Marek Nedelka creates smart and uncompromising exhibition identities

Marek Nedelka is a graphic designer and creative director based in Prague. He has a bachelors degree in architecture and then went on to study graphic design at the Academy of Art, Architecture and Design in Prague and feels his design work is completely inspired by his architectural background. “In a good sense and also in the bad sense of the word. It means I like complex projects. Zooming in, zooming out. Understanding the context of each project,” explains Marek.
 
“I always start working on projects with understanding their complexity and structure. After I understand it I am able to clarify the content and visualise the main message. Sometimes it is not easy to clarify it but it is always worth it. Otherwise I am lost.”

Marek feels most comfortable working on lengthy projects like books, identities and exhibitions. “But it’s not easy to manage projects on that scale on your own, so I decided to run a studio with my best friend Ondřej Báchor – we call ourselves Nedelka Báchor.” 

The designer recently returned from an internship in Stockholm at Henrik Nygren Design. “Henrik is the master of materiality and tactility of printed matter. I tried to bring this good feeling back to Prague so now I share a cosy creative space with other designers, typographers and illustrators like Jan Novak and Heavyweight Foundry,” says Marek. 

A project Marek is fond of is Measure & Scale, which he designed with Ondřej. “It was an exhibition for Zdeněk Fránek, the Czech architect and presented three of his most important recent projects,” says Marek. “The name refers to two parameters that Zdeněk Fránek challenges from time to time. We connected whole design with the specific raster to show different scales of presented projects. We made a triptych of posters to express this using different scales of type, raster and images.” 

One of his most recent briefs was for Sauna: Architecture of Pleasure, which sees Marek and Ondřej adopt a blood red colour palette and striking typography. “We were asked to design the exhibition identity for the Jaroslav Forager Gallery in Prague,” says Marek. “Again there was a simple solution. We tried to warm up the cold winter streets of Prague with red-hot posters.” 

At the heart of Marek’s “smart and uncompromising” work is typography: “It’s essential for for my work and I also try to convey that it is worth doing nice stuff.”