Erik Herrström captures EMIR's sound through a contemporary take on blackletter typography

New York-based designer Erik Herrström teamed up with Sony Music Norway’s Creative Director Christin Malén Andreassen to create the identity for Norwegian Grammy Award-winning artist EMIR. The rebrand consists of the album artwork for ‘Det Lille Ingenting’, three singles and tour merch that accompanied each release. The identity is based around Sharp Type’s contemporary blackletter typeface Respira Black, used in combination with Helvetica Neue in order to strike a comfortable contrast. The gothic typography is unusually set entirely in lowercase, adding a slightly more human feel to a typeface from a category that typically has a more aggressive tone. Originally from Sweden, Erik’s day job sees him leading branding projects and campaigns for Spotify’s in-house agency. He previously worked at R/GA and Stink Studios, working with brands such as Nike, Google, Samsung, Coca-Cola and Beats by Dre.