For Paralelo 23, the line-up was the identity. That meant one typeface had to carry sixty names of very different lengths, in three colours, on one sheet of paper.
Width as a variable
We chose a variable typeface with a wide range on the width axis. Short names stretch, long names condense, and every line fills the poster from edge to edge. The result reads as a single block of energy.
Where it broke
Extremely short names, two or three letters, became unreadably wide. We added a rule: below five characters, the name is set at regular width and centred, with the stage colour filling the rest of the line.
The rule made the poster better. Those short names now act as pauses in the rhythm of the line-up.
Every system needs a place where it is allowed to break politely.
Lara Tanaka