Studio Laura Brouwer

Training for the Future is an international training camp where participants explore alternative futures and practise new ways of shaping them. For the 2019 edition, the organisation needed a physical environment that matched its engaging and forward-thinking spirit. Collaborating with Studio Remco van Bladel, the task was to design furniture that could function practically within workshops while carrying the visual identity of the event.

strategy

The brief called for furniture that could adapt to the constantly shifting format of the programme. Rather than treating it as plain seating, the goal was to make it an active part of the experience. Modular components that participants could reconfigure themselves, turned the furniture into an extension of the camp's core philosophy: taking ownership and building something new.

design

An existing typeface was deconstructed and applied to the furniture surfaces, transforming each piece into a typographic object. The modular nature of both the type and the furniture reinforced each other: just as the letterforms were broken apart, so could the physical components be rearranged to suit different needs. Together they formed a coherent visual language across the space.

insight

The project made clear that environmental design can do more than just set a scene. When the design language mirrors the values of an event, the space itself becomes part of the message. In rearranging the furniture, participants were already acting out the means of the programme.

deliverables

The result was a set of modular furniture pieces finished with activist texts in the custom font, used throughout workshops and exercises during the 2019 programme. Beyond its practical function, it gave the edition a visual identity that was physically present in interactions. The custom font became a part of Training for the Future's visual identity, and was used in all later editions.