Novo Typo Offgrid

Can graphic designers be self-sufficient? Can graphic designers recycle their own work?

Based on the core idea that a typographic design studio that designs and produces its own letters should also be able to make its own ink and paper, Novo Typo Offgrid will show how we can produce our own locally sourced paper and plant-based inks, in order to create our own tools and methods. On the background of this exercise lies the need to face a global overly complex system of production, supply chains and restrictive industrial standards, that have shown their dangerous disruptive effects, specially at the beginning of the pandemic. By independently selecting the raw materials for the production of paper and ink, a new and bespoke standard is defined. In the process, the designer and the artisan should be one and the same person, free to choose how to produce and visualize their designs, thereby regaining control over their end product. The Novo Typo Offgrid project is designed and produced during the lockdown and is executed within close proximity to Novo Typo’s Amsterdam studio. The designed products; Amsterdam Pulp Paper and Amsterdam Pulp Soap are available for purchase. The entire project is documented in the book Novo Typo Offgrid.