Modernities and Modernization in North America

The German Association for American Studies (GAAS) is a non-profit academic organization. Their annual conference entitled “Modernities and Modernization in North America” was held in Hannover in 2017.

Ilina Catana developed for and with the design studio ItYt the visual identity of the event, including the design of the poster, programme and t-shirts. The design was inspired by key elements of modern art and graphic representations of the modern period, such as the use of photograms and experimental typographic compositions.

The visual identity combines a grayscale image, a vibrant colour and a dynamic typographic system. The type family used for titles, Aktiv Grotesk published by Dalton Maag, contains a large number of weights and widths. The combination of letters of different widths in the title emphasises the particular aesthetic of the identity. The poster and brochure were produced on an offset press allowing the use of a spot colour for the title.