Chiara Chiavazza and Trinidad Tamayo Marambio dissect the art direction of their publication, Intruso — The Brand Identity – Home of the Greatest in Graphic & Brand Design

“In the context of today’s society, we realise we feel a constant and rising sense of invasion – parasites, notifications, drugs, intrusive thoughts, catastrophes, aliens,” says Chiara Chiavazza. “But the line between who invades and who is invaded can be more blurred than we usually think, heavily depending on perspectives.”

Meet Intruso – the brainchild of editors & art directors Chiara Chiavazza and Trinidad Maria Tamayo Marambio – a magazine that not only acknowledges this chaos but revels in it. Born from a Master’s thesis project at Elisava (Barcelona School of Design and Engineering) where the two met and led the editorial and art direction, the publication explores the blurred lines between invader and invaded, challenging readers to step out of their comfort zones and burst their filter bubbles. “Throughout the year we designed the first three issues of Intruso,” explains Chiavazza, recalling the university project. Afterwards, the pair shared Intruso on social media and received a wave of praise and interest, leading to sales across the world. “We were already really proud of our project, but seeing that so many people shared and appreciated the magazine and supported us by purchasing a copy made us even happier.”

Each issue features a variety of content, unified by the thread of ‘invasion.’ “Thinking about the broad meaning of the concept and all the areas it can cover,” notes Tamayo, “the issues don’t have a single topic but they touch intrusion from a mental, physical, emotional, and even territorial aspect.” For example, you might find yourself reading about Pablo Escobar’s hippos and their impact on Colombian biodiversity, only to flip the page and encounter a photo journal about tattoo artists obsessed with everyday objects. The magazine doesn’t shy away from heavy topics either, featuring personal stories from the AIDS pandemic in the ’80s alongside lighter fare like a celebration of Crocs.

To represent this thematic thread, each issue features a unique graphic element that embodies invasion – from thin lines crossing boundaries in Issue 1 to playful bubbles in Issue 2 and experimental ‘spaghetti’ forms in Issue 3. While these elements are – in their interactions with the text and imagery – designed to be disruptive and intrusive, they also signal the playful side of the magazine.

This dualistic approach is embraced by the overall editorial design, whereby Chiavazza and Tamayo marry a strict grid system, reminiscent of opinionated periodicals, with a disorganised and random graphic design. “We took inspiration from the chaotic overlapping of information,” says Chiavazza, “like notifications and files on a desktop, where the elements have no hierarchy and everything wants to be on top of each other. We also featured infographics that give the magazine a more informative feel, borrowing ideas from old encyclopaedias and scientific magazines.” This juxtaposition – order and disorder – creates a visual tension that encapsulates the magazine’s ethos.

To add another layer of intrigue, Chiavazza highlights the ‘Intrusos’ – coloured inserts that tell fun facts about invasion, positioned randomly in the middle of articles. “They are supposed to invade, of course, and to break the rhythm of reading,” she says. “In Issue 2, for instance, we have ‘The Giraffe Women,’ the story of women from the Kayan Tribe in Thailand who follow the tradition of wearing rings that slowly stretch their necks to unbelievable lengths.”

The pair were also keen to express the diverse range of themes through the publication’s typography. For example, each issue sports a bespoke masthead with a different type treatment, reflecting the issue’s unique invasive element. “We used existing typefaces for each logotype, looking within them for the graphic element that defines each issue – a line, a bubble, and the spaghetti,” notes Tamayo. And while body text maintains readability with Suisse Int’l, the titles and highlighted concepts are a typographic feast. “Making weird and unexpected design choices was part of the fun for us,” Tamayo concludes.