Amsterdam's legendary Athenaeum Nieuwscentrum is experimenting with a new visual language. Design studio jetset_experimental recently unveiled a temporary window lettering project on Instagram, soft-launched over the summer.
This project began with the name "News Center." The designers referenced the concept of a "press agency," referencing the pre-social media era of news distribution. Information flowed through wires, circuits, and channels, then through physical networks like telex, punch cards, and paper tape. Inspired by this analogue yet early digital communication infrastructure, the horizontally striped "A" symbol was born. It symbolizes the fluidity of information, reminiscent of punch holes and paper strips, and is part of a long-running project called "fluid alphabet."
The striped "A" applied this time also engages with the visual language of the adjacent Atheneum Bookstore. If the bookstore symbolizes vertical stripes, the News Center responds with horizontal stripes. It's a graphic "call and response."
The lettering was done by Riwi Collotype, and the font used for the captions is Gramatika, developed by Roman Gornitsky. jetset_experimental said of the experiment, "The physicality of early digital information networks allowed me to experience a sense of free speech." They added that the physicality of paper and holes seemed more trustworthy than today's clouds and algorithms.
The Athenaeum News Center's latest initiative is being praised for its modern reinterpretation of the material sensibility of information distribution, while maintaining a foundation in history and tradition. A more expanded design application is scheduled to be released later this summer.
