We were commissioned as graphic designers for the Pavilion of Ireland at the 58th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia in 2019, for which Eva Rothschild was selected to create an exhibition in the Arsenale. Our design places emphasis on the relationship between forms and materials, in response to the strong material focus within Rothschild’s work, both within the installation she created for the Biennale and throughout the breadth of her practice.
Text throughout the identity is set in Versailles, which shares some conceptual connections with elements of Rothschild’s work. Alongside this typeface, we took as our starting point one of Rothschild’s screen-printed editions, Eclipse (2018). Working collaboratively with the artist, we reinterpreted this work for the cover of the book, removing some elements and placing all text on the back. The cloth-bound soft cover plays with the conventions of classic hardcover book design, and was chosen to reflect the use of textiles within Rothschild’s installation. The colours used throughout the identity are derived from the book cover, and are also key colours that appear regularly within Rothschild’s work. The tote bag depicts a 1:1 scale recreation of the hand-dyed cotton of Rothschild’s Princess (2019), which appears within The Shrinking Universe.
Versailles’ letterforms were influenced by the appearance of type cut directly into metal; it features crisp, angular details throughout.
