Graphic designer and art director based in Helsinki, Finland.
katri.astala1[at]gmail.com
Graphic designer and art director based in Helsinki, Finland.
katri.astala1[at]gmail.com
Book design for the novel Tuhatkaunokin tuho by Jaakko Yli-Juonikas.
Covering themes such as the end of the world and the end of literature itself, the book combines and shuffles different texts and documents into an A4-sized block. The book contains 540 pages and is set in 34 different typefaces.
As an object the book is thread-bound, but it has no covers, exposing the pages to dirt and wear. The cover image is added as a sticker on the cover page.
Author: Jaakko Yli-Juonikas
Layout: Katri Astala, Jaakko Yli-Juonikas
Illustrations: Katri Astala, Jaakko Yli-Juonikas
Publisher: Siltala
BOOK DESIGN
Visual identity and exhibition graphics for What a machine! (Fin. On se kone!), the new permanent exhibition of Sarka – The Finnish Museum of Agriculture.
What a machine! tells the story of the mechanization of Finnish agriculture and its social impact from the early 20th century to the present day. The exhibition features machinery related to agricultural work, such as tractors from different decades.
The visual identity and material choices were inspired by farms and machines themselves: shiny tractors and their logos, raw materials and dusty surfaces. The graphic design and exhibition architecture were designed as a collaborative process together with architect Antti Auvinen.
Spatial design: Antti Auvinen
Multimedia installations: Magis Multimedia
Photos: Liina Aalto-Setälä
EXHIBITION GRAPHICS
VISUAL IDENTITY
A large artist book consisting of 15 woven textiles that each portray different aspects of the visual form of text.
The words text and textile are both derived from the same Latin root: texere, ‘to weave’. Before the age of literacy and written history, information and stories were saved into textiles using different patterns and motifs—now that task is carried by text. In addition to the etymological connection, text and textile also have similarities in their visual form, structure and texture.
I designed and produced the book as part of my Master’s Thesis in Visual Communication Design at Aalto University. The thesis studies the form of text: what does text look like and how do we recognise something as text even if we cannot read it? As a comparison and companion to text, I chose its etymological sibling: textile.
PERSONAL PROJECT
TEXTILE DESIGN
WOVEN FABRICS
Publication design for Access Riders, a collaborative project by artists Jessie Bullivant and Jemina Lindholm, published by Frame Contemporary Art Finland as a printed publication and an accessible pdf.
An access rider is written by an individual, and can be shared when one is invited to take part in a project or any working relationship. It can work as a starting point for a conversation between the inviter and invitee about the accessibility of a certain situation.
—Bullivant and Lindholm
PUBLICATION DESIGN
Festival catalog in the form of playing cards for Baltic Circle, an international theatre festival with an annually changing visual identity.
The cards give people a reason to spend time with each other, also long after the festival. Two texts run through the numeral cards, and each of the festival’s performances have their own card.
The visual identity concept was formed around the idea of having a crush on someone and wanting to make a good impression. In the playing cards the object of admiration is a swamp and all of its inhabitants. The court cards and jokers portray different birds, insects, plants, mushrooms and bacteria that live in swamplands.
Designed together with Iisa Pappi.
PUBLICATION DESIGN
ILLUSTRATION
VISUAL IDENTITY
Visual identity and festival publication for Baltic Circle, a contemporary theatre festival in Helsinki.
Instead of a printed catalog, the festival published a Fan Letter that anyone could order by mail to experience a part of the festival also at home.
The custom envelope contains a letter form the artistic director, a folded poster/ program brochure, two postcards, a bag of wildflower seeds, and a sticker set.
Designed together with Pauliina Nykänen.
PUBLICATION DESIGN
ILLUSTRATION
VISUAL IDENTITY
The process of this typeface was
completely manual. The letters were drawn by hand using a pencil, a ruler and a paper stencil. The type blocks were carved by hand from plywood and they were used for letterpress printing the specimen sheets.
The name of the typeface Hies
refers to two finnish words: hieskoivu
(a downy birch) and hiki (sweat). Downy
birch is the actual material that the
typeface is made of, and the process
required so much precision and time
that my hands did get a bit sweaty from
time to time.
The project was inspired by 19th
century woodtypes.
PERSONAL PROJECT
TYPE DESIGN
Visual identity, monogram logo and web design for Astala Lehtola Mantila Oy, a film and TV series content development service.
Web development: Adelaida Avila Cabrera
LOGO DESIGN
WEB DESIGN
VISUAL IDENTITY
Visual identity and exhibition graphics for the exhibition In Scale – The World of Architectural Models, exhibited in the Museum of Finnish Architecture 17.3.–22.8.2021.
Exhibition design and curation: Antti Auvinen, Thomas Miyauchi and Kristian Äijö
Photos: Antti Auvinen
EXHIBITION GRAPHICS
VISUAL IDENTITY
Publication design for Skaalassa kirjoitettua (Written in Scale), a collection of texts to accompany the exhibition In Scale – The World of Architectural Models, exhibited in the Museum of Finnish Architecture 17.3.–22.8.2021.
Editors: Antti Auvinen, Thomas Miyauchi and Kristian Äijö
PUBLICATION DESIGN