References
The library behind the three directions. Projects, films, people and places to dig further.
Everything here is real work by named studios and artists, from the design press and their own sites. Images link to where they came from.
Swarm
Projects
Rubio del Amo Harinas La Encarnación flour identity2024A bird drawn from thousands of hand-placed white dots printed on the flour sacks, so the stippling reads as the whole identity.
DIA (with André Burnier) Nuits Sonores 20252025Particle-emitting generative type scaled up to a scaffold banner, a good test of how a dispersing letterform holds at distance.
Studio Dumbar/DEPT Cumulus Park2020Letters built from small dots that constantly redistribute to form new words, shown on printed cards.
Praktika Science Island (Lithuania)2025Dot-matrix lettering on a perforated panel, with the grid of dots carrying the whole identity.
ODA Cartesia2025Dithered two-colour treatment over old engraved landscapes, a clean example of pixel mask over archive imagery.
Weird Gentlemen Planet LEM identity2021Photo turned into a hexagonal dot raster as the identity's texture, built on a swarm-intelligence concept.
Rob Farmer The New York Times Magazine cover, AI dronesCoarse dither/dot screen over a documentary-style landscape photo, with bright type sitting on the mask.
MuirMcNeil TenPoint2021Type specimen poster where every letter is assembled from dots in a modular grid, on screenprinted pink.
Laure Azizi / Velvetyne Les Ouvrières2023Typeface whose glyphs are made of ant modules, set in two variable formations.
Patrik Hübner Polkadot pixel type2024Pixel-built display type. Watch the web3 feel.
Patrik Hübner Munken Creator2022Generative type fields.
CLEVER°FRANKE Particle Wind FontLetters drawn by particles.Films
People and projects
- Rob FarmerAnt Picnic, cross-stitch and type animations in Cavalry. The source of our lead reference.↗
- Rob Farmer, InstagramOngoing generative type and pattern studies.↗
- Mario De Meyer, Type in MotionProcedural vector type animation made in Cavalry.↗
- Typeflow by AlgoBrowser tool and templates from Cavalry type artists.↗
- Daniël MaarleveldGenerative kinetic typography in Cavalry.↗
- Laure Azizi, Les OuvrièresA typeface built from ant modules, via Velvetyne.↗
- Vera MolnárOrder with a little chaos.
- Sol LeWittInstructions that other people carry out.
- Zach LiebermanCode that draws like a hand.
- Craig Reynolds’ BoidsThree simple rules make a flock.
Search further
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Market
Projects
Gander Phil's Finest2023Thick black ink-line food characters over flat yellow, pink, green and blue posters; closest match to the calibration set.
How&How Big Cartel rebrand2025Scrappy ink-line doodles on street posters, with riso-style flat colour and loud type.
Collins Mailchimp rebrand2018Commissioned loose ink-line illustrators on a Cavendish yellow and sage system; line-and-flat-colour done at scale.
Buck (illustration by Roman Muradov) Notion campaign2024Single-weight black line characters on butter yellow; calmer and cleaner than the rest, useful as the tidy end of the range.
Gander Graza olive oil2022Line-drawn characters on flat lime and green squeeze bottles; shows the style on packaging.
Pentagram (Pol Montserrat illustration) Super Peach2025Raw brush-ink drawings of diners and food, black on cream; the loosest, most hand-made mark-making here.
Flora Carvalho Suei bar, Sao Paulo2024Heavy irregular outlines on flat green, pink, yellow and lilac poster tiles; good palette reference.
Andres Higueros Story Horse cafe, Tulum2025A wonky ink-line horse in spot colour on coffee bags; witty and single-weight.
Saint Urbain Digs dog care2026Loose line dog drawings with spot colour on out-of-home; matches the s2-01 dog references.
Danny Miller Fishwife2020Character sheet in one black line on flat red, with jokes in the details.
Illa with Dasha Surma Tuma2024Loose line figures with patches of lilac and terracotta.
Buck and Roman Muradov Notion2024Muradov's ink characters ride a pencil, with a few flat colour accents.Films
People and projects
- Mailchimp, 2018 illustration systemR/GA project with 200+ drawings by emerging illustrators. The source of our grid reference.↗
- Franz LangHand-drawn Mailchimp characters, funny and loose.↗
- Stephanie WunderlichPaper-cut shapes composed digitally, also for Mailchimp.↗
- Amber Vittoria, Molly Fairhurst, Alice Meteignier, JooHee YoonThe rest of the Mailchimp illustrator group. Search each by name.↗
- Graza by GanderIdentity and packaging with playful ink characters, now drawn in-house.↗
- Giant Ant, Mailchimp rebrandThe same characters animated.↗
- Richard ScarryEvery creature has a job.
- Saul SteinbergThe line as a way of thinking.
- Jean-Jacques SempéTiny people, big worlds.
- Pieter BruegelA whole society in one frame.
Search further
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Folklore
Projects
Alice Pattullo (illustrator) Fortnum's Favourites chocolate boxes for Fortnum & Mason2024Packed ochre and umber scene with arches, balloons and animal figures wrapped around a chocolate box, close to woven-tapestry density.
Otherway / Olaf Hajek Fortnum & Mason 'A Christmas Extraordinary' packaging2024Hand-painted birds, hares and foliage wrapped round tins in cobalt, magenta and juniper; botanical-plus-fauna done as a full surface.
Bruch Speiselokal Eiche, Bad Hofgastein2026Painted animal fable inside a trefoil arch frame on a burnt-orange ground; earthy palette and a storybook feel applied to menus and coasters.
Danny Miller / Fishwife Fishwife tinned seafood packaging2026Folk-print fishwife characters, borders and lettering packed edge to edge on every tin; bright but very much a naive illustrated world.
They That Do Seedfolk identity2024Vintage botanical and woodcut vegetable illustration run large on hoardings; botanical detail with a hand-made print feel.
Gravika (Helena Hauswirt) Coffee Story Organic coffee packaging2017Dense painted coffee flowers, fruit and cockatoo covering the whole pouch on a dark ground; botanical detail with a bird, as in the c8 reference.
Alice Pattullo Teatra tea tins2026Each tin holds an animal, an instrument and the tea's ingredients in a dense foliage scene; botanical and narrative at tin scale.
Tete de la Course / Svetlana Molodchenko Three Rules of Authentic Trappist2024Gold-on-black trefoil arch with engraved monastery scenes and ornament; the arched frame and dense narrative panel in a darker register.
Nina Izycka (illustrator) Illustrated creatures series2024Naive painted animals in flat orange, black and white; she cites folk art and art brut, useful as a pure illustration reference for the mode.
Studio Bigfat Goenchi Feni2024Dense engraved label telling the feni story inside ornamental frames.
Local Kalkandu2024Painted dancer and ornament wrapped around a dark bottle.
Biabum Salva Bar2024A wall of folk-painted posters, animals and saints and hand lettering.
Estúdio Caxa Bar Exquisito2020Street-market illustrations in a tiled grid, each one hand-painted.
Mother Design Keen poster2026For reference only.People and projects
- Mother Design, KEENFolk-art identity built on one large digital tapestry. Our lead reference.↗
- María Jesús ContrerasThe illustrator behind the Keen tapestry. Her own work is the best guide to the style.↗
- KEEN on LBBHow scenes are pulled from one world across web, app and comms.↗
- KEEN credits, Ads of the WorldFull credit list for the project.↗
- Gond artDots and dashes fill living worlds.
- Madhubani paintingA shared village style, passed down for generations.
- Polish wycinankiPaper cutting as communal craft.
- Mexican amate paintingWhole villages on bark paper.
- Mother Design, KEENThe contemporary benchmark for this style.
Search further
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