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Although the Serbian designer began the project on her own, it is now the work of Onlab Geneva – a Swiss branch of the Berlin-based design studio (see Eye 73) – which Golubovic co-founded with her partner Thibaud Tissot (since joined by Matthieu Huegi) in 2016.

The redesign of Tresor’s visual identity began in 2015, ahead of the club’s 25th anniversary a year later. For more than four years, Golubovic had to create a fresh, yet sustainable stream of designs for the club’s three events per week, which she built around evolving templates.

‘The challenge,’ she says, ‘was to find a flexible yet powerful visual system allowing me to develop dynamic visuals while keeping a strong and coherent identity. This system also needs to be very adaptive and responsive, working on various formats, platforms and outside the club’s official channels.’

The themes of the flyer designs change annually. In the past, guidelines have been found in ‘textures and patterns’ (2015), ‘photographs’ (2016) and ‘geometric shapes’ (2017-18). The infamous Tresor cage – located in the basement where the DJs play records – has been a constant presence, as has Golubovic’s signature method of showing the day of the week by crossing out the other six.

Recently, Golubovic’s focus has been on typographic compositions. Words such as ‘Tolerance’ and ‘Insight’ inhabit the space of the flyers and also populate walls and spaces across Berlin, in train stations and across the club’s huge front fencing.

They move beyond the city, too. With an extensive online presence in the clubbing community, Golubovic and Onlab’s work for Tresor is appreciated around the world.

The collaboration is rooted in the articulation of two specific perspectives: that of the club and that of the designer. ‘I try to take this into consideration in the development of the visuals, but the core inspiration comes from the Tresor history and ethos, the place, the building and the cage where DJs perform,’ says Golubovic. ‘Above all, it’s interesting to notice that such a techno institution like Tresor was, and is, ready to communicate outside techno’s visual clichés.’

Daniel Melfi is a freelance writer, the publisher of 20 Seconds Magazine and a co-founder at Famous Grapes Recordings.

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