Non-Format

Non-Format, originally a London based two-man outfit, consists of designers Kjell Ekhorn and Jon Forss now based in Oslo and Minneapolis respectively. Working in much the same way that M & M seem to operate, working in music circles designing for album covers, posters etc, collaborating with photographers and fasion powerhouses such as Nike and Gap with whom they designed t-shirts for their RED series. They've also re-designed magazines The Wire and Varoom, they put their philosophy towards design as being based on simplicity.



"Once we’ve sorted out the hierarchy of what we want to communicate, we tend to design things using very few layers, especially if one of those layers is incredibly detailed and aesthetically busy." (1)

This results in a typographical approach, though while rooted in the same principles of cross collaboration as M & M, that is much cleaner and crisper. Their work can have a more monochromatic look, making the viewer concentrate on the message and stylistic decisions therein. They have the influence of fashion, photography and technology but combine it to a more commercial level than M & M.

Though they do share the commonality of producing bespoke typefaces for clients, this again lends them a unique voice in which to convey their clients message. I feel that this is very much a design outfit that is looking forward rather than conveying the essence of past typography, however some more type-only based poster work bares relation to futurist typographers like Ardengo Soffici. Similar to M & M approach they sometimes sacrifice legibility to deliver often gorgeous layouts and stand-alone typography.