Tim Tijink makes the minimal maximal in his type-led identity for Amsterdam’s Minimal Collective

Together with Brent van den Elshout, Dutch designer Tim Tijink has worked with Minimal Collective, an Amsterdam-based electronic music collective, on the creation of their energetic, contrasting and engaging identity. A mix of designers, audiovisual creatives and electronic music, the visual identity for Minimal Collective needed to match the eclectic nature of their foundation, as well as their avant-garde approach. With this spirit in mind, Tijink took the somewhat less conventional path of basing the identity on an oval grid, rather than a squared one. Continually in motion and interacting with one another, the individual ovals are representative of the interconnected network of creatives behind the scenes, opting for Gradient Type’s PolySans – utilising its futuristic, characterful tone of voice – as the hero typeface to dance within the lively graphic language. “Each circle represents a different ‘spectrum’ in which the collective is operating in and across,” Tijink tells us, listing music, art and technology as the core disciplines. “By connecting multidisciplinary artists and blending the spectrums, Minimal Collective is constantly renewing music, art and nightlife experiences,” he adds, recalling the use of the brand’s 3D-to-2D wheel used across the identity alongside the typographic expression throughout. “The ‘wheel’ is formed by filling rasters within the grid,” Tijink explains, “what first was just a 2D grid will now slowly (visually) transform into a 3D wheel,” he adds, using this movement as a digital realisation of Minimal Collective’s varied practice and network. “When fully connected, the pieces of the wheel form the logomark of the brand,” Tijink tells us, a logo that has a beautifully timeless tone; reminiscent of classic, Swiss mid-century logomarks. Very much playing into the contrary meanings within the collective’s own name, the graphic language Tijink has produced takes the creative chaos of the people behind the scenes, along with the array of work produced, and refines it into something digestible. Literally making the minimal maximal, Tijink balances the content without taking the more obvious route of exercising minimalism. Instead, the identity thrives within an excess of work, creating a dynamic and engaging system that formalises the content without falling ill to its assortment.