SB Studio's playful identity to accompany Assemble's Brutalist Playground

Remember The Brutalist Playground, the Assemble and Simon Terrill-created project we were harping on about a few weeks back? Built out of reconstituted foam in the narrow halls of the Royal Institute of British Architecture’s housing archives, it sees the Turner Prize-nominated design collective turn our attention to what editorial assistant Alex calls “these relics of post-war play.”

The identity for the show was created by SB Studio, and it revolves around a playful typeface built out of suitably Brutalist-looking playthings. A triangular arch morphs into a Memphis-inspired “A,” while the “Y” and “L” are reminiscent of a building block and a Tetris piece respectively. It’s a simple concept, but executed with the slick finish and playful touches that SB has applied – scattering the letters haphazardly across posters, signage and billboards – and juxtaposed with the marbled turquoise and pale pink of the installation itself, it’s a neat and appealing system.

Even better, the studio also developed a zine-format supplement to accompany and contextualise the exhibition, grounding the fairly tricky concept behind the piece within the practices of both Assemble and Simon Terrill. Here the identity takes on a life of its own, sitting across from photographs of authentic Brutalist architecture printed in pinks and greens, and seeing the letters masquerade as straight-up illustrations of toys.