TYPO Talks » Blog Archiv » Menno Cruijsen: Lava Around the World

After being lovingly introduced by Erik Spiekermann as the “crazy Dutch competition” and Erik further stating that “he has no idea how you Lava people get away with these projects” Menno Cruijsen jumped on stage to answer that question.

500 slides, from early adventures to recent work

Lava was founded 25 years ago in Amsterdam, mostly designing magazines in the 90s, but reinventing their studio in the years to come with a focus on visual identity and moving their work to the intersection of design and technology. After this quick history lesson, Menno quickly moved on to what defines every creative agency: their project work, ideas and output.

And so he went on showing a handful of impressive projects spanning continents and cultures – all with their own unique challenges:

A mobile museum located in a bus in Moscow? – Check!
Creating 17 logos for entrepreneurs in the suburbs of Beijing? – Why not?
An industrial-themed festival in the German Ruhr-Gebiet? – Cool.
An app that lets you chat with Rembrandt during your museum visit? – Yep, we got this!
A visual identity for a Turkish museum in the midst of the Taksim protests? – Sure!

A design process that mirrors how culture evolves

What all of these projects had in common was a strong, initial idea for the branding, often based on custom typography or patterns rooted in the relevant culture. This core element was then mutated and repeated to arrive at very distinctive, but flexible branding systems, consisting of dynamic patterns and logos without rigid guidelines.

The essence of culture is repetition of behaviour.

This process harks back at how culture itself evolves, which is through repetition and mutation, driven by humans. The Lava branding and design process therefore mirrors the bigger dynamics of how culture is formed, while itself contributing to it.

An impressive and smart talk about how Lava rolls, full of honesty and humorous project anecdotes.

Menno Cruijsen

Graphic Designer/ Design Director (Amsterdam )

Menno Cruijsen is Design director at Lava based in Amsterdam. He graduated in graphic design at the Utrecht School of the Arts in 2002. Menno is a strong analytical thinker who turns complex information and behaviour into a clear visual language with the emphasis on typography.

Cruijsen has worked for both commercial and cultural clients, like the Museum of Worldcultures, Museumvereniging, SKOR, ArtEZ, Spoorbeeld, Museum Arnhem, THNK, Fonds Podiumkunsten and many more. His work has been published in various International Design Publications. Besides his work for Lava, he is a design curator for Lava Lab which is a traveling learning lab mixing strategy, design and technology. He has given inspirational hands-on workshops in Los Angeles, Moscow, Beijing and Amsterdam.

Speaker page

What’s next?

Menno’s closing slide hinted at a Berlin office … no doubt there’ll now be lots of people in the audience enticed and inspired, either rethinking their own work or eager to apply once Lava sets up a studio in the German capital. Well done, mission accomplished!