HUB/ART

Context

HUB/ART is an independent observatory dedicated to the multiple languages of contemporary art — an exhibition space in the south of Milan, near the Prada Foundation and Fastweb’s new headquarters, inside the Interface HUB building, home to Interface Facility Management. The gallery started life as Interface HUB/ART, a sub-brand of Interface. Spinning it off into an independent project meant a new name and identity — but the evolution into HUB/ART had to happen without losing the web visibility and recognizability already built up over the years under the old name.

A new brand identity

I directed a complete visual identity redesign to mark the gallery’s new autonomy, and developed a new format for its exhibition catalogues. I redesigned and developed the website as central touchpoint for all the communications about exhibitions, events and Gallery’s catalogue of artwork.

Website

Big, bold, outlined uppercase letters serve as a wallpaper-like title for each section, reinforcing a parallax effect as the page scrolls. Overlapping these letters with the copy of titles and article excerpts causes a slight illegibility here and there — deliberately “forcing” the reader to keep playing and scrolling the page, rather than passively consuming it. The site holds press releases with images of the artworks on display, plus essays, interviews, critical texts and author biographies; a “WHITE” section collects articles and news from the art and design worlds, closing with an “Author of the Month” showcase.

Exhibition catalogues

Each catalogue cover features a full-size picture of an artwork from the exhibition, overlaid with a vertical banner on the left holding all the relevant information. The text is rotated 90 degrees to optimize space and let the cover image breathe, while still leaving enough room for long titles and multiple rows and columns of dates, venue and curator details.