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Good Times – Informe
Underware’s Type Workshop
Pan-European design collective Underware was founded in 1999 by Akiem Helmling, Bas Jacobs and Sami Kortemäki. They are based in Den Haag, Helsinki and Amsterdam. Underware regularly conducts type workshops. Shown here are a few pictures from the ‘Good Times’ workshop held in Florence, Italy, which took place in December 2005. From the ground floor, the final 3D installation looked like an illegible, mysterious yet fascinating architectural sculpture. From the top floor, however, the lettering could clearly be read. In Italian, ‘informe’ means ‘without form’, but the word was also meant to suggest the English verb ‘inform’. More than 300 sq m (3,230 sq ft) of Marazzi tiles were used to create this temporary installation.
Moveable Type
Underware’s Type Workshop
‘Moveable Type’ – a celebration of manual work – was a one-day type workshop held in the vast space of the historic buildings of the Waterschei coal mine, close to Genk, Belgium, in 2005. The modules they used were empty cardboard boxes.
Manual Pixelism – Liberté
Underware’s Type Workshop
This type workshop, entitled ‘Manual Pixelism’, was held in Lausanne, Switzerland, in 2005. It resulted in two particularly exciting and widely published pieces: Liberté (freedom), seen here, and Dream On (shown overleaf). The team were lucky to get their hands on 300 books of the same edition to play with. The fact that the books have identical sizes enhances the sheer beauty and simplicity of this piece.
Manual Pixelism – Dream
Underware’s Type Workshop
Following the Liberté piece shown on the previous page, here is another very successful result of the ‘Manual Pixelism’ workshop. With hundreds of supermarket trolleys at their disposal, and a big car park as their canvas, the team worked for several days to produce this piece, including a very long, cold winter’s night with temperatures around a painful –8°C (17°F).
Darkmark – Utopia
Underware’s Type Workshop
Underware held a four-day workshop in June 2008 at the Otis College of Art and Design, Los Angeles, focusing on shadow and light. The resulting typographic installations ended up being particularly poetic. This bizarre-looking installation, for instance, resembles a spider’s web with an obscure catch. The shadow says it all – but only at 11.30 in the morning.
Darkmark – Go Away
Underware’s Type Workshop
Another intriguing example from the shadow type workshop. This controlled yet chaotic collection of wood resembling fencing sends a very clear message.