Documenta14’s no-rules visual identity is an experiment for four

In this year's documenta14’s ground breaking visual identity which is provocative and intriguing, Vier5, Ludovic Balland, Laurenz Brunner & Julia Born, and Mevis & van Deursen are the four graphic design groups involved. It is worth noting that there was not one,  but four takes on the art venue’s identity, which this year had two parts, one in Athens and one in Kassel, with the second part of the exhibition already in full bloom.

“While balancing two cities, two time-lines, and three languages is already complicated enough from a design perspective, curator Adam Szymczyk decided to add another layer of complexity to the event’s communications; inviting four studios to work on the design, and scrapping any notion of an overarching identity” reports AIGA’s Eye on Design. “They’ve been given no rules or guidelines from Szymczyk” adds the report on this very provocative experiment “that probes at the industry’s obsession with identity systems, and the way that identity is in thrall to marketing and branding”.

“documenta’s true identity can be described as the sum of many different signs and meanings, as a process rather than a fixed reality” said Italian studio Leftloft which developed the previous documenta’s visual identity with this year’s venue taking the idea one step further.

Check more on the four studios work which continue the investigation of “weakening the notion of an identity” here.