mono.studio

Currents of knowledge gathering in pools along the riverbank. Dipping in our hands to see what they can hold. Theory in practice, rippling across the archipelagoes of South East Asia. /

NTU CCA SINGAPORE / COLLATERALS AND IDENTITIES
/ ART DIRECTION / DESIGN /

A leading international art institution, NTU CCA Singapore is a research centre for art, culture, and science of Nanyang Technological University. Since its founding in 2013, it has been gathering strands of academic research and artistic production under its three-fold constellation of Exhibitions, Residencies, and Research and Education.

Since 2017, mono.studio has accompanied the exhibitions programme at NTU CCA Singapore, developing unique visual identities for each presentation, as well as books, programmes, and other related collaterals. In 2018, we applied a modular system to the institute’s entire printed output to provide a consistent structure within their given graphic identity, redesigning along the way the regular programmes for the Exhibitions and Residencies departments.

/ Client / NTU Centre for Contemporary Art Singapore /

Looking closely at the cracks and fissures around us: an unpleasant game of second-guessing and uncertainties. Yet not so innocent anymore, for the future is already here. /

NTU CCA SINGAPORE / FREE JAZZ IV. GEOMANCERS
/ ART DIRECTION / DESIGN /

The exhibition Free Jazz IV. Geomancers marks the fourth installment of the Free Jazz series of performance and time-based interventions on- and off-site at NTU Centre for Contemporary Arts Singapore. Based on the ancient divination method of Geomancy, Free Jazz IV gathers an ensemble of artists trying to read the current state of the Earth, and concerned with future prospects of ecological collapse. For the accompanying Exhibition Guide and exhibition visuals, mono.studio used the symbols of Geomancy – a combination of eight dots in various formations – as a visual foundation and guiding thread.

/ Client / NTU Centre for Contemporary Art Singapore /
/ Artists / Martha Atienza, Ursula Biemann, Carolina Caycedo & David de Rozas, Chu Hao Pei, Liu Chuang, Pedro Neves Marques, Katie Paterson, Rice Brewing Sisters Club, Daniel Steegmann Mangrané, Jana Winderen, Zarina Muhammad & Zachary Chan, and Robert Zhao Renhui /

Neon lights glaring, that irresistible toxic glow drawing us in like moths, falling for the romantic illusions and cheap thrills of metropolis. How long until we realise: it was all a terrible mistake. /

NTU CCA SINGAPORE / THE POSTHUMAN CITY
/ ART DIRECTION / DESIGN /

The exhibition The Posthuman City concerns itself with the phenomenon of global urban growth and the pressures it creates on natural resources and habitats. For the exhibition’s identity, we proposed a visual overload, mirroring urban density and the metropolitan palimpsest of information, sight, sound, movement. The layers are structured by a gridded title typography running nowhere, and a toxic, sickening neon green, which found its way into the Exhibition Hall as a glaring backdrop to underline the urgency of the artworks.

/ Client / NTU Centre for Contemporary Art Singapore /
/ Artists / Irene Agrivina, Animali Domestici, Pierre Huyghe, Ines Doujak, Jae Rhim Lee, Lucy + Jorge Orta, Nicholas Mangan, Marjetica Potrc, Hito Steyerl /

As we count the days, ever pushing forward, impatiently, barely taking the time to breathe. Who wants to look back? When all we build is built on sand, threatening to collapse as soon as we stop moving. /

NTU CCA SINGAPORE / STAGINGS. SOUNDINGS. READINGS. FREE JAZZ II
/ ART DIRECTION / DESIGN /

The exhibition Stagings. Soundings. Readings. Free Jazz II revisits the NTU CCA Singapore’s inaugural event, in celebration of its 5th anniversary. As the Free Jazz series is dedicated to time-based and performative arts, while also marking a specific point in time in the institute’s history, we honoured the occasion with a publication in form of a Chinese tear-off wall calendar, functioning as a schedule to the series of events over several months, while also becoming a performative act in itself. In addition, artists and writers attached to the institute created specific contributions for the daily pages.

/ Client / NTU Centre for Contemporary Art Singapore /
/ Artists & Contributors / Carlos Casas and Phill Niblock, Heman Chong, Tyler Coburn, Luke Fowler, Anton Ginzburg, Maria Loboda, Boris Nieslony, Cally Spooner, Alexandra Pirici, Kelly Reedy, Anca Rujoiu, Justin Shoulder and Bhenji Ra, Mariana Silva, Peter Sipeli and 1angrynative, Lee Wen, Ming Wong /

The beauty of matter, unaware of these false categories. Only pure and unhindered, organic growth, strategical, chaotic, selfish, and yet so perfect. These complex, irresistible cycles of life. /

NTU CCA SINGAPORE / TREES OF LIFE – KNOWLEDGE IN MATERIAL
/ ART DIRECTION / DESIGN /

The exhibition Trees of Life – Knowledge in Material forms an inquiry into four plants deeply rooted in Asia: indigo, lacquer, rattan, and mulberry. It explores their biological knowledge as well as their social, geopolitical, and historical contexts, in the shape of an exhibition accompanied by topical seminars and workshops, combining scientific research with artistic practice. For the identity, we straddled the divide between the artistic and scientific sides of the exhibition, following nature’s organic and seemingly uncontrolled growth by letting the typography quite literally flow and spread across the pages, posters, and walls.

/ Client / NTU Centre for Contemporary Art Singapore /
/ Artists / Liang Shaoji, Manish Nai, Phi Phi Oanh, Sopheap Pich, Vivian Xu /

Pictures of you, not so long ago and yet barely recognisable. A gentle unease, confusing dissonance between then and now. Faint memories difficult to reconcile with what you have become; look at you now. /

NTU CCA SINGAPORE / ULRIKE OTTINGER: CHINA. THE ARTS – THE PEOPLE
/ ART DIRECTION / DESIGN /

The exhibition ‘Ulrike Ottinger: China. The Arts – the People’ consists of a series of photographs and films taken during the artist’s extensive travels throughout China and Mongolia in the early 1980s, at a time when China in particular was on the brink of transitioning from Mao’s reign into modernity. Accordingly, we treated the central Exhibition Guide like a souvenir booklet, with the artworks unfolding like a set of tourist postcards from a country at a different time and place. While the circular typography is inspired by classic Chinese imagery of dragons, the colour scheme references the Chinese flag.

/ Client / NTU Centre for Contemporary Art Singapore /
/ Artist / Ulrike Ottinger /

Its quietly insistent rhythm evokes the steady drizzle of an average London Sunday in our minds: the kind of grey
day that calls for beautifully melancholic consolation or else, active opposition, for instance by showing off a little colour. /

SENZ⁶ / AUTUMN WINTER 2015 / IMAGE CAMPAIGN & LOOKBOOK
/ ART DIRECTION / CONCEPTION / PRODUCTION / TEXT / DESIGN / PHOTOGRAPHY /

Dutch design company senz° have reinvented the umbrella as we know it: redesigning its basic shape along the the laws of aerodynamics and refining countless little details, senz° umbrellas are storm-proof and strikingly handsome.

For its new and fashionable offspin senz⁶, mono.studio revised the brand’s approach to their image campaign and lookbook. We developed a contemporary language for the product images by merging urban landscapes and fashion imagery into dizzying photocollages.

The collection’s theme of ‘Rain Rhythm’ was reflected in the typography and gracing each umbrella with its own individual soundtrack for rainy afternoons.

/ Client / senz° /
/ Creative Direction / Yosuke Nishiumi /
/ Styling / Kamilla Richter /

Summer, of course, is steeped in memories – being awoken by the sun on your face in the morning, spellbound by laziness on the beach to the sound of waves crashing, the smell of the sea on your salty skin. /

TSESAY / SPRING SUMMER 2014 / CAMPAIGN
/ ART DIRECTION / CONCEPTION / PRODUCTION / DESIGN / PHOTOGRAPHY /

For the New York womenswear label tsesay, mono.studio has conceived a new visual vocabulary, including their brand book, advertising campaigns, website, and promotional materials such as lookbooks and videos.

As part of our new advertising strategy for tsesay, mono.studio has developed a modular graphic system, juxtaposing fashion imagery against cityscapes of New York, to emphasise the urban essence of the brand while also generating an atmosphere specific to the theme of each collection. All background images were sourced through social media, actively engaging the younger audience of the label while bringing tsesay to street level – which is, after all, where it belongs.

The tsesay Spring/Summer 2014 collection was largely influenced by surf and skate culture, incorporating elements of beachwear and tie-dye techniques. Evoking a sense of lightness and joy, all fashion images were shot in full motion, while the background images unashamedly revel in that summer feeling.

/ Client / tsesay /
/ Styling / Syria Bellisario /
/ Hair & Makeup / Julie Skok /
/ Model / Michaela / Izaio /
/ Post Production / Uwe Arens /

A space that is your own, to hold you, to return to. Relationships that will carry you, friends you can rely on. Words that will remain, hopes that prove solid. Home is where we grow from. /

TSESAY / AUTUMN WINTER 2013 / CAMPAIGN
/ ART DIRECTION / CONCEPTION / PRODUCTION / DESIGN /

For the tsesay Autumn/Winter 2013 campaign, we introduced our modular design system that juxtaposes fashion imagery with the city. As it is a collection based on the concept of warmth, friendship and traditional values in turbulent times, we produced a warm and intimate fashion series in a private apartment, set against New York winter scenes with dramatic perspectives and graphic urban patterns. All background images were sourced through social media.

/ Client / tsesay /
/ Photography / David Fischer /
/ Styling / Syria Bellisario /
/ Hair & Makeup / Julie Skok /
/ Model / Dina / Izaio /

Millions of snowflakes, softly swirling from nowhere. Blinking my eyes at the opaque sky: I don’t know where you begin, but I know where you land. /

TSESAY / AUTUMN WINTER 2013 / VIDEO
/ ART DIRECTION / CONCEPTION / TEXT /

With the tsesay Autumn/Winter 2013 season designed around the ideas of warmth and protection, mono.studio complemented the print campaign with a promotional video on a more playful note, conceived as a light-hearted glimpse into New York winter life. Striking a healthy balance between body and soul, between inside and outside, is essential, and maybe even more so during the cold months.

/ Client / tsesay /
/ Production & Editing / The Screeners /
/ Photography / Kaspar Köpke /
/ Styling / Syria Bellisario /
/ Hair & Makeup / Julie Skok /
/ Model / Ida / M4 /

New York is our canvas. After all, city life inspires everything we do and make, and everything we do is designed to make life in the city a little more interesting and colourful. /

TSESAY / WEB SITE
/ ART DIRECTION / DESIGN / TEXT /

For the launch of www.tsesay.com, mono.studio developed an intuitive and dynamic internet presence based on the idea of versatility for an urban life in flux. The website is refreshed season to season with the New York imagery of the latest advertising campaign, and thus regularly updated in its appearance while maintaining its underlying navigation and structure. Needless to say, the scrolling site makes use of the latest web technology, integrating responsive design adapted to tablets and smartphones.

/ Client / tsesay /
/ Art Direction, Design & Programming / Christian Frey /

In these days of noise and speed, caught between mobile screens and social life, working hours leaking into the private sphere, the real luxury is a moment of quiet and myself. /

TSE / AUTUMN WINTER 2011 / CAMPAIGN
/ ART DIRECTION / CONCEPTION / DESIGN / PHOTOGRAPHY /

Tse is a New York label renowned for its classic yet modern knitwear designs. Ever since Hussein Chalayan’s tenure as Creative Director in the 1990s, the label has consistently explored what can be done with cashmere for today’s needs without losing sight of its roots.

Consequently, for a special Autumn/Winter 2011 print campaign directed primarily at the Asian market, mono.studio developed a story depicting a private moment of quiet between public and personal time, between day and night, between work and leisure. For cashmere is luxury, and real luxury is an intimate pleasure.

/ Client / Tse /
/ Hair / Nic Chau /
/ Makeup / Michael Fei /
/ Model / Ashleigh / Elite /

Here are some words we like this winter: comfort and warmth, space and movement, air and lightness. And since we’re already at it, how about simplicity and versatility, intelligence and beauty? Oh, and maybe most important of all: effortlessness. /

MONO.GRAMM / AUTUMN WINTER 2012 / VIDEO & LOOKBOOK
/ ART DIRECTION / PRODUCTION / DESIGN / PHOTOGRAPHY /

Since 2009, mono.studio has been providing art direction and consulting for our associated womenswear label mono.gramm, producing accompanying lookbooks for eight seasons, videos, the website, and a photographic launch exhibition in London. mono.gramm’s signature designs are seemingly effortless and easily accessible, but effectively developed from highly unusual drapings and patterns. Over the years, mono.gramm perfected a style that sits comfortably between the casual and the elegant, between simplicity and unexpected complexity.

Similarly, we defined a visual approach that was firmly grounded in casual photography, eschewing overproduced fashion fantasies. Instead, we searched for unforced images of personal and everyday moments, creating a sense of atmosphere, intimacy, and natural beauty.

The Autumn/Winter 2012 collection brought various elements from previous collections to a point with exceptional ease – particularly each garment’s surprising versatility in function and shape. We produced a celebratory video as a bittersweet counterpoint to winter’s greyness. Little did we know at the time that this film would mark a swan song of sorts, as mono.gramm went into temporary hibernation to rethink its place in a rapidly changing industry. To be continued.

/ Styling / Syria Bellisario /
/ Hair & Makeup / Julie Skok /
/ Model / Amélie / Seeds /

While you are gone, I let myself drift, exploring the dusty corners of your life, full of charming little surprises: pictures of unfamiliar faces, your smell faintly lingering on your clothes. /

MONO.GRAMM / SPRING SUMMER 2012 / LOOKBOOK
/ ART DIRECTION / DESIGN / PHOTOGRAPHY /

For Spring/Summer 2012, mono.gramm toyed with ‘borrowing’ your boyfriend’s clothes, developing an entire collection of dresses and tops from the classic men’s button-down shirt. Taking the idea to its logical end, for the lookbook we imagined an idle day of blissfully killing time at home, in a state of careless dress, waiting for the summer heat to ease.

/ Styling / Syria Bellisario /
/ Hair & Makeup / Julie Skok /
/ Model / Kiki / Seeds /

Some days I wake up as me; some days I wake up as someone else – or is it just another me. But then, all this might change again at any given moment. /

MONO.GRAMM / AUTUMN WINTER 2011 / LOOKBOOK
/ ART DIRECTION / DESIGN / PHOTOGRAPHY /

Versatility has always been an important element of mono.gramm, taken to its extreme in the Autumn/Winter 2011 season, with sleeves turning into belts, dresses being tied in many different combinations. Exploring the definitions of identity through clothing, we visually expanded the idea by generating unexpected silhouettes through the interplay of two models.

/ Hair & Makeup / Julie Skok /
/ Models / Helen / Mega & Pepa / M4 /

Summer in the city, all streets abandoned, collective surrender to the sun. Hot pavement under your bare feet, the air lazy with random thoughts. /

MONO.GRAMM / SPRING SUMMER 2011 / LOOKBOOK
/ ART DIRECTION / DESIGN / PHOTOGRAPHY /

mono.gramm’s Spring/Summer 2011collection is dedicated to that particular sensation of spending summer days in the city. There is no shame in taking inspirations literally when they are so rich in memories and associations, so we surrendered to a perfectly hot summer day around Berlin’s famed Karl-Marx-Allee to gather a kaleidoscopic selection of fragments and moments for the lookbook.

/ Hair & Makeup / Julie Skok /
/ Model / Elisa / Viva /

The body, that miraculous machine: bending, turning, stretching, twisting, unravelling. We are movement, we are energy, we are song, we are life. /

MONO.GRAMM / AUTUMN WINTER 2010 / LOOKBOOK
/ ART DIRECTION / DESIGN / PHOTOGRAPHY /

The Autumn/Winter 2010 collection by mono.gramm began with that most basic starting point: the human body. With the designs derived from impressions of dance and the body in motion, we juxtaposed the lookbook fashion images with expressive shots of dancers in full swing, creating a dark and explosive contrast between stillness and vibrancy.

/ Styling / Saskia Schmidt /
/ Hair & Makeup / Julie Skok /
/ Model / Anna / Seeds /
/ Dance / Cie. Toula Limnaios /

You open skies. I lie still in the grass and watch the clouds drifting by. Infinite blues, I breathe you in until I feel drunk with air. /

MONO.GRAMM / SPRING SUMMER 2010 / LOOKBOOK
/ ART DIRECTION / DESIGN / PHOTOGRAPHY /

Organic and gentle drapings and prints defined the mono.gramm Spring/Summer 2010 season. We developed this concept further for the lookbook, overprinting the fashion images on black & white landscape scenes, like a gust of wind rippling through the folds of your shirt.

/ Hair & Makeup / Julie Skok /
/ Model / Nicole / Seeds /

The melancholy of winter, when the days seem to barely fade from dark to grey to black. Winter and me, we have our very own peculiar romance. /

MONO.GRAMM / AUTUMN WINTER 2009 / LOOKBOOK
/ ART DIRECTION / DESIGN / PHOTOGRAPHY /

mono.gramm’s offering for Autumn/Winter 2009 combined the signature elements of twisted and organic silhouettes with soft jersey fabrics and subdued shades of grey. Consequently, like the collection, the lookbook is an exercise in reduction, opting for distorted black & white imagery set against sparse moments of colour.

/ Model / Kathlen / M4 /

Spring sensations, with the world coming alive, nature bursting at the seams in lush greens and yellows and blues, a clarity potent with possibility. /

MONO.GRAMM / SPRING SUMMER 2009 / LOOKBOOK
/ ART DIRECTION / DESIGN / PHOTOGRAPHY /

Spring/Summer 2009 marked the first season of mono.gramm, and defined a clarity in design to become the label’s signature style: a collection of dresses only, twisting men’s shirting fabrics into organic and flowing silhouettes. Natural forms have always been an essential reference point for mono.gramm, so it seemed equally natural to indulge ourselves with a day out in the countryside, by the lake, for the first lookbook. The images generated a light, effortless, yet intimate impression that would set the tone for all collections to follow. Water, sand, trees, air – what else do we need when life is so magnificent.

/ Model / Ludmilla / Seeds /