The first year I became involved with the Month of Performance Art – Berlin (MPA-B), it was ahead of their third year run. I designed a new identity system including a new logo and all their print collateral.

About MPA-B: The Month of Performance Art-Berlin (MPA-B) was a 31-day, city-wide, non-profit and non-funded collaborative platform devoted to supporting and advancing independent performance art practices in Berlin, and from around the world. Established in 2011, and running annually in May until its final run in 2015, MPA–B connected and brought together hundreds of artists, spaces, networks and initiatives, who collaboratively contributed to the development of a unique and radical month-long cultural programme.

In designing the logo for MPA-B I thought about the generally mysterious nature of performance art, it can take so many differnt forms. My impression of it was a serious and thoughtful art form, not usually geared toward easy mass consumption. My clients in the organizing group of MPA-B talked about wanting a symbol that could conjure connotations of a secret society sort of association. This led to my use of a black diamond shape.

Gaffer tape, something commonly used in performances to mark out space or make signage on the fly, was an inspiration for the letters of the logo, which I drew by hand. I wanted the logotype to be able to be easily reproduced and to be recognizable if made in tape on a wall. I set the -B backwards in part to help balance out the grouping of letters and to reinforce a mysterious quality.

Shown here is a flyer about MPA-B that contains a list of all venues and performances for the month. It folds out into an A2 poster.

The identity system only includes black and white. Unique colors are introduced for each year MPA-B takes place. This year was primarily blue, with red as a secondary color.

2013 was the only year we produced a printed program for the month. Pictured above is the cover.

The typography of the logo was spread throughout the program by using each handmade letter in the logo (M,P,A and B) where ever it appeared in headlines. Sort of like an infectious secret code. MPA-B is everywhere. Which was true enough, as the event covered the whole city of Berlin for the month.

Many of the performances were curated along a specific concept by an array of different curators from around the world. The bulk of the program highlighted these curated performances by giving each curator one spread to present their project.

Here is a sticker design, using a pattern made up of the letters from the logo as a background, similar to that of the back cover of the program.

The final piece of print collateral produced this year was the Performance Art Report-Berlin III. Organized by venue, it contains over 80 performance art happenings in the city of Berlin from the previous year. From the report itself (roughly translated), “The list of international artists, who come to Berlin with, for and because of the diverse scene here, give an impression of the meaning of performance art for Berlin. The over 80 addresses create an alternative map of the city. In addition to the documentation of this year, the report hopefully creates access to performance art in Berlin for a broader public.”