ZPSM (State Music School Complex)

Our studio was invited to design the signage system of the State Music School Complex (ZPSM) during a key moment – before the school moved to a new location. The designing process was supported by functional analysis and various users analysis. The architectural project of the school’s new headquarters is a combination of an old 19th-century building with a new, modern concert hall and additional learning space, designed specifically for ZPSM. The whole facility is specific in a way that it intertwines two functions: an elementary school (the main user groups are students and teachers) and a concert hall, accessible to outside guests and visitors.

We decided to find something in the history of the institution that would become an element linking a school with traditions with the new space. Inspired by historical concert bills hanging in the old headquarters, we saw the perfect form for designing a signage system. Additionally, it is an interesting element connecting the school with a new public function, that will enrich the establishment, which is the concert hall. In the past, events in venues like that, were promoted with such advertising bills . Furthermore, when designing the signs, we broke with corporate-styled shapes in favor of hand-drawn, user-friendly graphic messages, emphasizing who the signage system is dedicated for – the students. By doing that, we wanted to highlight the fact that this is their space and that they are treated as a priority.