New Studio’s lively identity for kitchen essentials collaboration CRUXGG is inherently NYC

The CRUXGG range of kitchen essentials is a collaboration between New York-based kitchen appliance brand CRUX and Ghetto Gastro, a culinary collective from the Bronx. Aiming to not only make design-focused products for “everyone who’s plugged into the world beyond their kitchen,” the pair have united to uplift and celebrate the Bronx, and other places like it, as an unsung driver of global culture. As a result, all proceeds from sales of their collection in October 2020 were given to Know Your Rights Camp, a campaign initiative that’s advancing the liberation and well-being of Black and Brown communities through education, self-empowerment, mass-mobilisation and the creation of new systems. With CRUX and Ghetto Gastro’s supportive attitude in mind, international design team New Studio has created a visual identity for CRUXGG that’s brimming with lively, radical energy. Led by Axel Peemoeller and Rita Matos, the studio’s solution pairs no-nonsense messaging with spontaneous photography and inherently-NYC typography, conveying a powerful sense of activism. For the typeface, Matos explains that they “decided on Acumin Pro in Condensed and Book” as its “uncompromisingly strong without any fluff,” further underlining their activism-focused brand strategy. Inspired by the CRUXGG products themselves, the striking combination of black and red further reinforces their concept.