Blanes Urigoitia is an architecture studio founded by María Urigoitia and Eduardo Blanes. The visual identity and website we developed for this project stem from their understanding of architecture as a space for coexistence, knowledge, and intuition. This vision guided the creation of a bespoke typographic system conceived as the project’s central axis.
Creative Process
Urigoitia Blanes’ architecture arises from genuine inner impulses, free of artifice. In the same way, typography — as a system that is both precise and human — became the ideal medium to visually express their work.
Our first steps involved researching architects who had engaged with typography. In the case studies we examined, we identified an underlying intention to materialize points of intersection between two closely related disciplines. The key reference in this inquiry is Adalberto Libera (1903–1963), the distinguished Italian architect who authored Manual práctico para el diseño de los caracteres (“Practical Manual for Type Design”), in which he presented his method for designing typefaces. An exceptionally valuable source of inspiration for the Blanes Urigoitia typographic system.
Typographic System
For the design of the grotesque typeface, we drew on Libera’s extremely meticulous letter-construction proposals. In this process, we rounded certain angles at specific points in the letterforms and introduced subtle modulations and rounded ink traps, adding softness and delicacy. Another notable feature appears in the B and S, where the visual weight has been adjusted to emphasize the distinctive character of this grotesque.
These same principles have also guided the design of the monospaced typeface, adapting to its unique structure in which each character occupies the same width. This feature creates a rhythmic effect and evokes the plan and grid as the structural foundation of architectural thinking.
Visual Identity and Graphic System
As a synthesis of the principles of simplicity and restraint that guided the creation of the typographic system, the Urigoitia Blanes logo emerges, with an interchangeable order that visually represents shared authorship.
Every coherent and enduring structure requires a framework that allows each element to occupy its proper place. In architecture, scaffolding symbolizes the underlying structure present in every project. From this concept, the visual system arises as the framework of the Blanes Urigoitia identity.
In this way, the scaffolding translates into an editorial grid — a flexible layout that organizes each element with discretion, prioritizing a balance between order and emotion.
In the visual identity of Urigoitia Blanes, color emerges from materials. Limestone, wood, and lime mortar each possess their own chromatic range. The visual system embraces this quality and translates it into the graphic language.
Illustrated Layer
The Blanes Urigoitia identity incorporates an illustrated layer that translates architectural materials into a synthetic code — one capable of representing them while simultaneously illustrating with them. The system comprises eleven material textures that enable an open visual construction, where each can be assembled, overlaid, or intersected with others to generate dynamic graphic compositions.
This illustrated layer constitutes the artistic — even poetic — dimension of the system: a space of expression that elevates architectural materials into a sensory and evocative representation. I It also functions as the signature of each project, defined by the materials employed.
