Platform: 2021
Designed by James Brook for Edinburgh Art Festival, 2021
Booklet | 210 x 165 mm | 16 pages
Printed by Allander, Edinburgh, on Edixion Offset 170 gsm
A booklet that I designed for Platform, Edinburgh Art Festival’s showcase for Scotland based artists at the beginning of their careers. The 2021 edition, selected by Sorcha Carey, Mason Leaver-Yap and Ciara Phillips and curated by Colm Guo-Lin Peare, brought together new work by Jessica Higgins, Danny Pagarini, Kirsty Russell and Isabella Widger. The exhibition ran from 29 July – 29 August 2021 and was held at the Institut français d’Ecosse, West Parliament Square, Edinburgh EH1 1RF.
This is the third appearance of the new identity that I developed for Platform in 2019 and the second time that it has appeared as a 16 page booklet. I had previously designed an identity for Platform in 2015 that was used for four editions of the exhibition.
Throughout this booklet, I used two typefaces, Freight Sans Pro and Adelle Sans, selected for their character and readability. I used different weights of Adelle Sans to create a new logo that echoes my previous logo for Platform, which was typeset in Akzidenz Grotesk. The cover design includes circles taken from the colon that appears in the Platform: 2021 logo along with imagery selected from one of the four artists, in this version, the work of Isabella Widger. Inside, the layout gives a feeling of space with pared down typography, prioritising the artists’ images and allowing them to breathe.
Throughout this booklet, I used two typefaces, Freight Sans Pro and Adelle Sans, selected for their character and readability. I used different weights of Adelle Sans to create a new logo that echoes my previous logo for Platform, which was typeset in Akzidenz Grotesk. The cover design includes circles taken from the colon that appears in the Platform: 2021 logo along with imagery selected from one of the four artists, in this version, the work of Isabella Widger. Inside, the layout gives a feeling of space with pared down typography, prioritising the artists’ images and allowing them to breathe.
Sorcha Carey, Director, Edinburgh Art Festival: We have worked with James Brook on a number of different festival design projects since 2014, ranging from substantial exhibition catalogues, smaller interpretation booklets and leaflets, through to devising bespoke identities for discrete projects and initiatives. He has a wealth of knowledge of typography, graphic design, print and book production, is incredibly thoughtful and considered in his approach, and always responds to a brief with creativity and rigour in equal measure. I can’t recommend him highly enough.