Anymade Studio

The Prague-based Anymade Studio consists of two graphic designers, graduates of the Faculty of Fine Arts of Brno University of Technology, Petr Cabalka and Filip Nerad. The studio was officially founded in 2009; however, the designers date its beginning to 2007. Still students at Faculty of Fine Arts in Brno at that time, they were trying to find a way of making just anything – i.e. anymade.[1] Their portfolio includes visual identities for both online (the graphic design of the ArtZóna website) and offline projects (the Prague concept store Room by Basmatee).

Petr Cabalka’s and Filip Nerad’s scope of work is greatly varied and diverse. They often combine graphic design with free form, incorporating disciplines such as illustration, animation, installation and photography[2] that provide their work with a unique and distinctive signature. The commissions and projects which Anymade Studio is implementing fall mainly within the cultural sphere. As the authors themselves noted in a reportage for Czech Television Art,[3] many graphic designers engage in contemporary art (all exhibitions also have a graphic identity), and this is probably the reason why these fields are intertwined. For Petr Cabalka and Filip Nerad art is one of the most important sources of inspiration; they follow current global trends in the field of design, visual arts, contemporary fashion and music and incorporate these influences into their visual language.  However, their work can be seen on the streets not only on posters promoting art events – but also in the form of decoration of the Festka bicycle collection Petr Cabalka and Filip Nerad designed.

Anymade Studio’s signature can be recognised in the visual identity of various festivals (e.g. Lunchmeet and American Moogfest 2017) or art institutions and organisations (Polansky Galery), as well as in many exhibition catalogues. Their graphic studio produced, for example, the catalogue for Jiří Thýn’s exhibition titled Hledání monumentu (Brno House of Arts, 2017) or the catalogue and graphic design for the exhibition Epos 1967–1980, which mapped the history of a photographic group of the same name belonging to the so-called Brno School of Arranged Photography (Brno House of Arts, 2016). The duo collaborated more intensively with the Brno House of Arts between 2016 and 2018, producing graphic design for promotional materials for their exhibition projects.

Anymade Studio’s work is characterised by distinctive typography, innovative colours and interesting details, often employed in a very neat and not too visually prominent way. Among their notable projects is the creation of the visual identity for the Big Light project by the Czech-Argentine artist Federico Díaz. Klein’s blue that represents the basic colour scheme of the project was complemented by clean typography, etched in the viewers’ memory and has become significant for this project. The new visual identity of the Prague City Gallery, which the studio created after winning a tender in 2017 and for which it was nominated for the Czech Grand Design Award 2018, has also attracted a lot of attention. At the identity’s core is a strong accent on typography and the simplicity of design that underlines the exhibition projects themselves. The font – Matter GHMP – has become iconic. It was created in conjunction with typographer Martin Vácha and it represents a very distinctive and supporting element of the visual identity of this institution – complemented with individual exhibition projects and their visuals.

The visual identity of Czechdesign from 2016 is based on a similar principle – distinctive typography and a playful variability of fonts. The designers endowed their organization with a diverse range of outputs (they publish articles on design, organize competitions, and also run a design shop) and very fresh, innovative, but at the same time very neat and simple functional style that unifies and unites the organization itself through its visual identity.

Anymade Studio creates their graphics projects in a dialogue with the client; each project, despite certain distinctive features of both designers’ work, has its own individual style and ambitions. Finding new possibilities and ways of visual communication is a welcomed challenge for the designers: “Functionality and quality are client’s logical priorities – originality and overlap are our predilection.”

Products of the Anymade Studio are often featured at international exhibitions and graphic design shows, as well as in various magazines and publications, and the studio has also received numerous awards and nominations. In 2013, for example, they won the second prize in the Best Designer of the Year category at the Czech Grand Design Awards for the graphic design of a publication entitled František Frank Frantík François Kupka showcasing five key works by František Kupka. The studio won the first prize in the Most Beautiful Book of 2019 competition with the graphic design of To je metro čéče publication. As mentioned above, Anymade Studio also won the Czech Grand Design 2018 award for the visual identity of the Prague City Gallery.

[1] Czech Television, art.ceskatelevize.cz/360/tihle-lide-mohou-za-to-jak-vyhlizeji-stranky-artzony-otdFw, accessed: 12 March 2021

[2] anymadestudio.com, accessed 26 February 2021.

[3] See Note 1, accessed 12 February 2021.

2019
Magazín Slanted č. 33, věnovaný české designové scéně, medailon a video s rozhovorem, 2019 2018
ČT Art, Tihle lidé “mohou” za to, jak vyhlížejí stránky Artzony, 2018 2017
Czechdesign, Autorem nové vizuální identity CZECHDESIGN je Anymade Studio, Jindřich Oukropec, 2017 2015
časopis Colour and Graphic, IdN v22n1, 2015 2014
Designvid, Anymade Studio jsou druhým nej Grafickým designérem roku, Ondřej Krynek, 2014 Články a rozhovory v zahraničních magazínech a knihách o grafickém designu: 2014
Magazine Étápes 221, Designes graphiques et culture visuelle, 2014
Geometric Graphics: A Visual Celebration of Simple Forms, Sandu Publ. 2014
Magazine Neshan č. 31, 2014
Spectrum, Index Book, 2014
2013
Type Only, Unit Editions , London 2013
Poster Graphics, BNN, Japan, 2013
Twin Magazine, London 2013
So1o 2uo 3rio, Viction:ary, Hong Kong 2013
rozhovor: Festivals Graphics, Index Book, 2013
New Graphic 31, 2013
Page Unlimited 2, Sandu Publ. 2013 2012
Pretty Ugly, Gestalten, 2012
Computer Arts Collection, Computer Arts, 2012
Pallete 02 Multicolour, Viction:ary, 2012
článek: Creative Country: Czech Republic, Magazine IdN v18n1: : Flat (Free*) Graphics, 2012 2011
Brochure & layout, Hightone Book 2011