NORDHAUS Logo Case

ARSORACase 05 / NORDHAUS Order a logo · $490
Sheet 00/09NORDHAUS ArchitektenLogo case
Client
NORDHAUS Architekten
Work
Logo and identity
Made in
1 day
Palette
Concrete, black, clay
Sheet 01/09The ideaPlan

North light, one opening.

Nord is north, Haus is house. A small studio that builds in concrete, timber and brick.

Architects like north light because it does not move. No glare, no hot spot, the same grey from morning to evening. So the mark is a house reduced to what it is: a solid wall with one opening in it.

ONE OPENING LIGHT STAYSHATCH: SOUTH SUN, MOVES ALL DAY N
Plan, scale 1:10. The wall is solid except where light is wanted. The same logic is the mark.
A long corridor of repeating concrete arches with a single figure far away
Arches repeat until they become a place. One is enough for a mark.
Sheet 02/09Paper firstDrawings
A hand drawing loose curves with a pencil beside a ruler and orange pencil shavings

Paper first. The screen came after the fourth sketch.

Five went in the bin.

The obvious ideas came first. Each one went on the table and was either thrown out or kept.

A house with an NHalf the studios in town have this one.

Roof over a nameReads as a real-estate agent.

Compass needleNorth, literally. Also a hiking brand.

Stacked blocksSays developer, not architect.

A bare archClose. Alone it is a church door.

Wall, arch, one windowChosen. Readable at 16 px.

Sheet 03/09ConstructionModule 10
24013010020R50

Every edge lands on ten.

  1. Square of 240Twenty-four modules of ten. Every measurement counts in modules.
  2. One compass, radius 50The arch is a true half circle. Its spring line sits at 130, so the wall stays heavier than the opening.
  3. A window of 20Set 20 from the top and 20 from the right edge. The only colour in the mark.
  4. The name sits on y = 120The baseline of NORDHAUS is the centre line of the square. The rule below sits at 150.
Sheet 04/09LetteringGrotesque, caps

Seven gaps, one rhythm.

  • 25.6N–O
  • 25.6O–R
  • 22.9R–D
  • 25.1D–H
  • 23.0H–A
  • 22.6A–U
  • 24.1U–S

Round and straight

O and S overshoot the cap line by one unit. Without that they read smaller than N and H.

Open pairs tuck in

R–D, H–A and A–U sit two to three units tighter. A and U leave air at the top, so the eye reads the gap as wider.

A quiet second line

ARCHITEKTEN is a light weight at two fifths of the size, spaced wide. The heavy name stays the only loud voice.

Sheet 05/09SpecificationColour, versions

Concrete, black, one warm window.

Warm concrete#D8D3C8 · about 60%. The wall. It carries every layout.
Black#1A1A1A · about 36%. The opening and all type.
Clay#C65D3B · about 4%. The lit window, and only where something should glow.
PrimaryBlack on warm concrete.
ReversedConcrete on black. The window stays clay.
One colourFor stamps, engraving and fax.
Mark onlySigns, stickers, 16 px and up.

Do not tiltWalls stand up straight.

Do not add windowsOne light, always top right.

Do not add effectsNo shadows, no gradients.

Sheet 06/09In useModel room, site

On a plinth, on a wall.

A concrete and timber house model on a white plinth with the NORDHAUS label at its foot
The label on the plinth. Black on plaster, printed small.
A woman in black stands in a round opening in a concrete wall; the NORDHAUS logo is painted below
Painted on site in the reversed version. The wall is the background.
Sheet 07/09Clear spacex = 50

Half an arch of air.

One black chair against a tall concrete wall with two windows of sunlight
One chair, one wall, a lot of room. That is the feeling the clear space protects.
xxxx

Clear space. Keep 50 units free on every side, half the width of the arch. Nothing enters the outer frame.

Smallest size. The full lockup stops at 200 px wide, or 45 mm in print. Below that the line under the name is too small to read, so the mark goes alone, down to 16 px.

Sheet 08/09On the streetElevation

An arch that opens.

Three moves cover every animation of the mark. They are the same three that open the cover.

01
RiseThe wall grows from the ground. Opens a title card.
02
OpenLight fills the arch from below. For transitions.
03
LightThe window switches on last. For endings and loading.
Looking up a concrete courtyard wall with a rust-coloured panel and a patterned facade against the sky
The buildings do it first: one volume, openings only where they are needed.
Sheet 09/09OrderOne day

A logo like this, by tomorrow.

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ARSORA · Design studioNORDHAUS identity designed by ARSORA.