A split image showing a process of sorting coloured paper circles. On the left, circles in red, pink, yellow, blue and light blue are arranged on red-lined graph paper next to a small label that reads “A”. On the right, a pink and a white circle sit on a solid green background.

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

Words: Catherine Gaffney
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Date: 6 July 2012; Work
Graphic Design

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.