Normal

In March of 2020, Normal partnered with The Poetry Foundation to design the January cover for Poetry, their monthly magazine. Founded in Chicago by Harriet Monroe in 1912, Poetry is the oldest monthly devoted to verse in the English-speaking world. Documentation: Alexa Viscius

In 2022 Normal partnered with artist duo Luftwerk to create a catalog accompanying their exhibition Colorscapes. Colorscapes was an ambitious multipart, multisensory, multisite project realized by Luftwerk for Cheekwood Estate & Gardens in Nashville, Tennessee. Highly experiential, the artists drew from the specifics of Cheekwood’s 55-acre grounds as well as foundational nineteenth-century texts, written during what was a golden age of scientific discovery, color theory, and classification of the natural world. […] Colorscapes used color as a means to explore the perception and experience of the physical world and consisted of a series of dynamic outdoor and indoor works installed across Cheekwood. —Marin Sullivan, “Component Parts of Color|Scapes” Exhibition: Luftwerk Curator: Marin R. Sullivan Printer: Grafiche Veneziane Documentation: Francesca Mayer

In 2023 Normal and Michael Savona partnered with the Cleve Carney Museum of Art to create Andy Warhol Portfolios: A Life in Pop. The book is a set of collections—of series, of sequences, of pairings. It is a book celebrating Warhol's surfaces and the shadows and meanings below them. Softcover thread-sewn book, 136 pages, 24 by 31.5 centimeters. Published in 2023 by The Cleve Carney Museum of Art. Curator: Justin Witte Contributor: Blake Gopnik Contributor: Julia Walker Design Partner: Michael Savona Printer: die Keure "WARHOL" Logo: Bradley Evans Documentation: Evan Jenkins

In 2022, Normal had the pleasure of collaborating with The Shed in the design of the catalog for the solo exhibition of Brazilian artist Maxwell Alexandre. Representing Maxwell Alexandre's first North American solo exhibition, the show featured pieces from Maxwell's on-going series “Pardo é Papel” (2017–) which depicts collective portraits celebrating the empowerment, self-esteem, and prosperity of Black people. Suspended from the gallery ceiling, Alexandre’s large-scale paintings formed pathways and intimate enclosures that surrounded visitors. The work portrays striking scenes of communal leisure interspersed with recurring religious and art historical imagery. This fully illustrated catalogue features essays by exhibition curator Alessandra Gómez and scholar Tina M. Campt, as well as an interview with the artist by Hans Ulrich Obrist and a newly expanded reflection by Maxwell Alexandre on his work. Designed by Normal. Co-published by The Shed and Verlag der Buchhandlung Walther und Franz König. Catalog Design: Normal Editor: Alessandra Gómez Collaborator: Paul Zdon Printer: die Keure Documentation: Evan Jenkins Special thanks to The Shed team Keri Bronk, Dorothy Lin, Phillip Griffith

In 2020 Normal partnered with Chicago Humanities to design the festival materials around the theme 'Vision'. Vision was defined by the festival organizers as the moment when ideas are forming, change is on the horizon and we are about to enter a new paradigm. Chicago Humanities connects people to the ideas that shape and define us, and promotes the lifelong exploration of what it means to be human. The organization fosters curiosity, celebrates creativity, explores the boundaries of contemporary knowledge and culture, and challenges us to see ourselves and the world anew. @chihumanities

In 2019 Normal partnered with Chicago Humanities for their 30th anniversary festival. Normal designed three expanding Xs which worked across the 30th anniversary branding to engage both the number 30 and the 2019 festival’s theme: Power. Chicago Humanities connects people to the ideas that shape and define us, and promotes the lifelong exploration of what it means to be human. The organization fosters curiosity, celebrates creativity, explores the boundaries of contemporary knowledge and culture, and challenges us to see ourselves and the world anew. @chihumanities Documentation by Alexa Viscius

Building Subjects, published in 2019, revolves around collective housing in China. Through a close reading of spaces from monumental utopian communes in Beijing to round earthen dwellings in the Fujian province, Building Subjects stages collective housing as a key to residential architecture in China. The publication is simultaneously inward and outward looking, and this duality is reflected in its layout: documentary photography and text are illuminated by swaths of gold ink and fine lined axonometric drawings. This publication was made possible with the generous support from the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts. Authors: Architect De Peter Yi, Art historian Nancy P. Lin Co-editors: Reto Geiser and Tilo Richter Normal Team: Crystal Zapata, Tim Curley, Renata Graw Design Collaborator: Jeremiah Chiu Printer: DZA Editor: Standpunkte Documentation by Alexa Viscius

Promotional poster for the Chicago commercial printer Classic Color. The poster features a cylindrical drum form printed atop a reflective silver substrate, referencing the slick aluminum backing offset lithographic plates. This mirrored paper serves to interrupt and surprise the viewer's careful act of reading.

In Fall 2022 we were excited to be asked by the UIC School of Architecture to create a poster marking the relaunch of their in-person lecture series. Pairing school faculty with guests from the global architecture community, the Fall 2022 lecture series brought together new and familiar voices to engage the pressing questions of our time. Documentation by Evan Jenkins

Everlasting Plastics, the official US presentation at the 2023 Venice Architecture Biennale. Exhibition identity, publication, and website by Normal. Normal’s graphic design for Everlasting Plastics was selected as part of the STA 100 for 2023, an award that honors the 100 best examples of typographic excellence produced around the globe. Co-curated by Tizziana Baldenebro and Lauren Leving, alongside assistant curator Paula Volpato. Exhibited works by Xavi L. Aguirre, Simon Anton, Ang Li , Norman Teague, and Lauren Yeager. Exhibition design by Faysal Altunbozar and Chloe Munkenbeck. Exhibition materials typeset in Monument Grotesk by @abcdinamo . Animation (slide 1) by @ann_twuan .

Everlasting Plastics, the official US presentation at the 2023 Venice Architecture Biennale. Exhibition identity, publication, and website by Normal. Normal’s graphic design for Everlasting Plastics was selected as part of the STA 100 for 2023, an award that honors the 100 best examples of typographic excellence produced around the globe. Next month Everlasting Plastics will be exhibited domestically for the first time at the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh. Co-curated by Tizziana Baldenebro and Lauren Leving, alongside assistant curator Paula Volpato. Exhibited works by Xavi L. Aguirre (slide 2), Simon Anton, Ang Li (slide 1), Norman Teague, and Lauren Yeager. Exhibition design by Faysal Altunbozar and Chloe Munkenbeck. Exhibition materials typeset in Monument Grotesk by @abcdinamo .

back and front covers of Sketches on Everlasting Plastics, a collection of essays, digressions, and images which lived within and alongside the exhibition Everlasting Plastics, the official US presentation at the 18th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia. Everlasting Plastics was organized by Ohio-based alternative art organization SPACES in cooperation with the US Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Edited by Isabelle Kirkham-Lewitt and Joanna Joseph of @columbia_books_on_arch . Designed by Renata Graw and Lucas Reif of @thenormalstudio . Copyedited by Grace Sparapani (@frigidartbitch ). Contributions by Tizziana Baldenebro, Kristen Bos, K. Jake Chakasim, Sky Cubacub, Heather Davis, Jennifer Gabrys, Stephanie Ginese, Aurelia Guo, Adam Hanieh, Ilana Harris-Babou, Zakiyyah Iman Jackson, Carolyn L. Kane, Laleh Khalili, Anjuli Fatima Raza Kolb, Naa Oyo A. Kwate, Esther Leslie, Lauren Leving, Ani Liu, Adie Mitchell, Timothy Mitchell, Gabrielle Printz, Kyla Schuller, Terry Schwarz, Pallavi Sen, Ayesha A. Siddiqi, and RA Washington.