Théâtre des Doms – Festival Off 2025
For the 2025 edition of the Festival Off Avignon, Théâtre des Doms unveils a bold and unconventional new visual identity designed by Paris-based ABM Studio. A unique institution dedicated to contemporary French-speaking Belgian theatre, the Doms cultivates a spirit of irreverence, experimentation, and poetic dissonance. ABM’s identity blends expressive illustrations (by Petrouchkaka), vibrant typographic compositions, and an overall refusal to conform to the traditional codes of French theatrical communication. The accompanying website – developed by ABM Digital – acts as a living platform: hosting artist residencies, showcasing festival performances, and archiving the evolving landscape of Belgian creation.
At the heart of this system lies Sature, a typeface designed by Nicolas Dupuis of Atelier Ater, and released by Blaze Type. Originating from large-scale, hand-drawn lettering, Sature is a family built to saturate – visually, rhythmically, and semantically. It features five weights in upright and slanted versions, offering a playground for layering densities, amplifying contrasts, and orchestrating visual tempo. As a variable font, it creates the illusion of doubled forms – as if letters had been retraced with a felt-tip marker, growing in weight and intensity. The horizontal processing gives fullness to each shape, making it ideal for large-scale formats and high-impact typographic statements.
This typographic choice reflects ABM Studio’s broader approach: a design philosophy rooted in context, dialogue, and disruption. For over fifteen years, the studio has crafted thoughtful, sharp visual identities for cultural institutions with strong editorial visions. With Théâtre des Doms, ABM delivers a visual language that is both distinctive and generous – one that doesn’t merely represent, but embodies the institution’s spirit. Through the interplay of a striking typeface and a finely tuned design system, the project illustrates a vision of graphic design as a space for emergence, resistance, and cultural resonance.
The supporting text typeface is Degular by OH no Type Co..
