Tres Tipos Gráficos balances references with ingenuity in its design for printed matter

Madrid-based design office Tres Tipos Gráficos, which translates as three graphic types, has been producing award-winning work for years. The studio doesn’t settle in a particular sector either, producing expertly-done printed matter for food brands, urban projects, exhibition catalogues and journals. Its experimental approach to the relationship between text and image results in the two often being layered over each other, or swapping role; type becoming a visual device, and photography offering more explication.

The studio’s work is both distinctive and rich in references, conveying a confident knowledge of design history. Its recent work for Pan is a great example of this, a magazine centred around “the exciting world of bread”. Wanting this to sit at the forefront of its approach, the two covers the studio has recently designed for the magazine put still life shots of bread in the spotlight, sitting beside a typographic logo for the publication referencing 60s style wordmarks, with an “A” as squidgy and round as a ciabatta loaf.

Another project just as thoughtful as Pan is Castillo Negro a publication for artist Paula Rubio Infante, taking a scholarly approach to design in comparison to the previous project’s playfulness. However, both confidently disrupt tradition, with flourishes of contrasting imagery and design details.

In its exploratory approach, Tres Tipos Gráficos shows how rather than wasting time on thinking about whether “print is dead”, you just need to show what it can do, and how far you can push the humble piece of paper.