In an identity for Steffan, Han Gao steers clear of doing the “correct” thing

Steffan Davies is a curator and collector who runs the popular Instagram page, Steffan – an ensemble of carefully selected images from years past, connected more by feeling than by theme – as well as Steffan Studio, through which he collects and makes objects, often visually and conceptually aligned with his Instagram. He reached out to the designer Han Gao for a new branding system for both the page and the studio. From the get-go, Han saw great potential in reflecting the core sentiment of Steffan’s work, finding relevance and beauty in something old and reflecting it in the new.

One thing that helped the project along was Han already being familiar with – and a fan of – Steffan’s work. “I love how Steffan’s images, even though they go way back through history, still give me something I could chew on today,” Han says. “So I wanted this brand identity to give people the same satisfaction that I had when looking at his content.” Much like when you walk through a city and discover unique little moments, the strange logo of an old restaurant or bookshop, Han and Steffan wanted the look to have that same “joy of serendipity”.

Han began from a natural starting point, but one that he describes as much more “abstract” than other projects; he made a deep dive into Steffan’s image archive, both his posted images and the expansive collection he amassed behind the scenes. “I was mainly trying to sense his vision and the purpose behind those images, then visualising them in the form of a logotype and brand system.” To reflect Steffan’s unbiased and visual approach to image and object collection, Han made “arbitrary design decision making” the core approach throughout, as opposed to leaning toward design that was ‘right’. He says: “Overall I was trying my best to stay away from what is correct to do, and that’s what made it so unique.”

When it came to the typeface, Han says he went back and forth trying to create letters with a sense of “charisma”. What these many tests and trials have resulted in a typeface that feels undefinable, it’s not serif, or non-serif, not digital or entirely hand-written in its design, it sits somewhere in a satisfying middleground between all, or, as Han suggests, like its been made by someone with no design background. What it does have, however, is a classic feel, and a strong sense of vintage. This is then made somewhat more modern by the very harsh lines nestled within, and the discord created by the difference in size and shape of each letter.

Han created a logo for Steffan too, again leading with a typographic approach. Across three logos, Steffan’s name is written and contorted into a circular shape, a square and a triangle. Again, Han says that the logo was driven much more by aesthetic sensibilities than any formal reasoning, making it a little “vague” but much more aligned with the overall vision. This free flowing sense is only exacerbated by Han’s refusal to use a grid throughout; all the elements can be enlarged or shrunken as pleased, and placed on wherever. Across various mock-ups, the logos sit in places you wouldn’t expect, pushed up against a title header, cutting up the alignment with the address, or expanded to the point of taking up a whole half page. Overall, Han says, “the rule is there are not many rules, because the typeface and logo on their own are already expressive enough so it’s in order to keep this balance.” He concludes: “The fun and joy is not created by rules but through freedom.”