Ott Metusala

Come say hi and check out our @catalogxyz table at the @byobfair , taking place at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam! We’ll be here on Friday from 12:00 to 20:00 and on Saturday from 11:00 to 18:00. Our table is filled with previous editions of catalog, along with a few extra publications from friends and past collaborators. @lievenlahaye @adagio.for.things @artishok_biennial @tallinnarthall @thefrotographer @carlocanun @meggmillerr #philbaber #kasiafudakowski @coloramaprint #kirstimetusala @roosjeverschoor @mitchthar @jung_lee_type_foundry

Visual identity for Cutted Classic The visual identity for Cutted Classic was designed by Ott Metusala, using a typeface by Benjamin McMillan. It builds on my previous brand and website identity and refines it for this series – keeping continuity while adding new layers and details. - Vizuální identita pro Cutted Classic Vizuální identitu série Cutted Classic navrhl Ott Metusala, s použitím písma od Benjamina McMillana. Navazuje na mou předchozí značku a web a pro tuto sérii ji dále rozvíjí – zachovává kontinuitu a zároveň přidává nové vrstvy a detaily. @ottottottott @benmcmillan #ninafrankova #cuttedclassic #visualidentity #graphicdesign #benjaminmcmillan #ottmetusala #czechdesign #contemporaryceramics

Pantograph: Distort, Copy, Transform documents drawings produced during a workshop at No Other Option. Participants included Zeynep Koyuncu, Renée Pitt, Dewi Mac Donald, Linda Zimmermann, Dinara Vasilevskaia, Finn Overdevest, Misha Eli, and Gersande Schellinx. The workshop explored the pantograph — a pre-digital tool for copying and scaling — reimagined as a means for distortion and creative transformation. By manipulating the device beyond its conventional use, participants generated stretched, warped, and abstracted letterforms and images. The resulting works are reproduced in a poster, as a tribute to the pantograph’s role in the evolution of mechanical lettering.  If you are interested in getting a poster then you can buy it at No Other Option shop. Price is donation based, with a minimum amount of 5€. All sales revenue goes to support NOO activities. 🔤📈 NOO Shop is open on Fridays 13:30–17:30, unless mentioned otherwise. More info: @no_oo_space

Ongoing collaboration with @tutar.gallery (@jimmytimmi & @kaarikoch ) — it’s been a pleasure designing the exhibition posters for their 2024–2025 season. Special thanks to @abcdinamo (slide 5) and @fatypefonts (slide 7) for making nice typefaces.

📏📐✨Pantograph Workshop: Distort, Copy, Transform with @ottottottott Sunday 25th, 1 PM - 4 PM Join us for a hands-on exploration of the pantograph, a tool that reshaped typography long before computers took over. Originally used to copy and scale designs with precision, the pantograph also allows for distortion, elongation, and skewing—turning replication into transformation. 🔸🔶🟠🟧

In this workshop, we’ll experiment with typographic forms, using the pantograph to create stretched, warped, and reimagined letters. The resulting works will be reproduced and layered through risograph printing, culminating in a small publication celebrating the tool’s impact on typography. 🪄📒

Come trace, distort, and print your way into the history of mechanical lettering! 

RSVP per DM or mail: €15 (incl. VAT) per participant This program os supported by @fondsvoorcentrum

(English below) Sel laupäeval: Catalog issue 26 “waiting in _ _ _ _” esitlus. Trükis on avaldatud osana Lieven Lahaye’ teosest A. Laikmaa tunnelis, 9. Artishoki biennaali raames. Esitluse puhul on kaupluseruum ja installatsioon avatud kell 17.00 - 19.00. Väljaanne sisaldab käsikirja “waiting in _ _ _ _”, mis on tekst pühakspeetavatest paikadest ning ülestähendus märkide jätmisest. Sellega on kaetud ka tunnelis asuva tühja poe aknad. Catalog on alates 2016. aastast aeg-ajalt ilmuv ja katalogiseerimist käsitlev trükiste seeria, mille jaoks kirjutab Lieven Lahaye ja mida kujundab Ott Metusala. Laupäeval, 19.04 kell 17.00 A. Laikmaa tunnelis! Pildid: Lieven Lahaye. „[...] mida privaatsena hoiti. See avalikuks teha“. 9. Artishoki biennaal. Fotod: Joosep Kivimäe. ___ This Saturday: launch of Catalog issue 26, “waiting in _ _ _ _”, published as part of the 9th Artishok Biennial work by Lieven Lahaye at the A. Laikmaa tunnel. On the occasion of the launch, the shop space and the installation will be open from 17.00 – 19.00. The publication contains the script of “waiting in _ _ _ _” - a text about shrines and notes on making a mark. It is also used to cover the windows of the empty shop in the tunnel. Catalog is a serial publication about cataloging, written by Lieven Lahaye, designed by Ott Metusala and published intermittently since 2016. Saturday, 19.04 at 17.00 - A. Laikmaa tunnel! Images: Lieven Lahaye. “[...] kept in private. Making it public”. The 9th Artishok Biennial. Photos by Joosep Kivimäe. ___ @lievenlahaye #lievenlahaye @catalogxyz @ottottottott #artishokibiennaal2025 #artishokbiennial2025 #artishokibiennial #artishokbiennial #SIESTA

📏📐✨Pantograph Workshop: Distort, Copy, Transform with @ottottottott Saturday 26th, 1 PM - 4 PM Take a break from King’s day crowd and join us for a hands-on exploration of the pantograph, a tool that reshaped typography long before computers took over. Originally used to copy and scale designs with precision, the pantograph also allows for distortion, elongation, and skewing—turning replication into transformation. 🔸🔶🟠🟧

In this workshop, we’ll experiment with typographic forms, using the pantograph to create stretched, warped, and reimagined letters. The resulting works will be reproduced and layered through risograph printing, culminating in a small publication celebrating the tool’s impact on typography. 🪄📒

Come trace, distort, and print your way into the history of mechanical lettering! 

RSVP per DM or mail: €15 (incl. VAT) per participant This program os supported by @fondsvoorcentrum

📐Looking back on a wonderful Designing Together session with Ott Metusala, Gersande Schellinx, and César Rogers — curated by Trang Hà. Thank you to everyone who joined us, shared ideas, and contributed to this playful and open-ended exploration of publishing and making. This event was part of A Season of Peace Building, a series of workshops accompanying the exhibition The Compassionate Rebels by Grace Ndiritu. 📷 : Ieva Maslinskaitė Page Not Found is a Centre for Artistic Publishing in The Hague. We are open Wednesday – Sunday, 13:00 – 18:00. #designingtogether #typographicnights #gracendiritu #artistpublishing #collectivemaking #denhaag @theofficialgracendiritu @ottottottott @gersande.schellinx @kareslachevresitupeux @terrafic.soup @ievamaslinskaite

Catalog issue 23, Articulated Models, was published for Ott Metusala’s exhibition at the Estonian Museum of Applied Art and Design, Tallinn, in September 2023. This collage-based catalog compiles archival and contemporary material on Kirsti Metusala, who worked as an artist at Tallinn Experimental Plant Estoplast. It includes technical drawings, promotional materials, newspaper images, online classified photos, sketches, models, and renderings—collected, reimagined, and remade by Ott Metusala since 2022. Based on various sources, Articulated Models reconstructs and expands Estoplast’s production. The catalog lists 383 models, detailing each lamp’s shade material, designation, capacity, dimensions, and artist. Publication: 210 × 297 mm; 16 pp; Printed in edition of 400 Edited by Ott Metusala and Lieven Lahaye @lievenlahaye Collages and design by Ott Metusala Essay ‘When did the Estonian people first see the electric light?’ written by Tiit Metusala. Supported by the Cultural Endowment of Estonia @kultuurkapital Published by Catalog @catalogxyz Exhibition: Installation ‘Articulated Models’ was exhibited in the lobby and shop area of the Estonian Museum of Applied Art and Design between 14.09.–26.11.2023. @disainimuuseum Coordinated and supported by Sandra Nuut and Kai Lobjakas @sandra_nuut @kailobjakas Installation photos made by Mari Volens @mrivlens

Design with and for @lievenlahaye @catalogxyz <3 Last year Catalog reached issue nr 25, next one coming soon! * Catalog is a serial publication about cataloging, written by Lieven Lahaye and designed by Ott Metusala. * Issues of “Catalog” have been published to coincide with events, exhibitions and performances at Colorama, Chert-Lüdde Books, ETDM, Hopscotch, Kunstverein Amsterdam, Overgaden, *rile, San Serriffe, Tallinn Art Hall, VBKÖ, … and featured the work of artists, designers and writers such as Phil Baber, Meg Miller, Noah Emanuel Morrison, Carlo Canún, Kasia Fudakowski, Anu Vahtra, Joke Robaard, Duncan Smith, Ronja Andersen, Line Arngaard, Halla Einarsdóttir, Annie Goodner, Rudy Guedj, Claudia Pagès Rabal, Laura Pappa, Will Pollard, and many more.

Arts of Survival is the vision book for Tartu’s year as the European Capital of Culture in 2024. At its core, the book outlined the values that shaped the program, reflecting the thoughts and aspirations of the people in Tartu and Southern Estonia as they contemplated survival in the 21st century and the future of the world. With contributions from authors Berk Vaher, Mari Kalkun, Annela Laaneots, Valdur Mikita, and the SA Tartu 2024 team 140 × 230 mm, 160 pp Edition of 700 copies in both Estonian and English Published by SA Tartu 2024 @tartu2024 Printed and bound at Greif Thank you Kati Torp, Laura Grigorjan, Mona Menets and Berk Vaher @misskatilynx @luuurag @mona_menets @berkvaher Tartu 2024 featured several key initiatives, including Ryoji Ikeda’s exhibition, the collaborative Superorganism showcase, the digital art exhibition Wild Bits, a centenary retrospective of Estonian modernist Ülo Sooster, and a series of performances and workshops celebrating Estonian identity and youth creativity.

Ott Metusala is a designer based in Amsterdam. He studied at EKA, Gerrit Rietveld Academy, and Sandberg Institute. Ott is one of the three designers nominated for SÄSI award, so Trickster decided to ask him a couple of questions! Hit the link in bio to learn more.