De School

After the success of Club11 and Trouw as main club orientated venue + restaurant for a period of 5 year engagement. The team captured a new location situated in Amsterdam West with more… way more spaces to be filled.

De School is a club, restaurant, gallery, cinema, gym and community gathering point situated in a repurposed school building by the Dutch architect J. B. Ingwersen, which dates from 1973.

The graphic identity is recognisable within the same framework because it’s loosely based on the venue’s floorplan and architecture rhythmic patterns and grids, which reflects the modular organisation of spaces within the Brutalist inspired building.

By revealing the underlying organisational grid of the identity, it forms an essential component of it; components can be added, rearranged and removed in new formations, reflecting its former and current interior.

The logo is a snippet of that grid in the corner of every outcome but is also a very simple recognisable stand alone logo which can be extended en rearrange to different logo’s. In that way logo is more a part of a method than “just” a stand alone logo.

A monospaced font is used in the logo, which echoes that formerly found on typewriters, anchors the identity to the time period during which the (school)building was originally constructed. The font-family ‘Basis’ balances the former; together, along with the revealed grid, the identity imparts a dynamicism within the modular orientation of the venue’s public "face".

The identity is anchored around the venue’s social digital platforms–which is undoubtedly the aspect most visible to its community–and extends from there to its printed signing, brochures, flyers, posters, etc.

De School’s intent is to be in constant flux, organising, curating, planning new events every week and collaborate with surrounding organisations like Stedelijk Museum, Muziekgebouw aan het IJ, Subbacultcha, ADE etc…

Jury Feedback

GRAPHIC/BRONZE

‘Solid and exible system. Each execution is beautifully considered. Very good and simple in its context. The system is the image. In line with Dutch tradition!’