Zagreb-based Studio Size has won Red Dot: Best of the Best for the interactive project and website created for the Exat type system, developed in collaboration with Hot Type. The distinction is reserved for outstanding works selected from among the winners in their respective categories.
Established in 1955, the Red Dot Design Award is divided into three disciplines: Product Design, Brands & Communication Design and Design Concept. The Brands & Communication Design competition, held since 1993, evaluates projects across areas including typography, posters, digital experiences and integrated communication. Its international jury awards the Red Dot to winning works, while particularly outstanding entries receive the Red Dot: Best of the Best.
Exat originated at Hot Type from a single drawn letter “a”, around which an entire typographic system was gradually built. The typeface comprises 21 styles and 1,715 characters, adapted for use across different languages, media and communication contexts.
Studio Size’s task was to present this complexity to the design community without relying on conventional typeface presentation websites, which are generally based on large amounts of text and static examples. The studio therefore developed a concept encompassing posters, animation, kinetic typography and a microsite.
The project’s visual starting point was found in Ivan Picelj’s retrospective exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Zagreb. Picelj’s works, although created in static media, served as the foundation for the way letters and geometric forms move within the digital space.
“While walking through the exhibition, I noticed that Ivan Picelj’s works possess a specific rhythm and dynamism – many of them appeared like individual frames of an animation. Although he worked in a static medium, his compositions had a layer of movement and life. It was clear that motion also had to become a key element of this story.”, explained Jurica Koletić, partner and art director at Studio Size.
This idea led to the development of a motion-first approach, in which animation is not an addition to the presentation, but its fundamental principle. Changes in form, the rhythm of movement and the color palette allow users to discover the characteristics of the typeface through interaction, instead of browsing a conventional catalogue of styles and characters.
The Best of the Best distinction placed the Exat project among the highest-rated works at this year’s edition of the Red Dot awards.
