What are these scribbles?

The new visual identity, launched in October 2025, was developed by the design studio Correspondence with and for the KW Institute for Contemporary Art, redefining the institution’s presence while remaining rooted in its history. The redesign spans logo adaptations, stationery, signage, exhibition campaigns, and extends to KW’s new website and digital archive, developed in collaboration with Systemantics.

The new identity is built on two complementary layers: a systematic layer delivering a clear and structured communication, and an intuitive layer that opens space for sketches, notes, and interventions sourced from KW’s archive, the public and invited artists. This approach reflects KW’s ethos of learning by doing—valuing practice as much as ideas and growing not only through reflection but through active participation and experience.

Artists from each exhibition are invited to engage directly with the systematic layer by adding drawings or annotations to it. The principle of the sketch as a starting point for artistic productions foregrounds process and emphasizes the evolving relationship between artists and the institution. Alongside these new contributions, nearly 1,000 archival sketches, notes, and figures coming from KW’s archive, artist’s archives as well as scans from scribbles on the walls of the building, the staff, from visitors and other collaborators of the institution, form a living pool of visual material that will continue to grow and define the institution’s appearance.

A central element of the visual identity is KW Grotesk, a bespoke typeface. Following the research and visual concept by Correspondence, it was developed in collaboration with Berlin-based studio Dinamo. Inspired by early sans-serifs linked to Ferdinand Theinhardt’s nearby type foundry, KW Grotesk embraces the irregularities of early type production. Alternate letterforms are randomly exchanged while typing, creating subtle variations that resist institutional uniformity and recall KW’s origins as an experimental space in turbulent post-reunification Berlin.

Dynamic, participatory, and practice-oriented – the new visual identity of KW ensures clarity of voice while remaining open to all.

Design: Correspondence
Font-Design: Dinamo Typefaces
Web Development: Systemantics

Correspondence is a graphic design studio in Amsterdam and Berlin inspired by design strategies encountered in everyday life and mostly active in the cultural sector. Correspondence was founded in 2023 by Justus Gelberg and Lukas Engelhardt.

Dinamo is a type design studio that creates retail and custom typefaces, along with books and other physical objects. From its Berlin studio, the team collaborates with a global network of contributors, working across commercial and cultural projects of varying scales.

Systemantics is a web development studio specializing in websites and applications for art and culture, design, and architecture. Their work combines analytical precision with strong visual sensibility, delivering forward-thinking digital experiences. With more than 300 projects completed alongside over 100 design partners, they bring both depth and breadth of expertise to every collaboration.