Magnus Menzefircke is a German architecture practice that has been based in London for the past decade. Magnus approached me with a clear set of ambitions for the visual identity of the website: the use of vermilion as an accent colour, a modernist sans-serif typeface, and, if possible, a horizontally scrolling homepage.

Based on this, the most obvious reference that came to mind was Josef Müller-Brockmann's Grid Systems, a seminal work from the canon, focused on illustrating the advantages and best practices of utilising a grid responding to technical developments in industrialised printing, standardized paper sizes and phototypesetting. I thought would it not be interesting to create a digital homage to some of the more striking elements of this artefact, who's relevance persists to this day. Thus the visible use of the grid was introduced.

The homepage presents an animated sequence of project photography and drawings that playfully occupy different positions within this grid, as you scroll vertically to move horizontally. On smaller screens, the composition is reconfigured for a portrait aspect ratio, with imagery becoming centrally aligned while maintaining the same underlying spatial logic.

The individual project pages adopt a more editorial character. Here, the graphic language deliberately recedes, allowing the architecture and Magnus's accompanying commentary to take centre stage. Although the grid is less overt, it continues to inform every layout decision: the proportions and placement of the imagery are derived directly from the underlying system established on the homepage, creating a subtle visual continuity across the entire site.

Neue Haas Unica was selected as the primary typeface. Its restrained, modernist character felt particularly appropriate for the Anglo-European sensibility of Magnus's practice, balancing Swiss typographic rigour with a warmth that complements the architecture.