The Landscape the Tropics Never Had & Ogg

In 2017, designer Qingyu Wu designed an album cover and merchandise for The Landscape the Tropics NeverHad by Beijing-based band Chui Wan (吹万). 

As an experimental psychedelic rock band, Chui Wan's music consists of emotional and textural contrasts and Wu sought to convey these tensions in the album’s design. The bilingual typography contrasts the calligraphic Ogg, which is used for Latin text, and a sans serif typeface for the Chinese text. 

“I wanted the design leave a space for imagination, just like Chui Wan’s music does,” Wu adds. “The design is intended to translate and represent the tracks’ ambiguous, poetic, and textural melodies, and Ogg expresses all of these temperaments. Ogg keeps the classical attitude of serifs — elegant, romantic, and meandering. At the same time, it also contains some contemporary aesthetics — odd, sharp, and loud,” Wu shares.

Client: Chui Wan 
Cover Art: “Desserts” by Li Gang (李钢) / Galerie Urs Meile, Beijing.
Designer:Qingyu Wu
Typeface:Ogg

Ogg-ChuiWan-Berlin-Beijing-2.jpeg

“I  always encounter unexpected, magical moments when working between two totally different language and writing systems. Chinese and Latin are traditionally written with different instruments. When trying to connect the two, it’s important to integrate the content and form of their personalities into the same system. Like the relationship of yin and yang in Chinese philosophy — how seemingly opposite forces may actually be complementary, interconnected, and interdependent.” 


Ogg-ChuiWan_Vinyl_Cover_MockUp.jpg
Ogg-ChuiWan_Vinyl_Back_MockUp.jpg
Ogg-ChuiWan-Hangzhou-Shanghai-2.jpeg

“The photography features work by the Chinese artist Li Gang, who mixes various materials such as plaster, hair, rebar, and discarded kettles. The work possesses the rare ability to combine the universal and the specific, the intimate and the distant. I think there is a strong common philosophy connecting Chui Wan’s music, Li Gang’s work, and my design approach.”


Ogg-Chuiwan-Cassette.jpg
Ogg-Chuiwan-Cassette-2.jpeg
Ogg-ChuiWan-Poster-2.jpg

Show us your latest project using our typefaces by getting in touch or tagging us on social media. 
IG: @sharp_type TW: @SharpTypeCo

Featured Fonts