LDA
LDA

BACK TO ALL AWARDED PROJECTS

Design Sessions

Category

2025

Poster

Awarded

Designer / Designers / Design Studio / Agency

Client

Year

Andrei Nicolescu

Glitch

2024

Other Credits

—

Short description

Long description

A series of poster for the design talks & events hosted by the Glitch Design Library between 2023–2024

A series of poster for the design talks & events hosted by the Glitch Design Library between 2023-2024. All of them play on the general love of print that is the basis of the visual identity. All posters use trim marks in different ways for cohesion.
The series consists of 3 posters done for events where designers from the Netherlands were invited to give talks on bookdesign and graphic design.
The first of these events saw Esther de Vries on her book design experiments, as such the main focus was showcasing a virtual book cover for the poster.
Following this Richard Niessen showcased his longform project, The Palace of Typographic Masonry inspiring the poster to focus on Graphic Languages.
The final event was hosted by Liza Enebeis from Studio Dumbar/ DEPT® on Books & Motion. The concept behind this poster was an animated form of letterpress blocks.

LDA
LDA
LDA
LDA
LDA
LDA
LDA
LDA
LDA

Foto: Mihai Ciobanu

Jury Notes

Process Notes: Andrei Nicolescu

This series feels like a set of typographic experiments that revisit styles from different eras and bring them into a contemporary context. They are enjoyable because they are designed for designers, full of references to familiar tools and processes. The layouts remain simple, but the illustrated type is strong and original, with a good balance overall. These posters succeed in being both referential and fresh.

 

ML: These feel like typographic experiments from different eras, with revisited styles being brought back to life. It feels quite contemporary, although the references are quite classical. 


JG: It’s enjoyable because it’s designed for designers, and there are a lot of references from designers for designers. It’s nice to see all these familiar things, tools, and processes that we know and love. The layouts are all quite simple, and the illustrated type is quite original and strong, with a nice overall balance.

Thinking about the journey from initial idea to the finished piece,which moments had the deepest impact on the project and what made you realise those changes had to happen?

Having a personalized design for each poster focusing on the themes to be presented by each graphic designer during thei keynote had the most impact on the project. I decided almost from the beginning to keep a very limited number of elements and to imbue more character. The posters are akin to how family members look similar but aren’t carbon copies, each on has distinct individuality.

 

I think one of the most impactful moments in the process happened while working on the poster. I had a lot of productive “ping-pong” with Mihai Iepure-Górski, one of the curators of the exhibition. Our feedback sessions and discussions pushed me to look at the work from a different angle and helped me understand how far the visual language could go. Through those exchanges, it became clear which elements needed to shift and I realised that the poster could communicate much more strongly. Those exchange moments were essential in shaping the final piece.

Collaboration is built on trust and dialogue — within that process, which part of the project feels most authentically yours, and which unexpected voices pushed you beyond your comfort zone?

I had the opportunity to have almost complete freedom in the creative process, with the conceptual ideas for the designs being my own. It was really nice to be given this trust by Glitch.

In what ways do you believe awards like LDA shape (or should shape) the design landscape locally? And is there a responsibility attached to being an awarded designer within that ecosystem?

I believe it legitimises the design industry, helping it to reach a higher degree of notoriety for all. It’s also a way helping emerging talent get recognition by giving young designers something to aspire to and encourage conversations about where the discipline is going. 

 

I also believe that awarded work becomes part of the design history of the region. Awards help record what the community values as in aesthetics, concerns, and cultural shifts.

 

As for responsibility, I think that an awarded designer should have some responsibility to insure a sustainable, friendly culture. Those with recognition can help by advocating for inclusivity in mediums, styles, and cultural expression.

Whether placed in public space or circulating in digital environments, a poster must both inform and attract. How did you balance the clarity of the message with the expressive design needed to capture attention in such fast-paced contexts?

This is an ongoing debate that’s more and more influenced by our ever shortening attention spans. Yeah, posters should have an adequate degree of legibility and clarity but if they aren’t for public information then we can play some more. The design concept helped in my project, because it’s mostly made out of typography. However as posters for a cultural project it allowed me to treat them almost like art pieces in themselves.

What element of the poster (scale, colour, typography, image, texture) did you consider your boldest “move”? And which one was the quietest but most important?

Typography is certainly the boldest element in 2 of the posters and scale & composition in the other one done for a talk on book design by Esther deVries. 

 

Clients would like to think that the partner logos are the quietest but most important, but for me as a graphic designer it’s the empty space within a composition.

Did you encounter moments of “too much / too little” while working on the composition? How did you determine the balance point?

Of course, in fact the poster on book design I was talking about before is probably the one where I tried many variations, an inch by inch approach to get to the perfect composition. In general having a background in architecture helped me refine a personal recognition pattern for graphic compositions and how space imbues a certain balance to all elements within. 

 

Sometimes that’s tougher than you’d think, it almost feels like chipping away at the design to get where you want it to be. But I’ve found that simple like scale and color can go a long way for elements. Liike choosing a bold typography and emphasising a title and keeping all the other elements smaller to get a more dynamic and interesting composition.

BACK TO ALL AWARDED PROJECTS