We have created the visual identity for the 12th SITE Santa Fe International, Once Within a Time, curated by Cecilia Alemani. The identity includes design and art direction for the full scheme, from campaign and communications to publications, merchandise and exhibition design across 15 venues.
Once Within a Time takes its title from a film by experimental filmmaker Godfrey Reggio. Inspired by Reggio’s circular narrative structures, the International focuses on the experiences of several characters connected to Santa Fe, presented alongside works by international artists.
The identity explores circularity, storytelling and the blurred line between reality and fantasy. It is structured around dualities: historical and contemporary, real and imagined, fantastical and everyday. Abstracted photographic details from across Santa Fe form the foundation of the visual identity. The images are arranged in balance, creating new dialogues between contemporary and historical narratives, and paired with a custom headline typeface.
The exhibition design layers image, gradient, materiality and colour to establish a suspended visual state. Figures, voices and fragmented forms appear throughout the spaces, reflecting the plurality of perspectives within the exhibition. The accompanying comprehensive catalogue extends this narrative structure, with colour gradients inspired by Reggio’s film functioning as a structural device across the publication. Alongside installation views and critical essays, artist profiles are punctuated by graphic interventions focused on the twenty characters, each developed through a bespoke layout treatment.
Reflecting the same dialogue between past and present, the custom typeface combines hand-drawn qualities with digital influences to create an unexpected tension within the typography.
Photography: Erik Benjamins, Brad Trone, Ed Park
