Dark materials

Atelier Dyakova was commissioned by Maison d’Art in Los Angeles to design the catalogue for an exhibition of the work of two American artists: Kenneth Noland’s circle paintings of the late 1950s and early ’60s, alongside Steven Parrino’s ‘misshapen’ paintings of the 1990s and 2000s.

The design of the accompanying cloth-bound hardcover publication, Homage to the Circle, was inspired by the themes of deep space, black holes and gravitational forces. ‘Every design decision was connected to the key concepts in the book,’ says principal Sonya Dyakova, ‘such as unprimed canvas material for the cover and the typography choices.’

The heavy, compressed forms of typeface ABC Gravity (by Dinamo) were selected for their ‘pull-you-into-the-vortex’ quality, she adds. The decision to run texts by Gardar Eide Einarsson and Rachel Vitna Oh in silver on a deep black stock makes reference to the vastness of space.

‘We were looking at images of the universe, black holes – spaces where there is heavy blackness,’ says Dyakova. ‘The paintings by Steven Parrino used heavy, almost latex in black paint, which informed the choice of deep black pre-dyed paper. The artist’s metallic paint gave the idea for the vivid silver used for the text. It worked well to contrast this blackness with the ethereal feel of bible paper which we used for drawings and references.’