Artsformation

Founded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 program, Artsformation brings together researchers from manifold backgrounds and a large variety of universities across Europe. What they share is interest in the question how the arts, visual or other, can help in the process of the digital transformation our societies are undergoing. Artsformation initiates artistic projects, caters discussion groups, participates in events and organizes exhibitions.

The website of Artsformation is characterized by a white backdrop and boxes, either black or in vivid color gradients. Black boxes are used where photographs advertise an introductory text, a click on which will open the full single post, whereas gradient boxes lead to documents that can be downloaded.

The site’s banner picks up on the gradient design scheme and is in fact a special variant of the basic logo which combines a square-grid framework with the the words “arts” and “formation”.

The typeface here as much as in further eye-catching uses is Media Sans designed by Jean-Baptiste Levée and published by Production Type. Media Sans was conceived as a titling face with an extreme x-height (or extremely short ascenders and descenders) in order to make best impact both on a shop sign or in the tight columns of a magazine. The Media Sans family comprises a regular width, an extended width and three degrees of condensed widths.

The main text typeface is the Condensed L Bold style of Nimbus Sans, URW’s digitization of Helvetica.