The Utopian Avant-Garde: Soviet Film Posters of the 1920s

Isometric Studio
2022

We customized the typeface Action Condensed Bold to make a blocky version reminiscent of Cyrillic lettering, named Constructivist Square.
The typeface is deployed large and at dramatic angles, layered with photographic reproductions, section numbers, and dynamic compositions of framed posters.
The type assumes a supergraphic scale, creating an immersive context that activates multiple visual planes.
Together with the exhibit walls, the type creates a spatial composition in movement, turning the whole gallery into a Constructivist composition in three dimensions.
Quotes criss-cross the exhibition walls in Timmons to complement the custom Constructivist Square typeface.

Isometric collaborated with Poster House to design the visually dramatic and historically imperative exhibition The Utopian Avant-Garde: Soviet Film Posters of the 1920s. The 2300 sq. ft. installation explores the origins, high points, and eventual demise of this golden age of Soviet graphic design, showcasing the work of Alexander Rodchenko, the Stenberg brothers, Semyon Semyonov, and more. For the exhibition’s principal display typography, Isometric created a custom, square version of Action Condensed Bold in both Latin and Cyrillic scripts. The resulting font, Constructivist Square, is used throughout for grand moments of drama and contrast, as well as for finer nuances and descriptive details.

Partner
Waqas Jawaid
Partner
Andy Chen
Design Director
Maria Loes
Type Designer
Corinne Ang
Graphic Designer
Ingrid Schamedecke
Architectural Designer
Abhishek Thakkar
Graphic Designer
Paolo Fabbri
Director Of Design & Exhibits, Poster House
Ola Baldych
Chief Curator, Poster House
Angelina Lippert
Associate Director of Exhibits, Poster House
John F. Lynch