SAVVY STUDIO Designs Adam Pendleton Monograph with 1960s Punch-Card Grids
SAVVY STUDIO, a Mexican design agency, created a monograph and studio identity for artist Adam Pendleton, drawing inspiration from 1960s computational punch cards and concrete poetry. The design layout is influenced by Toshi Ichiyanagi’s 1960 piece IBM for Merce Cunningham, which translates punch-card matrices into an editorial grid centered around page gutters. This method echoes Fluxus concrete poetry by aligning text blocks with rhythmic coordinates. Pendleton’s monochromatic visual style embodies conceptual tension, emphasizing typographic clarity. The physical materials include bound monographs, exhibition invitations for the Hirshhorn Museum, and notebooks, all produced with uncoated stocks and deep carbon-black silkscreen printing. The identity system also encompasses shipping crates and studio apparel, captured in photographs by Clément Pascal.
Key facts
- SAVVY STUDIO is a Mexican agency that designed the Adam Pendleton monograph and studio identity.
- The layout is based on Toshi Ichiyanagi’s 1960 composition IBM for Merce Cunningham, which used punch-card-inspired graphic notation.
- The editorial grid organizes information around the center gutters of the page spread.
- The design references concrete poetry by Fluxus figures such as Georges Brecht.
- Pendleton’s visual universe is defined entirely by black and white.
- Physical collateral includes bound monographs, exhibition invitations for the Hirshhorn Museum, and hardcover notebooks.
- Materials use uncoated stocks and deep carbon-black silkscreen printing.
- The identity system extends to shipping crates, stencil-marked adhesive tape, inventory labels, and studio workwear.
- High-contrast photographs by Clément Pascal document the collateral.
- Gradient spray-paint dust from Pendleton’s canvases interacts with paper edges.
Entities
Artists
- Adam Pendleton
- Toshi Ichiyanagi
- Merce Cunningham
- Georges Brecht
- Clément Pascal
Institutions
- SAVVY STUDIO
- Hirshhorn Museum
- IBM
- Fluxus
- Behance
Locations
- Mexico