Identity, editorial and spatial design for hotels, makers and cultural institutions — from two small studios in Antwerp and Kyoto.
212
Commissions
14
Countries
MMXII
Established
Now showing
Selected commissions, 2023 — 2026
01 / 04 — Packaging & online shop
Kōsa Ceramics
Kyoto, Japan
02 / 04 — Identity & spatial direction
Maison Aubade
Hydra, Greece
04 / 04 — Wayfinding & exhibitions
Fondation Albe
Lausanne, Switzerland
fol. ii — The studio
We began in a bookbinder’s back room in Antwerp with one client and a borrowed press. Fourteen years on we still keep teams small, visit every place we design for, and measure success by how long a thing stays useful.
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Commissions, since 2012
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People across two studios
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Proofs, on average, per page
Selected work
Plate iii — Maison Aubade, Hydra
fol. iii·b — Case study
Maison Aubade is twelve rooms on a car-free island. We named it after the morning song, drew a single letterform from a harbour sign, and wrote every room card, menu and key tag in the voice of a host writing by hand.
Direct bookings in year one
Letterform, drawn by hand
Loudest sign on the island
We designed the hotel the way you would write a letter to a guest: by hand, slowly, and only once.
fol. iv — Services
Four disciplines, one small team. Most commissions use all of them; some need only one. Every project begins with a visit and ends with a printed proof.
i.
Brand strategy
Positioning, naming and the story you tell when nobody is selling anything.
Research · Positioning · Naming · Tone of voice
ii.
Identity design
Letterforms, type systems, colour and the small rules that keep them honest for years.
Logotype · Type system · Colour · Guidelines
iii.
Editorial & print
Books, menus, stationery and objects that reward being held and read slowly.
Books · Menus · Stationery · Packaging
iv.
Spaces & digital
Wayfinding, signage and websites built to be read slowly and used quickly.
Wayfinding · Signage · Websites · E-commerce
Twelve to twenty weeks, visit to proof
i.
Visit
Weeks 1 — 2
We walk the rooms, taste the menu and read the archive before proposing anything.
ii.
Letter
Week 3
Instead of a deck, a letter: what we heard, what we believe, what we would make.
iii.
Draft
Weeks 4 — 9
Letterforms, palette and voice — drawn in pencil, set, then tested on site.
iv.
Proof
Weeks 10 — 14
Everything printed and annotated in red. Nothing ships until it survives twice.
v.
Release
Week 15 +
A living system and a guide your team can write in. We return every season.
Scroll sideways
Plate v — Throwing a test vessel, Kyoto
Plate vi — The Antwerp desk
Plate vii — First letter to a client
Plate viii — Tile samples for Casa Limone
Plate ix — Glaze archive
Plate x — Proof, second pass
Plate xi — Objects on the sill
Plate iv — Elena Markou at Maison Aubade, Hydra
fol. v — Voices
Elena Markou
Owner — Maison Aubade, Hydra
fol. v·b — Recognition
Awards are not why we work, but they are how new clients sometimes find us.
2026
Type & Page Awards — Best Identity
Maison Aubade
2025
European Editorial Prize — Gold
Maison Sable monograph
2025
Kyoto Craft Biennale — Selected
Kōsa Ceramics
2024
The Paper Index — Studio of the Year
Vellum
2024
Nordic Wayfinding Awards — Honourable mention
Fondation Albe
2023
Hospitality Design Review — Finalist
Casa Limone
Selected clients & collaborators
fol. vi·b — Questions
fol. vii — Begin a commission
Vellum Studio
Est. MMXII
Made slowly, read closely.
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Setting the type
Vellum Studio
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Made slowly, read closely.
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Setting the type