The Challenge
We partnered with Ciclope Festival, the world’s largest festival dedicated to craft in audiovisual production, at a pivotal cultural moment. For its 2025 edition, the industry was immersed in one of its most charged debates: the rise of AI. While it promised faster production and lower costs, it also raised growing concerns about the loss of human intention and original thought. The challenge we faced was not merely aesthetic, but deeply philosophical: how do you create an identity that doesn’t just express a point of view, but structurally embodies it? Under the theme “AI Apocalypse,” we developed an approach that responded directly to ongoing conversations around authorship, automation, and the future of creativity. In this context, authenticity had become a defining signal of value. Studios, directors, and agencies rooted in craft were actively seeking platforms that reflected their beliefs and standards. Our role was to help Ciclope go beyond a visual identity and take a clear, uncompromising stance—transforming the festival into a cultural anchor for an industry in search of direction.
The Solution
We knew the answer had to be tangible. So we designed an original typeface and physically constructed every letterform using strips of 16mm developed film—cut, layered, assembled, and scanned entirely by hand. Zero AI. Zero generative tools. Our creative challenge was to ensure that every touchpoint upheld the same analog logic. An identity built entirely by hand required no translation—the material itself became the message. Choosing 16mm film was not a regional cue, but a universal one: film stock represents a shared cultural memory of cinema, recognized globally as a symbol of human intention and craft. We leaned into the inherent qualities of the medium. Sprocket holes established rhythm. Scratches created texture. Imperfections weren’t corrected, they were the point. This system was then deployed consistently across all touchpoints—print, motion, environmental, and social—each carrying the same analog integrity regardless of format or scale. The result was an identity where concept and execution became inseparable: a piece of work that could not have been created any other way, and it was precisely that authenticity that made it resonate.