Kunstverein Aughrim

Founded by curator Kate Strain, Kunstverein Aughrim is a not-for-profit curatorial office and production agency for contemporary art projects, located on the ground floor of a townhouse in the village of Aughrim, County Wicklow. It is Ireland's first art organisation based on the European model of a kunstverein (from the German word kunst meaning ‘art’ and verein meaning ‘club’ or ‘association’) and is part of the franchise established by Kunstverein in Amsterdam, with sisters in Milan, New York and Toronto.

This type-driven identity is rooted in an iteration of Phase – a generative type concept by Elias Hanzer – that is systematically designed with modular components, which form the base for an infinite number of shapes.

The identity was created in tandem with Kunstverein Aughrim's inaugural artwork commission – Forerunner's Granite Leap – a site-specific, permanent installation that centres around a huge granite boulder that sits in the middle of the space. This boulder became central to the both the visual and physical identity of the space; appearing in photographic imagery and informing the outline of typography, as well as being used as a texture in printed stationery. A colour palette was developed that was derived from shades found in the granite itself, as well as the moss and lichen that covered parts of it.

A suite of headed paper, folders, tote-bags and other functional pieces were produced on the occasion of the launch in October 2022, alongside a map, visitor guide and a website.