritchard

Owen joined It’s Nice That as Editor in November of 2015 leading and overseeing all editorial content across online, print and the events programme, before leaving in early 2018.

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