Studio Fnt creates a bright, typographic identity for Seoul-based art exhibition

Seoul-based design agency Studio Fnt has created the identity for Highlights a show held at the Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA), which introduces the collection of the Cartier Contemporary Art Foundation. For the exhibition identity, Studio Fnt took inspiration from the way people mark or underline important parts of a text using a highlighter and applied it to a typeface, decorated with a metallic spot varnish. “The ‘highlighting’ effect allowed the horizontal lines of the characters in the title of the exhibition to be distinguishable from its vertical lines,” explains the studio. “The graphical device provided an intuitive way of visually conveying the meaning of the exhibition title, while bundling the titles composed of English, Korean and French into a single visual style.”

The show covers a diverse range of work, so along with the bold typography, the studio chose vibrant, fluoro colours to communicate the work being exhibited rather than overloading it with graphics and images. As well as the exhibition design, the identity extends to the printed promotional materials including catalogues, leaflets, banners and press kits.

“We have been involved in a variety of exhibition designs but this exhibition is a monumental event in itself, and its scope and content were also very intriguing, which was motivating for use to stay pleased and excited to participate in the project,” says Studio Fnt. “The exhibition was a rare opportunity to meet outstanding works that cannot easily be seen and enjoyed in Seoul. We hope the exhibition identity is strong enough to catch the visitors’ eyes and be remembered as a part of the exhibition.”